Ohio State-Rutgers postgame thoughts

As far as Ohio State “clunkers” one week before the Michigan game, Saturday was probably the best I have seen.

OK, OK, maybe that’s grading on too much of a curve.

The Buckeyes beat Rutgers 42-9 in a game that felt much sleepier and less impressive than the final score (mostly because they tacked on a couple of scores late after the narratives felt like they were already set). That’s a good thing all around I would say.

Ohio State and its fans both hold the Buckeyes to a high standard, but that is well-earned.

These Buckeyes could do great things, but they haven’t done anything yet. Did Saturday tell us anything about whether or not they will?

Maybe…

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Much like last week, Julian Sayin completed 68 percent of his passes but it felt a bit underwhelming.

That is the bar he has set. He obviously is having a harder time of it without top receivers Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith (both are questionable for next week), though it’s not like he was helpless.

Sayin can go through his progressions. He can execute plays on which they design certain things to be open.

He’s still having a great first season as a starter, but now the rubber is about to meet the road.

If this were an average performance for him rather than one of his “worst,” you’d still feel really good about his future as a redshirt freshman. He also had a few balls that were straight drops or at least could have been caught.

Is he bearing a bigger mental burden without the knowledge he can just throw it up and trust Smith or Tate to be open? Probably, but he could also end up better in the long run as a result.

The touchdown pass to Brandon Inniss was well done from the throw to the catch to the blitz pickup by James Peoples, so there is enough there to score points for sure…

He is a proven weapon they can game plan for, something Ohio State has rarely had a tight end in the last 40 years, and he was a godsend Saturday even if he looked like a fish out of water the first time he broke into the open field. (He joked he blew a tire on that because he wasn’t used to seeing so much green in front of him anymore.)

Tate and Smith are an Easy button to a certain extent for Sayin and the coaching staff. There is no way around it. They not only force teams to game plan differently but they produce no matter what that game plan might be.

It’s the best of both worlds on the chalkboard and in real life when the Xs and Os come to life.

That’s good because the alternative would be a disaster.

Plus Rutgers had to know they were going to be leaning on the ground game and still couldn’t consistently stop it. Ohio State had 11 explosive runs, which is more than they have in a long time.

Bo Jackson continues to develop as a guy who can make people miss and get extra yards even when he is met with an unblocked defender, which is a key thing this team needs.

Of course, that fumble was massive and something that can’t happen…

Not sure about having him come in cold and roll out to his left on a fourth and short, but I guess they were both workshopping things in the open and giving Michigan more to prepare for.

The more chances he gets to drop back and read a defense the better, too, and he seemed to miss at least two open guys on that play but was baled out by the pass interference flag.

I am ok with that package existing, I guess, as long as it doesn’t bite them at the wrong time if they aren’t able to execute out of it.

Rutgers has a top 40 offense overall but was held to season lows in points, yards and yards per play. That is despite the JV defense giving up 77 yards after they started subbing in the fourth quarter.

The interior remains impenetrable, which is a major key next week because Michigan is going to test them over and over again up and down the line.

They’ve been doing a lot of different things every week and should have a good idea what they are good at by now.

That’s probably another reason the running game is taking off.

They don’t need to run for 200 yards at Michigan, though it would be nice of course.

Of course who is available makes a big difference.

Ohio State needs at least one of those receivers back to really form a catalyst for the game plan.

I don’t expect Michigan to score much, but they certainly could hold down this version of the Ohio State offense. If it’s not efficient, that’s no big deal if they can just create some explosive plays. Those are what were lacking without the top receivers.

I thought Mylan Graham would have a big year and he should have a big opportunity today, but he must not be doing what the coaches want to see in practice based on Day’s response to a question about him not playing in the first half. He’s a big, athletic guy in the mold of Smith (not as good, of course) and they could really use something like that. If he could step up, that would help a lot.

But they obviously did some good things.

They continue to give up some backside penetration, but the variety in the running game remains impressive.

Now it’s a matter of execution against a Michigan front that is good, not great, and figures to throw the kitchen sink at them next week…

Ryan Day explains moving a Michigan Week tradition up to last week

They said some nice things after the game, but that remains to be seen.

That is something I plan to explore in another post either Sunday or Monday.

The most interesting thing I heard Tuesday at Ohio State

I’ll also have a Michigan scouting report and all the fun facts and figures you might want to know about The Game, so make sure you spread the word if you know of anyone who might want to be on the mailing list before then.

As always, thanks for reading!