Ten Things We Learned From Ohio State’s 76-5 Win Over Miami (OH)
Before the game on Saturday, I said on our pregame Facebook Live that this was going to be a bit like golfing for Ohio State. They wouldn’t necessarily be competing against Miami (OH), but rather they’d be competing against the course. They would be competing against a standard.
Early on, they were falling short of that standard. About midway through the first quarter, however, Ohio State raised their standards and then they razed the Miami RedHawks.
Touchdowns then started speeding past our faces like electric poles on a nice country drive. One right after the other. Six total in the second quarter, which is video game type stuff.
In the end, everyone got to play. Everyone had some success. Everyone came out better for it, which was one of the main goals coming into the game. (The first two being to win and stay healthy.)
There is plenty here for the coaches to study and for the players to learn from.
Being professional second guessers, however, we don’t need to go to the tape. We already know what we learned from watching the game live.
1. I owe Chase Young an apology.
Prior to the season, whenever comparing Chase Young to Joey Or Nick Bosa, I would dismiss the thought that Young should be mentioned in the same breath with the two pass-rushing brothers. I would like to now publicly apologize to Chase because I was wrong. I hope he can find it in his heart to forgive me because this season he is proving to be one of the most disruptive players in Ohio State football history. He is tied for the national lead with 7.0 sacks. Makes you wonder what he will do once this defensive line gets healthy.
2. KJ Hill is starting to get involved down the field.
In KJ Hill’s first three games, he was mostly a short-yardage target. In those games, he averaged 7.0, 7.1, and 11.5 yards per reception. He was an underneath target against zone defenses. Against Miami, however, rather than getting him going east or west or in a stationary zone, his routes sent him downfield. The first was a little wheel route switch with Garrett Wilson that went 53 yards for the touchdown. The second was just a seam route straight down the field for 25 yards. Hill is a tough matchup in man-to-man situations for nickels or safeties, and he’s a reliable release valve in zones. Getting him involved down the field is a bit of a new twist, however, even though his first-ever catch as a Buckeye went for a 47-yard touchdown.
3. The read option is going to get deadlier.
As the Buckeyes now get into their more important games, they are going to have to win by any means necessary. That means a few more runs for Justin Fields. He was outstanding on his two pulls for touchdowns on Saturday. He made the right reads and did it after the defenders were fully committed. That will continue down inside the 10-yard line, but it will likely also start showing up all over the rest of the field as well. Fields’ ability to run the ball has to be managed closely, but you can’t just keep him locked up in the garage.
4. The red zone offense is very good.
Even aside from the read option that Justin Fields has been killing inside the 10-yard line, you’ve seen how good Ohio State has been with those fade passes over the cornerbacks to Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson — and those are the two shorter dudes. The sprint-outs to the running back or the receiver in motion have been unstoppable. I think KJ Hill, JK Dobbins, and Marcus Crowley have all scored on them. And I’m probably missing one. Oh, they’re also running the ball well down there as well. The Buckeyes went 7-of-8 on scoring touchdowns in the red zone on Saturday. The lone failure was Master Teague’s fumble. Ohio State’s 85% touchdown rate in the red zone is sixth in the nation. They have scored touchdowns on 17-of-20 red-zone visits.
5. The backup quarterbacks are better than they were last week.
I came into this game wanting to see Chris Chugunov or Gunnar Hoak move the ball because it’s not something they’ve really done this season. They got plenty of opportunity in the second half of this game and made the most of it. They both led two touchdown drives, which might be an Ohio State record for their second and third quarterbacks. For the game, Chugunov completed 6-of-7 passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Hoak completed both of his passes, including a 61-yard strike to freshman receiver Jameson Williams. They both left that game feeling better about themselves than they went in, and so did their coaches and teammates.
Entire article:
https://theozone.net/2019/09/ten-things-learned-ohio-state-miami/
FIVE THINGS: MORE LIKE MIAMI DEADHAWKS
Ohio State improved to 4-0 on the season with a 76-5 dismantling of the Miami RedHawks behind another big day from Justin Fields and more havoc created by Chase Young off the edge.
The Buckeyes tallied 42 points in the second quarter alone – Ohio State's most points in a quarter since at least 1960 – while churning out 252 yards of offense while holding Miami to -7 yards.
The mismatch allowed Ryan Day to empty his bench and rest all of his key guys ahead of next week when the Buckeyes resume Big Ten play with a roadie in Lincoln against Nebraska in prime time.
Before we turn our attention to what could prove to be Ohio State's toughest test of the young season, here are Five Things from yesterday's blowout win.
DEFENSIVE DOMINATION
The Silver Bullets just keep doing the damn thing.
Ohio State built a 49-5 halftime lead thanks in large part to a defense that wouldn't give Miami any room to maneuver after an early 66-yard field goal drive.
The defensive line was the catalyst as the Buckeyes gave up just 106 total yards on 2.4 yards per play over the game's first 30 minutes. Fifty of those yards came on the ground via 1.8 yards per carry which swelled to 2.6 yards when adjusted for sacks.
Through the air, the RedHawks' Brett Gabbert completed just 5-of-15 throws for 48 yards and a pick with a long completion of 13 yards.
On nine first-half possessions (not counting a kneel possession to end the half), the RedHawks turned it over three times, went 3-and-out three times and generated less than 10 yards on six drives.
For the game, the Bullets held Miami to 4-of-17 on third down conversions and over the last three games the Buckeyes have surrendered just 10 total third conversions in 48 opportunities (20.8%).
Ohio State held the RedHawks to 15 yards or less on each of their last 13 possessions and forced three turnovers which the offense converted into 21 points.
Hat tips to Jashon Cornell (4 stops, 1 TFL), Malik Harrison (4 stops, 1 TFL), Haskell Garrett (4 stops, 1.5 TFL), Baron Browning (3 stops, 2 TFL) and Davon Hamilton (3 stops, 2 TFL), among others. No, I'm not leaving out Chase Young – I'll get to to him a minute.
JUSTIN DOES IT AGAIN
Justin Fields lost a fumble for a Miami safety on Ohio State's opening possession but after that miscue the dude shredded the RedHawks with both his arm and legs in another dazzling performance.
Fields threw for 223 yards and four scores and added another 36 yards and two touchdowns on the ground bringing his season total to 19 total touchdowns (13 pass, 6 rush) with zero interceptions.
I'm not a fan of him ending up with nine carries in the first half considering the score but a few came via scrambles. I'm less a fan of him spinning in traffic, allowing backside pursuit to blast him twice but no question he did work with his feet including touchdown runs of seven and six yards in the second quarter and, gasp, a 4-yard quarterback sneak from under center to move the chains on 4th-and-1.
Through the air, he had a few errant tosses but was largely on the money. The two most notable throws for me were a 13-year touchdown toss to Chris Olave on a rollout to the right to make it 35-5 and a 30-yard laser for six to Binjimen Victor on 3rd-and-20 pushing Ohio State's lead to 42-5.
How is this dude this good after just four starts?
NO. 2 MAKING A BID TO BE NO. 1
Chase Young should be illegal.
After racking up 5.0 sacks over the first three games, Young terrorized both edges of Miami's line in a first half performance tallying three tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles on those sacks, and a quarterback hurry.
His first strip sack came off the right edge on a 3rd-and-10 play. Malik Harrison pounced on the fumble at the RedHawk 28 yard line and Ohio State's offense scored four plays later to make it 35-5.
Two defensive series' later, Young's second strip sack came on a 1st-and-10 play around the left edge and Tyler Friday jumped on it giving the offense the ball at Miami's 33. This time it took Fields and company five plays before hitting paydirt as the quarterback hit Olave again this time for a 10-yard touchdown giving OSU a 49-5 cushion.
Through four games, Young now has 7.0 sacks which means he's halfway to Vernon Gholston's single-season school record of 14.0 set back in 2007. He's also just 3.0 sacks from becoming the first Buckeye to post double-digit sacks in back-to-back seasons.
Entire article:
https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...downs-chase-young-sacks-garrett-wilson-shines
FOOTBALL: FIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM WEEK 4
In its final nonconference matchup against Miami (Ohio) Saturday, Ohio State turned out its fourth consecutive blowout victory with a 76-5 drubbing of the Redhawks. The 71-point win was Ohio State’s widest margin of victory since it beat Florida A&M in 2013. Despite the landslide result, there was still plenty to learn about the Buckeyes. Here’s five takeaways from the dominant performance:
Fields’ touchdowns piling up
With 54 touchdowns in 2018, Dwayne Haskins was a touchdown machine.
On pace to score 12 more than Haskins this season, sophomore quarterback Justin Fields is a touchdown factory.
With four through the air and two on the ground in the second quarter alone Saturday, Fields’ 19 touchdowns this season trail only Washington State redshirt senior quarterback Anthony Gordon, who threw nine on Saturday.
Fields set a new career-high with a 53-yard bomb to redshirt senior wide receiver K.J. Hill, added a 30-yard strike to senior wide receiver Binjimen Victor and tossed a pair of scores to sophomore wide receiver Chris Olave.
Averaging nearly five touchdowns a game against unranked, non-Power Five opponents is one thing, but starting next weekend, Ohio State enters a Big Ten gauntlet that includes four ranked opponents.
Haskins dominated nonconference opponents as well, but added three more six-touchdown performances against stiffer Big Ten competition.
Fields passed the preliminaries with flying colors, but the true test lies ahead.
Okudah on a roll
Jeffrey Okudah is a projected high first-round NFL draft pick as one of the nation’s top cornerbacks, but entering Saturday, there was one glaring omission on the junior’s career stat line:
An interception.
Okudah said prior to the season that he wouldn’t leave Ohio State without one, and after his pick of Miami sophomore quarterback Brett Gabbert in the second quarter Saturday, he won’t have to.
“I’m feeling pretty good about that, just to kind of get a monkey off my back so to say,” Okudah said.
More than an empty stat, the turnover gave the Buckeyes possession at the Miami 41-yard-line, setting up a Fields touchdown scamper just three plays later.
Finally adding a pick to his resume, Okudah is one step closer to attaining his preseason goal of 3-6 interceptions in what will likely be his final season in Columbus.
Entire article:
https://www.thelantern.com/2019/09/ohio-state-football-five-takeaways-from-week-4/
Great question!
