COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State is 2-0 against ranked opponents when I’m away at weddings.
The Buckeyes won at Notre Dame last year and beat Penn State 20-13 in a top-five matchup on Saturday. You’re welcome, Ryan Day.
All jokes aside, the latter was the more impressive performance, especially knowing the offensive line was put together just a few days before the game. Still, there are things Ohio State will want back because it could’ve put the game away earlier.
But as I watched the game on Sunday, it was hard to nitpick that performance.
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Here are a few things I liked from the game and a few extra thoughts.
Impressive final drive
I expected Ohio State to move Donovan Jackson to left tackle, but Carson Hinzman playing left guard was a surprise. There was no sign of Austin Siereveld at right guard as Tegra Tshabola got every snap there.
That group put together a strong performance with Seth McLaughlin at center and Josh Fryar at right tackle.
Will Howard (18) sealed Ohio State’s win at Penn State with a run for a first down on Saturday. (Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
We can’t put all of our concerns about the offensive line to bed because of one game. Teams will test the line in new ways the rest of the season, but it was dominant in the final drive of the game.
Ohio State averaged 2.38 yards before contact in the game, a vast improvement from the .79 it averaged against Nebraska. On the final drive, Ohio State averaged 3.2 yards before contact.
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The biggest play, which was 10 yards before contact, was this one from Quinshon Judkins.
Ohio State hasn’t had a hole that big in weeks. Even though Fryar technically missed two people on the right edge, he did enough to push them into each other.
There were things you love to see here. The first two were the burst and cut by Judkins. He got through that hole quickly, made one cut and was up field. And Tshabola, who was 5 yards off the ball blocking a linebacker, allowed Judkins to get up field. Tshabola wasn’t perfect on the day, but it’s good to see him playing better with the extended snaps. He should be the full-time right guard going forward.
Here was a nice counter play that Ohio State messed up against Nebraska but got right this time.
Again, Tegra did a nice job pulling and picking up Abdul Carter on the edge. Gee Scott did a nice job, too but he didn’t even have to block anybody because Carnell Tate came inside and got a hand on Penn State cornerback Zion Tracy.
This was a dominant play by the offensive line.
Penn State initially got a nice push, and McLaughlin got pushed back, but he held up enough for TreVeyon Henderson to hit the hole.
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What I like here was the backside: Hinzman came through and got to the second level, which gave Henderson a few extra yards, which set up Ohio State for second-and-short and this huge play on third down.
The irony of this play, Will Howard sealing a game with a slide after the Oregon loss, is funny. Running Howard more was a major talking point all week, and he carried the ball 12 times for 24 yards, none bigger than this one.
Credit, again, to Scott, who was great on this drive. He had a block that sealed the edge for Howard because, without that, Howard would’ve been tackled in the backfield and Ohio State’s defense would’ve needed one more stop.
The theme of this drive was execution. Ohio State’s offensive line wasn’t perfect, but this was as impressive a drive as I can remember this season.
This was the only drive I couldn’t watch live, actually, because the ceremony started at the worst time, but watching it Sunday night reminded me of how Michigan beat Ohio State in Ann Arbor last year. The Wolverines went 56 yards on 13 plays and ate up seven minutes in the fourth quarter, running the ball down Ohio State’s throat. That was the case with this drive, Ohio State seemed in complete control, which should be a confidence-builder going forward.
Clutch misdirection
Chip Kelly called a fantastic game.
Yes, the offensive line played great when it needed to, but Kelly didn’t enter the Penn State game with a plan to run straight at the Nittany Lions, knowing the questions up front.
He has used misdirection all season to get the ball in the hands of his playmakers and play to the offensive line’s strength. He did it again on Saturday, and Penn State struggled against it.
Before we get to the Emeka Egbuka touchdown catch in the first quarter, we have to acknowledge the plays before it.
There were three straight runs, and the first was just an inside handoff to Judkins for 11 yards. The second was an option pitch to Judkins that went for 22 yards, again keeping the defense’s eyes in multiple spots and putting the defensive line in conflict.
The next play was a toss to Henderson, which went for 5 yards. All three plays went to the short side of the field. So on second-and-5, Kelly decided to put Howard under center.
Penn State’s front was expecting a run to Henderson, and with Egbuka, Scott and Tate all lined up at the line, that’s what it looked like. As the ball was snapped, Tate and Scott stayed in to block and while Penn State was preparing for a run or quick throw to the flat, Egbuka sneaked out of congestion and streaked down the field for a wide-open touchdown.
It was a perfect play call and a perfect sequence.
When a team has a new offensive line, it has to use misdirection to keep the defense on its toes, and the Buckeyes did that a lot on Saturday. But misdirection, just for the sake of misdirection doesn’t fool anybody. Kelly schemed it all together well.
Elite red-zone defense
Ohio State’s defense was lights out. This win was another reminder that if Ohio State can limit big plays, it’s going to be hard for people to score consistently because moving the ball isn’t easy.
Penn State did a nice job on this drive, its best of the game. It went 74 yards in nine plays, but the hard thing about long drives is scoring in the red zone.
Ohio State is giving up a touchdown on just 35.29 percent of its red-zone opportunities. That is third nationally and the best in the Jim Knowles era. It’s the best since Ohio State finished second with a 37.50 percent touchdown rate in 2016. It’s a massive improvement from where Ohio State was in 2021, giving up a touchdown on 31 of the opponent’s 42 red-zone trips, an abysmal 73.81 percent, good for 124th nationally.
It starts up front.
Ohio State had a nice mix of rotation with its defensive line. Ty Hamilton played the most snaps with 47, but after that, nobody played more than 42. Kenyatta Jackson played 15, Eddrick Houston played six, Caden Curry played five, and Kayden McDonald got 10 snaps, none more important than in the red zone.
This was a massive play by McDonald. He has gotten a lot of praise for his strength, and it’s on display on this play. He was the nose tackle in the middle of the defensive line that pushed the Penn State front 2 yards back and stopped this play from going anywhere. He did a tremendous job of setting the line in these situations, and with the rest of the talent up front, it’s hard to run straight at Ohio State on the goal line: For some reason, Penn State tried to do it three times in a row and failed.
That leads me to the second point, Ohio State has a good secondary. We’ll talk more about that group later, but usually on the goal line, those players are in the right spots. Teams might win a fade ball from time to time, but Ohio State’s secondary knows its job, and that’s how it got the fourth-down stop.
This might seem like a bad play by Penn State, but it wasn’t drawn up to go where it went. It was supposed to be a quick throw to the flat to Tyler Warren, but Lathan Ransom played it well.
Penn State wanted the slot receiver next to Warren to chip Ransom, who was in man coverage. If the play had worked, Ransom would’ve been stuck in no man’s land, but he read it right away and got around Davison Igbinosun to stop that route in its tracks.
That forced Drew Allar to quickly go back across the middle and force a throw that wasn’t there.
When Ohio State is sound in its assignments and gaps like this, it’s hard to score, especially inside the 5-yard line, which Penn State learned. The Nittany Lions needed to be more creative than that.
Some extra thoughts
- During the summer, I told somebody that Penn State’s receivers had no chance against Ohio State’s corners. I’m fairly certain I wrote that in my season predictions. I thought Ohio State could have a lot of success running press man and stifling a Nittany Lions group that doesn’t have a true NFL receiver on the roster. I was right. Sure, there were some questionable calls, but the officials called just one defensive holding or pass interference penalty on both sides. I like it when the refs let the players play, and that’s what Saturday was. Penn State’s first completion to a wide receiver came at the 1:27 mark of the second quarter. Ohio State was everywhere. Allar completed 12-of-20 passes for 146 yards and one interception. He was more efficient than the 18-for-42 he threw for last year, but the result was the same: a struggling offense. This should give the secondary confidence going forward.
- How about Jayden Fielding? After missing a field goal last week against Nebraska and having Day double down on his confidence in his kicker, Fielding knocked in two field goals, including a 46-yarder (his longest of the season).
- Lastly, the more I see Howard, the more I’m convinced he’s the right quarterback for this roster. He’s not perfect, by any means. The pick six was a terrible play, and the fumble into the end zone was bad — those are 14 points Ohio State missed. Howard’s deep ball needs work — he led Tate out of bounds on a route that should’ve been a touchdown. Still, Howard can be a weapon with his legs. His play on fourth-and-1, when he evaded a free rusher and threw to tight end Jelani Thurman, is something that never would’ve happened last year. And when you mix in his legs with the physicality of the running backs in the blocking game, you add a dynamic to this offense that wasn’t there before. Howard isn’t a first-round or maybe even a second-day NFL draft pick. But through eight games, he has been solid. He’ll need to cut down on turnovers going forward if Ohio State wants to win a national title, but he never gets rattled, rarely makes the same mistake twice and adds to this offense.
(Top photo: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
