Buckeye 12-Pack: The Toledo Game

It’s back for another season. Every week I will watch re-watch the game and give you my 12 takeaways. Here we go…

No. 1– Ugh. It most certainly wasn’t a pretty win, but it was a win. I loved my Michigan buddies calling me to say that we almost lost to Toledo just like they lost to the Rockets a couple years ago. Um, no. See the big difference there is that Ohio State actually did win this game. That is actually the opposite of what Michigan (2008) and Penn State (2000) did.

Regardless, Toledo is not Akron. They are a much better football team with a couple of legit pro prospects in WR Eric Page and RB Adonis Thomas. They were spotted a gift TD on a blocked punt. They were forced to punt 7 times and turned the ball over on downs twice. That’s not a bad showing by the defense.

No. 2– Let’s start with the defense, because that is where the most positives are to discuss. Big time players make big plays when the game is on the line. John Simon was a beast in the 4th quarter. He only officially recorded one sack, but he was in the face of the Toledo QBs on seemingly every play. He made great plays in the running game as well. He is most definitely the dominant rusher on that defensive line. Hankins and Goebel also had decent games.

No.3– So far, Andrew Sweat has shined far brighter than MLB Storm Klein. Even Sabino has been more effective from the outside than Klein has been from the key spot in the middle. Klein did make a nice read of the quarterback to grab an interception, but he was also partly responsible for a couple of big gains by Toledo with missed plays, most notably the bubble screen to Page that turned into a 66 yard TD.

No. 4– This secondary is very young. They aren’t doing a bad job, but they will certainly get a boost this week as DBs Corey Brown and Travis Howard are reinstated (no, really this time), assuming they pay back the $200 gift they received. They will need all hands on deck going against Miami on the road. I do like what Dominic Clarke has shown in the first two games.

No. 5– Before we get to the offense, let’s talk special teams. We remember how bad they were last season? Despite the punt return for a TD, we saw that they still have some work to do. That blocked punt was terrible, and they nearly gave up a second later on in the game. Throw in another missed field goal (that’s 3 on the season, 2 officially) and I’d say that we have legitimate reason to be concerned. We are heading into the third game and we haven’t made a field goal attempt yet. This week’s game could be very close, and special teams play could be the deciding factor. Gulp.

No. 6– Offensively, I like what I see from Carlos Hyde. He isn’t a terrific athlete, and he isn’t likely to run away from many teams, but he runs hard. I would love him to develop a little better vision, but that only comes with repetitions. I don’t think he is a 25 carry/150 yard kind of back, but he is a nice option to have.

No. 7– That said, I was very unimpressed with Rod Smith’s uninspired runs. Forget the fumble for a second, he did not look good leading up to it. He didn’t seem to carry the ball with any sense of urgency at all. I’m not sure if he was trying to stay behind his blocker the whole time, but there were at least two runs that if he turned on a little speed he should have made the corner. On the play with the fumble it appeared that he finally did hit the edge with a little speed, but did not get the ball secured when contact happened. The circumstances surrounding that fumble make it a little more difficult to swallow than last weeks. Ohio State was driving for the nail in the coffin score there. Can’t give the ball up like that. He was very fortunate the Buckeye defense held.

No. 8– Speaking of uninspired, how about some of the play calling in this one? Three end arounds? After they stop it for a loss once, do you really think the same play is going to work? Especially the way the safeties were attacking the line of scrimmage. This was a very vanilla looking gameplan, which is fine to go into a game with that kind of plan, but you have to change it up if the situation calls for it. Can we get a play action pass from that I formation please? Toledo’s safeties were storming to the line at the snap from that formation. They were knifing through our line, especially on anything to the edge. A bootleg pass would have been huge. The best run of the day, a 36 yard Carlos Hyde TD, came from a passing formation. Shotgun with Berry to the left of Bauserman and Hyde to the right. Hyde ran left and found the hole off the tackle. No safety at the line. A nice block and he was sprung.

You have to be able to throw from running formations and run from passing sets. This isn’t 1970.

No. 9– Bauserman. Not a very impressive game. A 53% completion percentage against Toledo’s secondary isn’t the recipe for success. I know it is just his second start, and actually his first complete game as a college QB when you think about it, but I didn’t see a ton from him that instills confidence. His deep passes were not accurate at all. That is supposed to be his big advantage over Braxton Miller at this point, well that and his familiarity with the offense.

He was not able to escape pressure this week either. Perhaps we’re just used to Pryor and Troy Smith, but it seemed a few times that Bauserman should have gotten away from defenders and found an open man on the run. I know, that isn’t really his game, but there is a QB on the bench who has that game.

No. 10– Which brings me to the decision not to play Miller. I don’t like it. I think at minimum you should have a package, or a scripted series for Miller in every game. I said before the season started that I think the best chance you have to win tough games late in the season is if Braxton is making plays for this team. I think not playing him in this one took away a chance for him to get valuable experience in a tight game. I also think it would have opened up a lot of the field, especially for the run.

No. 11– The announcers were on top of this one. I don’t get the Fragel/Stoneburner rotation. My opinion is that Stoneburner right now is the most dangerous weapon the Buckeyes have. He should be on the field more often. He should also be used vertically a little more. That 4 yard drag crossing route they ran a few times just isn’t the best use of his talent. He made a first down once with it, but was stopped short a couple other times.

No. 12– Very tough game for the Buckeyes next week. At least they may be able to take from this week the experience of having to fight for four quarters. Hopefully they are able to pull out a big road win in Florida.