Bye week offers Ohio State time to rest, improve
EAST LANSING, MICH. — Ohio State completed a successful business trip at Michigan State with a 49-20 win Saturday.
Next up is a week off to rest and reassess.
“I just think overall we played good football on the road, certainly not perfect,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “We got a little sloppy in the fourth quarter, but we just wanted to get some guys out of the game and make sure that we got to the bye week as healthy as we could.
“We’re looking forward to getting to the bye week, looking forward to getting guys healthy and reflecting on the things we did well and the first six games but also projecting where we need to be and where we need to go.”
The Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) moved up to No. 2 in the AP poll Sunday, ahead of Alabama, who struggled to beat Texas A&M.
Ohio State won despite missing their leading rusher (Miyan Williams) and the man who was supposed to be their top receiver ( Jaxon Smith-Njigba).
Quarterback C.J. Stroud was more than fine without his top target, throwing for six touchdowns for the third time in his career and shaking off an early interception that was returned for a touchdown.
He proved last season he could sling the rock with the best of them, but Day has praised Stroud’s leadership since the beginning of offseason workouts.
The veteran has helped bring along less-experienced receivers Julian Fleming, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, but of course their talent and development has made for a mutually beneficial relationship.
Their jobs have been a little easier thanks to Day and his staff leaning more on the run
ning game this season after forgetting about it at times last year.
That is despite Williams and TreVeyon Henderson both missing games because of injury.
Henderson returned to run for 118 yards in just over a half Saturday, and thirdstringer Dallan Hayden looked solid again with 70 yards on 14 carries. The staff also involved receivers Egbuka and Xavier Johnson in the running game while continuing to develop what they can do out of multiple formations and position groupings.
“It all starts with the running game,” Day said. “When you are running the ball well, it opens up a lot of things. I give our offensive staff a ton of credit.”
He called offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson the best offensive mind in the country and highlighted contributions from receivers coach Brian Hartline, running backs coach Tony Alford and new offensive line coach Justin Frye.
“We’ve got some really bright minds in there, so you go in there and come up with different ideas and the best idea wins, but it all starts with the physicality up front and running the football effectively and that opens up everything else,” Day said.
“You saw some of the balance there. We were able to run the ball and then we had some of the play action (passing) that came off of that. C.J. was excellent today. Marvin had some big catches, Emeka played strong and Julian had a big play.”
At the midway point of the regular season, Ohio State is No. 1 in the nation in scoring (48.8 points per game) and pass efficiency while ranking second in total offense (543.7 yards per game).
But there is admittedly curiosity about just how good the Buckeyes could be if they actually had everyone healthy for the same game.
“I don’t really think we have a limit,” Stroud said. “I’m super excited to get Jaxon back and of course with Miyan just to see where we are at full strength. I think at the end of the day we need to press this bye week and continue to get better and hopefully they come along.”
Stroud leads the nation in passing touchdowns (24), passing efficiency, yards per completion (15.4) and yards per attempt (10.9) while Harrison is No. 1 with nine touchdown catches.
“I feel like it is rare in today’s day in age where you have a full deck,” Day said. “Just with the way the game is played now typically you have to play depth and we know that. And when we talk about in the preseason who is your tailback going to be, we always say you are going to need two. Don’t know how it is going to shake out, but we are going to need two. How about at receiver? We are going to need five. You just know we are going to need this many guys because things happen, but it is exciting to know that if we can get everybody back in there at full strength then certainly we can put a lot of stress on defenses.”