Offensive explosiveness, defensive uncertainty
Editor’s note: After each Ohio State football game, beat reporters Bill Rabinowitz and Joey Kaufman discuss the lasting storylines and other key developments.
Ohio State opened the 2021 season Thursday night with a 45-31 victory over Minnesota.
C.J. Stroud overcame a shaky start in his starting debut at quarterback to throw for four touchdowns and almost 300 yards. The defense got a critical score when Haskell Garrett scooped up a fumble caused by Zach Harrison, but it’s clear there’s much work to be done on that side of the ball.
Next comes a potential top-10 showdown against Oregon at Ohio Stadium.
Rabinowitz: I expected the Gophers to test the Buckeyes, and they
certainly did. This game set up perfectly for Minnesota, which returned almost its entire team and had the benefit of facing a first-time quarterback at home. But in the end, Ohio State’s superior talent prevailed.
Kaufman: That talent was evident on offense, where you saw the Buckeyes’ explosiveness. Four of their five touchdowns were on plays of 71, 56, 70 and 61 yards. It’s something that can make up for a lot of other issues. Despite clunkiness, they can rip off a couple of chunk plays and get ahead by a comfortable margin. Must be nice.
Rabinowitz: Let’s start with Stroud. He admitted to first-half jitters, which isn’t surprising considering he hadn’t thrown a pass in a game in two years. The interception — an off-target throw to Chris Olave — was not good, and he missed some early throws. But I liked that Ryan Day didn’t put the clamps on him and let him continue to take shots. With receivers like Olave and Garrett Wilson, smart move.
Kaufman: It was a performance by Stroud that basically mirrored the scouting report offered by the coaching staff, right? Wide receivers coach Brian Hartline mentioned his poise a couple of weeks ago, noting he was someone who didn’t get rattled and could bounce back from a poor throw. Obviously, it’s one thing to display that characteristic in practice. It’s another thing if it’s in a game with 50,000 people screaming at you. Stroud showed resilience in the final quarters.
Rabinowitz: We knew Stroud was going to be the quarterback and that Day would stick with him unless things became a disaster. We didn’t know how OSU would use its running backs. It turned out that the praise for Miyan Williams wasn’t just idle talk. He got the start over Master Teague. Williams proceeded to break a 71-yard touchdown run — and then didn’t play again until late in the second quarter while Teague and freshman Treveyon Henderson got reps.
Kaufman: Day said this summer that he’d be comfortable playing three running backs. Any more than that, it’d be tough for anyone to get in a rhythm. Well, they played four. Williams got nine carries. Marcus Crowley and Teague saw six apiece. Henderson had two in addition to catching a swing pass that he turned into a 70-yard touchdown. So three touches for him. It seems like the staff is still trying to get a handle on the rotation.
Rabinowitz: My suspicion is that eventually the bulk of the carries will be given to Williams and Henderson, but we’ll have to wait to see how it actually plays out. I really like the way Williams runs and at 5-foot-8 he’s hard to find among the trees on the Buckeye offensive line. Henderson is just a potential touchdown waiting to happen. Once he gets fully up to speed on the nuances of the offense, he’ll be tough to keep off the field.
Kaufman: I expect the same. Henderson looks like the clear most-talented running back. They’ve often taken a by-committee approach, but it’s hard not to see him meriting the biggest workload.
Rabinowitz: The Buckeyes averaged 7.7 yards per rush, so whoever gets the ball should do well behind that offensive line. Considering the talent at wide receiver, it’s not like opponents are going to stack the box.
Kaufman: They really rotated at a lot of positions. It wasn’t just running back.
A lot of subbing was on the defensive side of the ball. Really everywhere. In the secondary, and at linebacker, and on the defensive line. It feels like coaches are trying to better familiarize themselves with a roster that is thin on experience and heavy on underclassmen. There are very few established players.
Rabinowitz: I knew they’d play a lot of guys on defense. I didn’t know they’d play that many guys. We knew the Buckeyes would have new linebackers. We didn’t know that neither cornerback, Cameron Brown nor Sevyn Banks, would play and that freshmen Denzel Burke and Ryan Watts would be pressed into starting. There certainly were some growing pains, but that’s to be expected.
Kaufman: To give us some context, I looked up the snap counts on Pro Football Focus. Twenty-four defenders were on the field for multiple plays. Some of them, such as linebacker Dallas Gant, played nearly as much as the starter. Gant saw 41 snaps, while Tommy Eichenberg had 49. That’s really using a two-deep depth chart.
Rabinowitz: Day was asked about going so deep on the depth chart and said they wanted to use all the players who in practice had earned a chance to play. He added that the core group of defenders would eventually be whittled down. That’s what film study is for. Obviously, with Oregon up next, the Buckeyes need to have their best players on the field.
Kaufman: It’ll interesting to see what their film review uncovers. Did anyone impress the coaches enough to demand more snaps? There are enough options all around, so the Buckeyes’ rotations shouldn’t be in flux for long.
Rabinowitz: The Buckeyes are already preparing for Oregon, which played Fresno State on Saturday afternoon. The stakes for the game against the Ducks aren’t as high as their last meeting when Ohio State manhandled them for the 2014 national title. But a win over the Ducks will set the Buckeyes up for a month of games in which they should breeze.
Kaufman: Some comfort food is indeed on the horizon once they get past Week 2. Tulsa, Akron, Rutgers, Maryland, then an idle week. Lots to feast on in that stretch. brabinow@dispatch.com @brdispatch jkaufman@dispatch.com @joeyrkaufman