Ohio State vs Oklahoma Recap

5 Things from Oklahoma Loss
By Chris Lauderback

HAS IT COME TO PASS?

Urban Meyer was defiant in his defense of J.T. Barrett during the postgame interview and anyone who follows Five Things knows I've been a Barrett defender (to the point of apologist) for the last couple years. 

My personal defense has been the product of not just faith in Barrett but even more so a belief the right side of the line and the entire receiving corps were at least equally to blame. 

Last night was Groundhog Day as Isaiah Prince was again a turnstyle in a pass pro against a legit opponent and Barrett's happy feet and indecisiveness had him throwing late to a group of receivers he still doesn't trust whatsoever, and who in my limited view once again didn't have a ton of separation. 

And it didn't help that too many plays seemed hellbent on rolling to the short side of the field, toward a right tackle who can only run block, giving plays little time to develop. 

The first half saw Barrett complete 5 of 11 throws for a mere 25 yards, complemented by 10 largely predictable quarterback runs, as Oklahoma dared the brain trust and players to execute anything more than 10 yards downfield. 

Barrett went 14 of 24 in the second half for 158 yards with a pick and at least one near pick but most of that was in what was, in reality, garbage time aided by Oklahoma playing soft due to score and clock considerations. 

The current formula in big games of relying on dink and dunk passing coupled with a ton of obvious QB runs while mostly ignoring talented running backs and the interior offensive line simply isn't good enough to beat a legit defense as we've seen against Clemson and Penn State last year, Michigan State the year before that and on and on. 

So if Meyer is going to stick it out with Barrett – which for the record, I would too at this point – something schematically and/or on the personnel/coaching front at WR has to change or else it will be Groundhog Day again in about six weeks when Penn State rolls into town. 

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, IT SHOULD'VE BEEN WORSE

The scoreboard showed 31-16 but the reality is that it should've been more like 50-16 which couldmatter if Ohio State's playcalling, pass offense and pass defense get its collective shit together, a la 2014, over the course of the season. 

Ohio State was beyond lucky to be tied at 3-3 going into halftime thanks to Oklahoma's continual self-inflicted wounds including: 

•  Turnover on Downs after a nine-play drive to the OSU 36 stalled via a questionable 4th-and-4 fade route that fell incomplete.
•  Fumble on the 11th play of a drive reaching the OSU 23
•  Fumble on the 5th play of a drive via a backward pass after reaching the OSU 48
•  Missed FG on the 8th play of a drive after reaching the OSU 20

Those Sooner missteps somehow kept the final score within two possessions and if by some minor miracle Ohio State pulls it together and makes a run, the memory of what actually transpired last night could soften a bit over the next three months especially if Oklahoma makes a run. 

MUSHY IN THE MIDDLE

The entire back seven looked lost but the linebackers in particular were a disaster in coverage. 

Credit Mayfield and the Sooner offensive staff for repeatedly dialing up opportunities for Chris Worley, Dante Booker and Malik Harrison, in particular, to bite hard on play fakes and get lost in coverage against tight ends, backs and slot guys all night long. 

Two particular daggers included Worley and Booker both getting out of position on Mayfield's 36-yard touchdown toss to Dimitri Flowers tying the game at 10-10 and Harrison getting roasted on an 18-yard touchdown to Lee Morris giving Oklahoma a 17-13 lead. 

Similar issues occurred last week meaning there's plenty of work to do in coverage across the linebacking corps. Worley, to my admittedly untrained eye, was fairly solid in coverage last year but not so much through two games as the man in the middle. 

Booker, in his fifth year, is a bigger concern going forward since his play has been marginal enough that Greg Schiano and company have inserted the true sophomore, Harrison, quite often though the combined results have been equally unsteady over the short sample size. 

SHOWING SOME LEG

On a quest for positives, let's talk about punter Drue Chrisman and plackicker Sean Nuernberger.

Chrisman, a redshirt freshman, had another stellar evening with all four punts landing inside the 20 with a net of 45.8 and exactly zero return yards: 

•  Punt 1: 52 yards to the OU 9
•  Punt 2: 36 yards to the OU 13
•  Punt 3: 48 yards to the OU 13 (though a bunk kick catch interference penalty moved it to OU 28)
•  Punt 4: 47 yards to the OU 8

Chrisman's excellent night comes on the heels of last week when he punted six times, landing three inside the 20 on a 45.3 yard average. 

Through two games, Chrisman and the coverage team have yet to yield a return yard with seven of the 10 punts downed inside the 20. 

On the scoring front, Nuernberger, who was a forgotten man on the roster and said to be in a dogfight with true freshman Blake Haubeil through spring and fall camp, converted 3 of 3 field goals last night, connecting from 24, 24 and 32 yards. 

Those numbers build on last week's 2 for 2 performance (27, 19) giving Nuernberger a nice little streak – albeit via chip shots – to start the year. 

This could be a significant development if Ohio State's offense is going to struggle converting in the red zone against good teams. 

Props to both guys for being early bright spots. 

SEASON ON THE BRINK?

As much as last night was a clown show, it's important to remember it's early. 

Your confidence level could rival mine as far as whether or not the deficiencies can and will be addressed in time for it to matter but the reality is it's a long season. 

OSU OFFENSE: LAST 5 GAMES

OPPONENT	TOT YDS	POINTS
OKLAHOMA '17	350	16
INDIANA '17	596	49
CLEMSON '16	215	0
MICHIGAN '16	330	30
MICHIGAN ST '16	310	17
AVERAGE	360	22

The blueprint is already there for an early loss to not prove fatal and Ohio State's strength of schedule at least provides an opportunity to get back into the mix. 

That said, the previous blueprint relied on guys like Zeke, Mike Thomas, Devin Smith, Vonn Bell, Eli Apple, Darron Lee and others to step up and I'm not sure there are enough wide receivers, linebackers or defensive backs on the roster capable of matching the growth and production realized from the 2014 crop that bounced back from the Virginia Tech ambush. 

Right now, the chief focus has to be on an offense that has averaged just 22 points over it's last five games which is boosted by the 49 against Indiana. Points have been tough to come by thanks to an average of 360 total yards per game which also received an Indiana-boost (596) but has otherwise failed to put up more then 350 yards in four of five games. 

Hey, at least the sun came up this morning. 

10 Things We Learned from Oklahoma Loss!
by Tony Gerdeman

1. Now we know why the Ohio State passing game looked so good in practice.

The Buckeyes are dead last in the nation in pass defense after two weeks. That’s 130th place, if you’re keeping count. They are allowing 403 yards passing per game, and now we know why there was so much talk from players and coaches about the passing game looking good and making plays during spring and fall camp.

2. Kevin Wilson is not a magical elixir.

Over the first two games, Oklahoma and Indiana have shown how easy it can be to throw the ball, but the Buckeyes have shown us how difficult their reality is. I still believe Kevin Wilson is a good fit for the Ohio State offense, but it’s clear that the passing game is going to require more than simply a healthy sprinkling of his offensive pixie dust.

3. J.T. Barrett has trust issues.

After the game, J.T. Barrett said the issue with the passing game was that Oklahoma was dropping back into a zone and he needs to do a better job of trusting his throws and trusting that his receivers will be where they need to be. He said he could improve on not second guessing himself against the zone defense. My question to this is if the quarterback doesn’t trust himself, how much longer can the coach trust the quarterback, and should he even trust him at all?

4. Urban Meyer has trust issues.

Urban Meyer said after the game that he is not considering a quarterback change, which means that he doesn’t have the trust in anybody else to be a better option. Or maybe he has too much trust in J.T. Barrett? Regardless, the Buckeye offense will ride and die with Barrett at quarterback, and the fan base will be justifiably angry with any continued struggles on offense this season. There are also trust issues with the running backs. Meyer lamented the lack of carries for the running backs, but this issue has now spanned three offensive coordinators, four different starting running backs, and three starting quarterbacks. The common denominator is the head coach.

5. Everyone else has trust issues when it comes to Ohio State.

It is important to remember that this was just game two and the season is far from over. It was not that long ago when the Buckeyes lost the second game of the season in 2014 and went on to win a national title. The difference here, however, is that almost nobody outside the program expects a similar turnaround. The offensive coaching staff has changed, but we’ve seen this story before. Putting up another 600 yards against Army and UNLV and Maryland won’t mean anything. A win over Penn State would help, but the only thing that will fix the trust issues is a win over a national power outside of the Big Ten, and I’m not sure anybody sees that happening at this rate.

6. The Buckeyes have a punter.

When the one bright spot of a game is your punter, you have already lost. Still, redshirt freshman Drue Chrisman had four punts, averaging 45.8 yards with each kick, and putting all four punts inside the 20-yard line. He hasn’t been a surprise, but more of a pleasant confirmation of what was expected. He’s just way too busy right now, though.

7. The linebackers were exposed.

Man, that was a mess of a defensive effort in the passing game. Do people have more respect for Luke Fickell now? Lincoln Riley’s offense had the Ohio State linebackers looking like they were playing on ice. They were spun every which way. Passes were completed in front of them, but especially behind them. There were several plays where it looked like this was the first time they had ever experienced a play-action pass. Maybe this is why there is still a competition between Dante Booker and Malik Harrison. For being arguably the most athletic group of Ohio State linebackers ever, they defended the pass like a group of stiff run stoppers. We’ll find out down the road how much of the problem is scheme and coaching, and how much of the problem is the players. From the looks of last night, there is plenty of blame to go around.

8. This was a much bigger game for Oklahoma than Ohio State.

Lincoln Riley said as much after the game. They were focused on this game and they wanted payback for the way they lost last year. This was a challenge to their manhood and they responded. For Ohio State it was a big game as well, but they didn’t have the same reasons for wanting this game. I don’t know how much that impacted the game, because Ohio State could have wanted it more, but if they can’t defend the middle of the field, then nothing would have been any different. Credit the Sooners for putting the kind of weight that they did on this game. They prepared well and executed well. Just be happy they made as many mistakes as they did, or else this one could have been a four or five-touchdown difference.

9. There is no respect for J.T. Barrett’s passing from the opposition.

Indiana coach Tom Allen said their plan of attack was to take advantage of OSU’s inaccurate quarterback. Oklahoma, meanwhile, dropped in a zone and forced Barrett to fit the ball into windows. Allen ended up being surprised by Barrett’s accuracy in the second half. There was no such surprise for the Oklahoma defense. Then there were also the comments from Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and their defense leading up to, and following, the playoff game last year. Urban Meyer is confident in Barrett, while the opposition is confident that he can’t beat them. This is a disappointing situation to be in for a program that recruits as well as Ohio State and has as many proven coaches on offense as they do.

10. Greg Schiano is very concerned.

Ohio State gave up 420 yards passing to Indiana in the season opener. Many of those yards came from quick hitters on the outside that saw perfect placement and tremendous hands. The yards came in one-on-one coverage situations on the outside, which is very different than where the 386 yards came from against the Sooners. The middle of the field was a playground for the Oklahoma offense, and they did it without their best pass catcher, as tight end Mark Andrews missed much of the game with an injury. Schiano said the issue last night was mistakes and poor coaching. Problems like that can be corrected, which is good news. The pass defense will look much better in the immediate future against Army, UNLV, and Maryland, but it won’t make a difference until we see what they do against Nebraska and Penn State. There is plenty of time to fix the issues, but having this many issues is absolutely a concern.

(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

And so, it has come to this.

Urban Meyer, in his sixth season at Ohio State, is at a crossroads. He hasn’t done it, doesn’t want to do it, and claims he hasn’t even considered doing it. But it need to be done.

He needs to bench J.T. Barrett.

This claim is not made lightly. It’s not Monday-morning quarterbacking. It’s not dramatic prisoner-of-the-moment drivel. It’s not clickbait.

It’s simply the right thing to do.

Ohio State was embarrassed on the national stage yet again Saturday night, with Oklahoma spanking the Buckeyes, 31-16, in Columbus. If not for a series of self-inflicted errors by Oklahoma, the 15-point margin of victory would have been much worse. Ohio State scored just one touchdown and forced just one punt.

Other than that? Boomer Sooner, baby. Big time.

It would be unfair to pin the loss solely on Barrett, who finished 19-of-35 for 183 yards and an interception. No, this was a team effort. Ohio State’s defense has allowed 927 yards through two games, including 806 through the air, not to mention six passing touchdowns. That unit, which lost three first-round picks from its secondary, looks like a shell of its former self.

And yet, Ohio State’s offense will – and should – dominate the national Buckeye narrative. Why? Because in their last three games against elite competition (Michigan, Clemson, and Oklahoma), the Buckeyes have scored just two offensive non-overtime touchdowns. And one of those touchdowns came on a 13-yard “drive” set up by a Wilton Speight interception and a Jim Harbaugh penalty.

Two regulation touchdowns. In three games. That’s it.

Barrett’s passing stats in those three games: 44-of-100 (44 percent) for 434 yards (144.7 yards per game), zero touchdowns, and four interceptions.

At this level, against that competition, that ain’t gonna cut it.

Urban Meyer, however, isn’t ready to concede defeat. When asked Saturday night if he would at least consider – consider! – a change at quarterback, Meyer said, “No. No.”

This defies logic.

The QB cupboard at Ohio State isn’t bare. It’s full. It’s plentiful. Dwayne Haskins, Tate Martell, and Joe Burrow were all highly ranked recruits who, if given a chance, could succeed in a Kevin Wilson offense. Last year, Barrett had his flaws, but the offensive line, receivers, and play-calling didn’t do him any favors. Wilson, who turned Indiana into an offensive juggernaut, was supposed to change that. Through two games, he hasn’t.

Will he? Well, that depends on Meyer.

Look, Meyer and Barrett have history. Good history. Barrett was the first quarterback Meyer recruited to Ohio State. When Braxton Miller went down for the season in 2014, Barrett stepped in and, as a redshirt freshman, guided Ohio State to a 12-1 regular season. Cardale Jones got the glory for his brilliant three-game stretch, but the Buckeyes don’t win the national title without Barrett.

But that was then. This is now.

Then, Barrett was a Heisman Trophy contender. Now, he’s a lost cause – or close to it. When Barrett drops back, nothing comes easy. Nothing. On Saturday, Baker Mayfield, who torched Ohio State for 386 yards and three touchdowns, was a video game; Barrett was a toddler trying his hand at Madden. Mayfield was wheeling and dealing all night. He oozed confidence. He was in the face of every unit before every possible game-changing play or series. His leadership was apparent, his focus singular, his execution flawless.

Barrett was a decrepit fifth-year trying to feel his way out of a phone booth. On the edge of a cliff. On a moonless night. He seems not only reluctant, but terrified, to throw downfield. When he actually musters the courage to do so, his receivers either drop would-be touchdowns or whiff completely.

It’s sad.

The optimist will point out parallels between 2014 and 2017: bowl loss to Clemson the previous season, shaky Week 1 performance, embarrassing two-score prime-time home loss in Week 2. In 2014, Ohio State responded with 13 straight wins to claim its first national title since 2002.

This year feels different.

Yes, all three national champions in the playoff era lost a home game. Two lost home games in September. Two lost home games to unranked teams, including Clemson a season ago.

Don’t expect Ohio State to continue that trend. The Buckeyes have lost three of their last nine games and, one could argue, should have lost a few more.

If anyone deserves the benefit of the doubt, it’s Meyer, who has won three national championships and is 62-7 at Ohio State. But since winning it all in 2014, his teams have routinely come up short in big spots. Meyer, in particular, has often played not to lose, quarterback-running his way into three-and-outs and leaving his defense out to dry.

Head coaches are at their best when following a simple maxim: dance with who brung ya. Meyer, for whatever reason, often goes against this for no apparent reason. In a November 2015 home loss to Michigan State, Ezekiel Elliott carried just 12 times. Ohio State scored 14 points, lost by a field goal, and missed the playoff. With the damage done, Meyer got back to basics. Elliott carried 57 times for 363 yards and six touchdowns in his final two college games, as Ohio State beat Michigan and Notre Dame – both top-10 teams – by a combined score of 86-41.

Why Elliott was not given more carries against Sparty, no one will ever know.

Need a more recent example? Sure, no problem. In his first collegiate game, J.K. Dobbins carried 29 times for 181 yards (6.2 yards per carry) against Indiana. On Saturday, he carried just 13 times – for 72 yards and a touchdown. That’s a 5.5 yards-per-carry average, folks, and this was a 17-13 game in the fourth quarter. Why was Dobbins not more involved?

Ohio State had 1st-and-Goal midway through the third quarter with a chance to go up seven and seize control. Might be a good time to hand off to Dobbins, right? Wrong. Kid wasn’t even on the field. Instead, it was quarterback run, quarterback run, incomplete pass, field goal.

By the time the Buckeyes threatened again, the game was out of reach.

Meyer has a monumental yet fixable problem on his hands. He has stacks of top-five recruiting classes but nothing to show for it. The Buckeyes are talented, but they are not elite – and they will not be elite without a change at quarterback.

Barrett has won big games and holds numerous records. In fact, he’s a couple of touchdowns shy of Drew Brees’ Big Ten record. Barrett will pass Brees, but he should do so not as a starter, but rather, as a change-of-pace backup orchestrating a run-heavy package. Meyer has four lay-ups upcoming – Army, UNLV, Rutgers, and Maryland – to experiment with new arms and legs. He should. If he doesn’t, it will define Ohio State’s 2017 season and, quite possibly, his legacy in Columbus.

Even with a new OC, Ohio State’s play-calling remains an enigma. The quarterback play, however, is not. It’s as straightforward as it gets – and painful to watch.

Opposing defenses have figured out J.T. Barrett. It’s time for Urban Meyer to do the same.