Buckeye Recap - Tulane
Chris Lauderback www.elevenwarriors.com
OLD NO. 7
Dwayne Haskins, ladies and gentlemen.
In his fourth career start, Haskins ho-hummed his way to 21 completions in 24 attempts for 304 yards and five touchdowns.
That ridiculous 87.5% completion rate upped his season average to 75.7% and he has 16 touchdown tosses against one interception and 1,194 yards, or 298.5 per game. For perspective, Troy Smith holds the school's single-season completion rate record with a 65.3% mark in his 2006 Heisman Trophy campaign. Haskins is also making a run at Joe Germaine's single-season record or 277.5 passing yards per game.
Haskins made it four-straight games with at least 20 completions which is a record under Meyer at Ohio State. J.T. Barrett had three-straight games of at least 20 completions once each in 2017 and 2016. Haskins' next 20-completion game this year would also tie Barrett for the most games in the Meyer era of at least 20 completions in a single-season (5 in both 2017 and 2016).
Obviously, Haskins will face a much stiffer test next Saturday night in Happy Valley against a Penn State pass defense yielding 173.3 yards per game. But the way he's looked through the first four outings, it feels like the aerial attack will be tough to stop no matter the opponent.
Judging from the clean pocket, there's exactly a 95.5% chance this pass was completed.
IN THE ZONE SIX
Salute to Brian Hartline's unit, once again.
For the fourth-straight game, a different receiver led the team as Parris Campbell went bonkers with a career-best eight catches for 147 yards and a pair of scores (14, 37).
Campbell's huge day followed K.J. Hill's six-catch, 95-yard, two touchdown outing versus TCU, Johnnie Dixon's four grabs for 89 yards and a pair of scores against Rutgers and Terry McLaurin's four-reception, 121-yard outing with two trips to the endzone against Oregon State in the season opener.
Credit Austin Mack as well for his three-catch, 32-yard day on four targets featuring an acrobatic 14-yard touchdown grab after a four-drop night against the Horned Frogs. Dude is fine. I still say he has the best hands on the team or else he's right behind Hill.
And how about the downfield blocking today? Hartline's troops did work on the outside highlighted by Terry McLaurin, Binjimen Victor, Johnnie Dixon and C.J. Saunders, with Campbell often the benefactor as he leveraged key blocks to chew up YAC.
IT WAS ALL YELLOW
Welp, Ohio State still sucks at not committing penalties.
The Buckeyes came into the game ranked 84th in the country in penalties per game at 7.3 and pushed their tally to an even 8.0 per outing (105th nationally) after 10 flags for 89 yards against the Green Wave.
Left guard Malcolm Pridgeon committed, unofficially, his fourth penalty of the year which was also his third holding flag in four games.
Rashod Berry was flagged for a pair of holding penalties and now has, by my count, four penalties on the season also including three for holding.
Jake Hausman and Justin Hilliard both picked up unsportsmanlike conduct flags giving Ohio State four of those on the young season. The Buckeyes also have six false starts to date.
The mountain of miscues have yet to cost Ohio State a game but another 10 flags on the road in Happy Valley would be an ill-advised strategy.
Chase Young posted a TFL against Tulane giving him 3.0 on the season.
DEEP PENETRATION
Once again, Ohio State's defense, the defensive line in particular, set up shop in the offensive backfield, creating havoc all game long for Tulane's run-heavy attack.
The Green Wave actually managed to reach 100 yards rushing but on just 2.4 per attempt which even included a 38-yard burst from Corey Dauphine as the Buckeyes amassed four sacks and 14 tackles for loss, good for a 60-yard haircut to Tulane's net.
A blast from the past, Dante Booker did work in mop up duty with 3.0 TFL while the defensive line came up with 5.5 TFL led by Dre'Mont Jones' 1.5 and Tyler Friday's first collegiate sack.
The starting defensive front, attempting to replace Nick Bosa and Robert Landers, played just a half and should have Landers back for Penn State. The group will need to come up big next week considering the back seven's struggles to eliminate big plays. Containing Penn State's Trace McSorley and Miles Sanders starts up front with Chase Young, Jones, Landers and Jonathon Cooper.
WHAT'S THE RUSH?
Ohio State's offense has been lighting up the scoreboard behind an electric aerial attack but what about the running game?
It's admittedly tough to evaluate particularly in blowouts because so many reserves see action. That said, the rushing attack has realized a decrease in rushing yards and yards per carry in each of the four games thus far.
| OPPONENT | RUSH ATT | RUSH YARDS | YARDS PER CARRY | TOUCHDOWNS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OREGON STATE | 53 | 375 | 7.1 | 5 |
| RUTGERS | 40 | 225 | 5.6 | 2 |
| TCU | 42 | 182 | 4.3 | 1 |
| TULANE | 38 | 151 | 4.0 | 2 |
J.K. Dobbins carried it 11 times versus Tulane for 55 yards and Mike Weber registered six carries for 18 yards before leaving with a gimpy ankle that had him in street clothes after the half though Meyer said post-game Weber would be good to go for next weekend. During a first half featuring mostly the starting lineup, the Buckeyes totaled 97 yards rushing on 4.6 a pop.
Averaging 4.0 yards per carry for the full game, if you adjust for sacks, Ohio State's yards per carry climbed to 4.7 against the Green Wave.
Of course, against Ohio State's toughest foe to date, TCU, Dobbins looked impressive rushing for 121 yards on 18 carries (6.7 ypc) so I'm not intending to cause alarm here, just saying it would be nice to see Ohio State's rushing attack looking a little more lethal and, obviously, see Weber at full strength for Saturday night.
by Tony Gerdeman www.theozone.net
1. If you give Dwayne Haskins time, it’s over.
In just four games, you know how I know we’ve gotten spoiled by Dwayne Haskins? On his first touchdown pass of the day to Parris Campbell, it was noticeable that the pass was a little behind Campbell and almost batted down by the defender. In other words, it wasn’t perfect and it stood out. If that’s any other quarterback, it’s just a touchdown pass. With Haskins, passes stand out when they aren’t perfect, as opposed to most quarterbacks whose passes stand out when they are perfect.
2. This was Parris Campbell’s turn.
In week one against Oregon State, Terry McLaurin caught four passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. In week two against Rutgers, it was Johnnie Dixon with four receptions for 89 yards and two touchdowns. In week three against TCU, it was K.J. Hill with six receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown. Each week, somebody different from Zone 6 stepped up to lead the team, and this week against Tulane it was Parris Campbell’s turn. In one half of play, Campbell caught a career-high eight passes for a career-high 147 yards and a career-high two touchdowns. Now that the Zs (McLaurin, Dixon) have been taken care of, as have the Hs (Hill, Campbell), maybe next week it will be the Xs’ turn.
3. Jashon Cornell is a Big Ten starting defensive end.
With Nick Bosa out, every Buckeye defensive end moves up one spot, which meant that fourth-year junior Jashon Cornell moved from the No. 4 spot to No. 3. He is now going to be counted on to perform like a starter, and that’s exactly what he did against Tulane. He finished with three tackles and a tackle for loss. When Cornell is healthy, he has good strength and burst to penetrate into the backfield against the run. Watching him against Tulane, he looked like he could be starting at a number of different Big Ten programs. For the Buckeyes, he is going to be very involved next week in stopping Penn State’s running game, and after four years of waiting, he is definitely looking forward to it.
4. Dante Booker looks healthy.
Throughout camp and into the first couple of weeks, there were mentions here and there that Dante Booker was being brought along slowly in his return from an injury. On Saturday, it looked like he had finally arrived. Booker played very well, tying for the team lead with four tackles — all solo. He also tied for the team lead with a sack, but his three tackles for loss put him all by his lonesome at the top of the leaderboard for the Buckeyes. It was notable that starter Pete Werner didn’t notch a single tackle on the day. Will Booker’s play reopen the battle at Sam linebacker for Ohio State?
5. There is still a place for Demario McCall.
It was a bit of surprise to see Demario McCall on the field against Tulane, but only because we don’t normally get to see him. With freshman tailback Brian Snead still presumably in the doghouse, McCall was essentially the No. 3 running back on the day, rushing for 26 yards on four carries. He also caught two passes for 36 yards. As the No. 4 H-back, life is going to be tough for McCall, but if he is going to make plays in blowouts, then the coaches will take notice. I’d like to see him at kick returner, but he must not be executing properly in practice.
6. Baron Browning is getting better.
For the first time this season, sophomore middle linebacker Baron Browning was making plays. Maybe watching a bit more now with Tuf Borland back in the starting lineup has helped him. Browning had a sack on third down and a tackle for loss on a first-and-goal run from the OSU 1-yard line. Greg Schiano has talked about finding specific roles for the linebackers as he subs in unique packages. If he and linebacker coach Bill Davis can figure out what those roles can be, then maybe the Buckeyes will start making more plays. As an aside, which is much larger than an aside, not a single starting linebacker recorded a tackle in this game. Some of that is due to the defensive line making tackles, but not all of it. Some of it may be due to the option offense, but not all of it. Some of it may be due to the lack of playing time. Perhaps all of these reasons together spell it out better, but it still might be the first time in modern school history this has ever happened.
7. The middle linebacker spot is still a question mark.
Three middle linebackers played for the Buckeyes on Saturday. Tuf Borland got the start and didn’t record a tackle. Browning was the No. 2 and finished with three tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a sack. Justin Hilliard came in and notched a pair of tackles, including a TFL. Borland certainly had opportunities for tackles, but was knocked to the ground once and whiffed on at least one other. When I asked Urban Meyer at Big Ten Media Days how long it would take Borland to be ready to play once he was cleared, he said immediately. I think we are seeing that “being ready to play” and “mid-season form” are two very different things. The Buckeyes need Borland to be his best next week in Happy Valley.
8. Michael Jordan put in the work to get his snaps back straight.
After watching low snap after low snap from center Michael Jordan against TCU, there were no such issues Saturday against the Green Wave. According to Urban Meyer, that’s because they made it a focal point through the week and Jordan responded well. Of course, a cynic would say that the only time Jordan has had issues this season is against a defensive line that posed a problem. Saturday night in Happy Valley, there will once again be a defensive line to be concerned about. Will the concerning snaps follow?
9. The penalties have to stop.
The Buckeyes were flagged 13 times on Saturday, but only 10 of the flags were accepted. Twice there were offsetting penalties and a third time there were two flags on the same play and only one could be accepted. They were flagged 11 times in the first half, which is completely unacceptable. Ohio State is 112th in the nation in penalty yards, averaging 74.5 yards per game. They are averaging eight accepted penalties per game. Next Saturday night they will need to be smarter than they have been so far this year.
10. It’s time for the running game to stop playing possum.
The Buckeyes have had diminishing returns each week with the running game. They have gone from 375 yards against Oregon State, to 225 yards against Rutgers, to 182 yards against TCU, and then just 151 yards Saturday against Tulane. Ohio State averaged 3.97 yards per carry yesterday, which is the first time they’ve been held under four yards per carry since 31-0 against Clemson. The lack of the quarterback run is likely playing a part in some of the running game struggles, but keep in mind that in four of the past five years, the Buckeyes have been held under 200 yards rushing in two of their first four games. They eventually pick up the pace, and that’s precisely what they’d like to see happen this coming weekend against Penn State. Unless, of course, it’s just easier to throw the ball.
No comments:
Post a Comment