Buckeyes vs Indiana, the Aftermath

Buckeyes vs Indiana, the Aftermath elevenwarriors.com By Chris Lauderback MAYBE GARRETT WILSON IS RIGHT Back in late August, Garrett Wilson met with the media and sounded like he was auditioning to be fellow receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba's hype man. Wilson described JSN in glowing detail, saying things like, "he's the most natural athlete I've ever seen" and "Jaxon is as good as I've ever seen, probably the best I've ever seen." Yes, everyone knew Smith-Njigba would build massively on his 2020 spot-duty stats of 10 catches for 49 yards but through seven games this year, he's been elite. Last night, JSN led the Buckeyes with six catches on six targets for 99 yards including big plays of 32 (OMG that Stroud throw) and 25 yards but honestly, his 5-yard catch on the opening possession of the game was my favorite. Smith-Njigba hauled in a shallow cross on 2nd-and-4, yeah so what, but then made like three defenders miss with a flurry of purposed moves designed to move the sticks. His start/stop, fluid ability and smarts all registered on "just another play" in a 47-point win. All season, the national talk about Ohio State's receiving corps has focused on Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave being the best duo in college football - totally accurate obviously - but the discussion needs to shift to where JSN fits in the list of the season's best pass catchers. Wilson leads the Buckeyes with 605 receiving yards (86 ypg) but Smith-Njigba is next with 551 and Olave is close behind at 518. Jaxon's posted at least 93 receiving yards in four of seven games and his 19 yards per catch leads the trio. DIRTY THIRTY Lol that second quarter was something. Already leading 14-7 entering the second frame after a TreVeyon Henderson touchdown run with 1:25 left in the first quarter, Ohio State posted a 30-0 edge in the second to take a 44-7 lead into the half. Henderson picked up where he left off, finding the end zone on a 14-yard screen pass, Indiana gave OSU a safety, Olave snagged a 16-yard touchdown pass on 3rd-and-12, Henderson scored again, this time on a 6-yard jaunt, and Jeremy Ruckert caught a 14-yard strike with 31 seconds left to cap the second quarter bonanza. On defense, in addition to the safety which was a 4-and-out, the Buckeyes forced two 3-and-outs and then the Hoosiers took a knee, before taking a gurney into the locker room. The defense didn't give up a first down in the second quarter while Ohio State's offense recorded 11, leading to a total yards disparity of 181 to -5. Stroud was ridiculous, completing 10-of-13 for 116 yards and three touchdowns, paving the way for another reserve-filled second half. IN DEFENSE Indiana's offense was in rough shape to begin with, thanks to injuries particularly at quarterback but you still have to feel good about the continued progression from Ohio State's defense. Twitter was ablaze after Indiana's opening 15-play, 75-yard scoring drive that saw it convert four straight third downs, averaging 3rd-and-8 no less, but it was a different ballgame after that. Five of Indiana's 10 first downs came on the drive. In the 39 offensive snaps after its touchdown, Indiana generated 53 total yards, good for 1.4 yards per play. Ohio State put up another five sacks and swarmed the run, holding the Hoosiers to a sack adjusted yards per carry of 2.1. Overall, Indiana averaged 1.3 yards per carry. Indiana was held to just 128 total yards which according to our own Dan Hope is the sturdiest performance by a Buckeye defense since 2017 against Illinois (105). The Hoosiers reached Ohio State territory just once after their opening drive and seven of their 10 drives after the early touchdown failed to advance past their own 30. Also of note, the defense didn't give up a rushing touchdown for the fifth straight game. Since Oregon's Travis Dye ran for a 5-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter, Ohio State opponents have logged 186 carries without a touchdown. Pretty impressive especially when you consider the Buckeyes gave up six rushing touchdowns over the first two games of the season. WELCOME BACK, MIYAN After missing the Rutgers and Maryland contests, running back Miyan Williams was back in action last night and made the most of his touches. Despite getting nicked up, Williams carried it eight times for 60 yards, good for 7.5 yards a pop, including a touchdown. After starter (and best running back in the nation) TreVeyon Henderson took a shot early on Ohio State's opening possession, Williams trotted onto the field and promptly carried it five times for 38 yards, including an 11-yard scamper to open the scoring. Obviously, Henderson is The Man in Ohio State's backfield but a capable backup is a must-have and a healthy Williams again looked like the clear-cut best option for that role. After starting a couple games early, then missing time the last few weeks, Williams' body of work consists of 40 carries for 314 yards, good for an impressive 7.9 yards per try. He doesn't currently the criteria to land on CFB Stats' rushing leaders page but that yards per carry number would be good for No. 8 nationally. RUCKERT'S PATIENCE ENJOYS REWARD Coming into the season, the annual discussion on if Ohio State's tight end(s) would be featured more prominently in the passing game was fueled by Day suggesting during Big Ten media days he'd love to get Jeremy Ruckert over 30 catches this year. Through Ohio State's first six games however, Ruckert had just 11 receptions with four of those coming against Rutgers which also included his lone touchdown of the season. Last night was a different story however as Ruckert recorded a career-high five catches for 47 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The two scores pushed his career touchdown reception total to 12, moving his past John Lumpkin into second place in school history. He's now just one touchdown grab away from tying Jake Stoneburner for the school record and if not for a Matthew Jones illegal man downfield penalty wiping out another touchdown last night, Ruckert would already share the top spot. It was great to see Ruckert featured more prominently after his decision to come back this year. He's a team-first dude, the kind of guy you need to maintain the culture Day demands in his locker room. We'll see if he gets to the magical 30-catch mark - no Buckeye's done that since Ben Hartsock in 2003 - but even if he doesn't, you know he'll be blocking his ass off and providing leadership while waiting for his number to be called. Stats from OSU vs Indiana Ohio State Passing C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT QBR C.J. Stroud 21/28 266 9.5 4 0 97.8 Kyle McCord 5/6 51 8.5 0 0 97.1 Jack Miller III 2/3 35 11.7 0 0 63.9 TEAM 28/37 352 9.5 4 0 -- Indiana Passing C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT QBR Jack Tuttle 4/7 41 5.9 1 0 56.3 Donaven McCulley 1/6 30 5.0 0 0 8.3 Grant Gremel 3/4 9 2.3 0 0 6.0 TEAM 8/17 80 4.7 1 0 -- Ohio State Rushing CAR YDS AVG TD LONG TreVeyon Henderson 9 81 9.0 2 25 Miyan Williams 8 60 7.5 1 11 Evan Pryor 11 48 4.4 0 16 C.J. Stroud 3 1 0.3 0 9 Jack Miller III 1 -3 -3.0 0 0 TEAM 32 187 5.8 3 25 Indiana Rushing CAR YDS AVG TD LONG Trenten Howland 5 17 3.4 0 8 Stephen Carr 10 13 1.3 0 10 Chris Childers 2 10 5.0 0 10 Donaven McCulley 11 9 0.8 0 15 Davion Ervin-Poindexter 1 7 7.0 0 7 Jacolby Hewitt 1 6 6.0 0 6 Team 2 -1 -0.5 0 0 Grant Gremel 1 -6 -6.0 0 0 Jack Tuttle 4 -7 -1.8 0 5 TEAM 37 48 1.3 0 15 Ohio State Receiving REC YDS AVG TD LONG Jaxon Smith-Njigba 6 99 16.5 0 32 Garrett Wilson 5 59 11.8 0 21 Jeremy Ruckert 5 47 9.4 2 15 Marvin Harrison Jr. 2 34 17.0 0 20 Emeka Egbuka 2 29 14.5 0 24 Chris Olave 2 24 12.0 1 16 Cade Stover 1 18 18.0 0 18 TreVeyon Henderson 1 14 14.0 1 14 Chris Booker 1 11 11.0 0 11 Joe Royer 1 9 9.0 0 9 Evan Pryor 2 8 4.0 0 10 TEAM 28 352 12.6 4 32 Indiana Receiving REC YDS AVG TD LONG Peyton Hendershot 5 35 7.0 1 15 Ty Fryfogle 1 30 30.0 0 30 Miles Marshall 1 12 12.0 0 12 Javon Swinton 1 3 3.0 0 3 TEAM 8 80 10.0 1 30 Ohio State Fumbles FUM LOST REC No Ohio State Fumbles Indiana Fumbles FUM LOST REC Team 1 0 0 Stephen Carr 1 0 0 Jack Tuttle 1 0 0 TEAM 3 0 0 Ohio State Defensive TACKLES MISC TOT SOLO SACKS TFL PD QB HUR TD Bryson Shaw 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 Tommy Eichenberg 4 3 0 2 0 0 0 Teradja Mitchell 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 Jack Sawyer 3 3 0 0 0 1 0 Kourt Williams II 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 Lathan Ransom 3 2 0 0.5 0 0 0 Jerron Cage 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 Cody Simon 3 1 0 0.5 0 0 0 Zach Harrison 2 2 1 2 0 0 0 Ty Hamilton 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 Marcus Williamson 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 Antwuan Jackson 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 Ronnie Hickman 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Haskell Garrett 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 Tyreke Smith 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 Team 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Demario McCall 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Sevyn Banks 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 Javontae Jean-Baptiste 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Ryan Batsch 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Cade Kacherski 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Steele Chambers 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 Jacolbe Cowan 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Cameron Martinez 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Tyleik Williams 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 Taron Vincent 1 0 0.5 0.5 0 0 0 Palaie Gaoteote IV 1 0 0 0.5 0 0 0 J.T. Tuimoloau 1 0 0.5 0.5 0 0 0 Michael Hall Jr. 1 0 0 0.5 0 0 0 TEAM 53 37 5 14 1 1 0 Indiana Defensive TACKLES MISC TOT SOLO SACKS TFL PD QB HUR TD Jaylin Williams 7 5 0 0 2 0 0 Noah Pierre 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 Micah McFadden 6 5 1 3 0 0 0 Raheem Layne II 6 5 0 0 0 0 0 Bryant Fitzgerald 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 Cam Jones 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 Michael Ziemba 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 James Miller 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 Devon Matthews 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 Aaron Casey 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 Josh Sanguinetti 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 Weston Kramer 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 Peyton Hendershot 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Alfred Bryant 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Marcelino McCrary-Ball 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 C.J. Person 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Demarcus Elliott 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 TEAM 51 41 1 4 5 0 0 Ohio State Interceptions INT YDS TD No Ohio State Interceptions Indiana Interceptions INT YDS TD No Indiana Interceptions Ohio State Kick Returns NO YDS AVG LONG TD Emeka Egbuka 1 42 42.0 42 0 TEAM 1 42 42.0 42 0 Indiana Kick Returns NO YDS AVG LONG TD Jacolby Hewitt 2 33 16.5 17 0 TEAM 2 33 16.5 17 0 Ohio State Punt Returns NO YDS AVG LONG TD Garrett Wilson 1 20 20.0 20 0 TEAM 1 20 20.0 20 0 Indiana Punt Returns NO YDS AVG LONG TD Ty Fryfogle 1 0 0.0 0 0 TEAM 1 0 0.0 0 0 Ohio State Kicking FG PCT LONG XP PTS Noah Ruggles 1/1 100.0 26 7/7 10 TEAM 1/1 100.0 26 7/7 10 Indiana Kicking FG PCT LONG XP PTS Charles Campbell 0/0 0.0 0 1/1 1 TEAM 0/0 0.0 0 1/1 1 Ohio State Punting NO YDS AVG TB IN 20 LONG Jesse Mirco 2 80 40.0 0 0 45 TEAM 2 80 40.0 0 0 45 Indiana Punting NO YDS AVG TB IN 20 LONG James Evans 6 252 42.0 0 0 62 TEAM 6 252 42.0 0 0 62