Andy’s Analytics: Breaking down the numbers from Ohio State-Youngstown State

Lettermen Row is reviewing what went right and what went wrong for Ohio State every week. “Andy’s Analytics” is a series where beat writer Andy Backstrom identifies and breaks down Buckeyes statistical patterns game-by-game. Strap in for a dive into the depths of the box score and databases like Pro Football Focus.

COLUMBUS — It was a bit prettier than Ohio State’s 23-3, season-opening win at Indiana, but the Buckeyes’ 35-7 blowout of Youngstown State still wasn’t the offensive clinic Buckeyes fans are used to seeing.

For the most part, though, progress was made on that side of the ball.

Especially at the quarterback position, where junior Kyle McCord affirmed why he’s been QB1 each of the last two weeks. That’s where we’ll start in this week’s breakdown.

Kyle McCord hit his deep throws and looked comfortable doing it

Yes, McCord was up against weaker competition in Week 2 than he faced in Week 1. But he was markedly more efficient.

McCord played six of the Buckeyes’ nine meaningful drives. Redshirt freshman Devin Brown was in for the other three. Except, Brown played five more snaps than McCord, according to PFF.

This is a case where is less is more — McCord was more in control and needed fewer snaps to orchestrate touchdown drives than Brown, in large part because the third-year signal caller bettered his downfield accuracy from the opener at Indiana.

A week removed from completing just 3-of-13 passes traveling 10-plus yards downfield, McCord was 4-of-9 on those throws Saturday against YSU, including 3-of-5 on attempts of 20 or more yards, per PFF.

That went a long way in McCord passing for 258 yards and three touchdowns, two of which went to his former high school teammate Marvin Harrison Jr.

MCCORD PASSES TRAVELING 10+ YDSCOMP/ATT 10-19 YDSCOMP/ATT 20+ YDSWEEK 1 vs. Indiana2-of-101-of-3WEEK 2 vs. Youngstown State1-of-43-of-5Stat Source: PFF

Does Josh Simmons still have a penalty problem?

Ohio State left tackle Josh Simmons looks on during the season opener at Indiana. (Matt Parker/Lettermen Row)

Last year, as San Diego State’s everyday right tackle, Josh Simmons led all offensive tackles nationally with 17 penalties, according to PFF. Next was Hawaii’s Ilm Manning with 15 infractions.

Simmons, who transferred to Ohio State after the spring season, once again had laundry issues Saturday against YSU. He was penalized twice, first for holding and then for illegal hands to the face.

His holding penalty occurred on a 3rd-and-1 toss play in the first quarter. The run didn’t result in a first down regardless, but YSU did accept the penalty, setting up a third-and-long, which ultimately led to a Buckeyes punt. Simmons’ personal foul took place in the second quarter and took away a 13-yard touchdown from Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson. Simmons did bounce back later that drive, helping clear space for Henderson to find the end zone. But the redshirt sophomore, who is playing left tackle for the first time in his career, won’t always be fortunate to get those second chances.

So, about this new clock rule…

It keeps coming up again and again and again: the new clock rule. The NCAA actually made three clock rule changes this offseason for Division I and Division II, but the most notorious of the trio is the clock now running after first downs — as is done in the NFL — except for the final two minutes of each half.

I wrote about what went into that change and its early effects here. But, long story short, teams are getting less action — fewer possessions and, sometimes, fewer snaps — yet more media timeouts.

Ohio State has had 10 possessions each of the first two weeks of the season. Last year, the Buckeyes averaged 12.7 possessions per game.

So far, Ohio State’s opponents are taking advantage of the clock not stopping after most first downs. Both Indiana and YSU aggressively chewed time. Indiana ran the triple option, which is conducive for that strategy anyway, but YSU — featuring a more conventional offensive scheme — even ran the ball six times on third down, despite averaging 6.9 yards to go on third downs, so the Penguins could keep the clock moving.

“That’s why we took the ball early,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said postgame. “I felt like maybe that would be their game plan. I didn’t know that they would huddle and milk it all the way down to inside of 10 seconds and then try to run it on third down just to keep the clock going. But they did. And that’s smart on their end. Maybe some teams are going to do that more and more. And it does create a level of anxiety. Because we’re used to getting about 15 possessions a game and scoring 60 and 70 points [in these games].”

McCord added: “I think that has been a little bit bigger and important to the game than I think any of us realized. If you don’t get the ball first, and the other team goes down and puts together an 11, 12-play drive, you look up and you’re halfway through the first quarter, and you haven’t even touched the ball yet. So I think it just makes you realize every single possession matters, every single play matters.”

2022 SEASON, POSSESSIONS BY GAME2023 SEASON, POSSESSIONS BY GAMEGAME 1 vs. Notre Dame: 11GAME 1 vs. Indiana: 10GAME 2 vs. Arkansas State: 12GAME 2 vs. Youngstown State: 10GAME 3 vs. Toledo: 13TBDGAME 4 vs. Wisconsin: 12TBDGAME 5 vs. Rutgers: 11TBDGAME 6 vs. MSU: 12TBDGAME 7 vs. Iowa: 16TBDGAME 8 vs. Penn State: 13TBDGAME 9 vs. Northwestern: 12TBDGAME 10 vs. Indiana: 15TBDGAME 11 vs. Maryland: 11TBDGAME 12 vs. Michigan: 14TBDGAME 13 vs. Georgia: 13TBDPOSSESSIONS PER GAME AVG: 12.7POSSESSIONS PER GAME AVG: 10.0Stat Source: ESPN Gamecast

Ohio State generated more defensive pressure from the interior and second level than the edge

PASS RUSHING VS. YOUNGSTOWN STATEPRESSURESPASS RUSH SNAPSDT Mike Hall Jr.216LB Tommy Eichenberg27S Sonny Styles14DE J.T. Tuimoloau119DE Jack Sawyer114DE Mitchell Melton13DT Ty Hamilton110Stat Source: PFF

This was supposed to be the season. The highly-touted defensive end pairing of J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer were primed for breakouts in the second year of coordinator Jim Knowles’ system. Tuimoloau made fireworks last season, demonstrating his all-world potential at Penn State. Sawyer didn’t have that shining moment, however, it appeared as if he was held back by switching back and forth between Knowles’ hybrid “JACK” position (standup defensive end/linebacker) and D-End. The thought was, with Sawyer’s hand back in the dirt full-time, he and Tuimoloau could be a dominant force off the edge.

They, of course, were both top-five overall recruits when they signed with the Buckeyes in 2021.

It’s early, but, through two games, we’re still waiting on that superstar production. Neither have recorded a sack. But, as we know, sacks aren’t all telling. Pressures generated are a more comprehensive pass rushing stat. Except, Tuimoloau and Sawyer are lacking in that department, too, according to PFF.

Tuimoloau has three pressures in 33 pass rushing snaps, and Sawyer has two pressures in 25 pass rushing snaps, per PFF. Granted they’d have more pass rushing snaps if Indiana didn’t ride with the option Week 1, and if both Indiana and YSU didn’t pull out quick game stuff in the passing game as often as they did.

YSU quarterback Mitch Davidson’s average time to throw on all dropbacks was 2.50 seconds. Indiana quarterbacks Brendan Sorsby and Tayven Jackson averaged 2.56 and 2.68 seconds, respectively, for their dropbacks the previous week, per PFF. For reference: At the moment, a 2.50-second average time to throw on all dropbacks would be tied for 79th in the FBS among the 200 quarterbacks with at least 30 dropbacks this season, according to PFF.

So those are the caveats, but the Buckeyes’ defensive interior was facing those same quarterbacks and was more disruptive. Defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. has logged as many pass rushing snaps as Sawyer (25) but has five pressures, three more than Sawyer and two more than Tuimoloau. Ohio State’s three sacks this season have come from Hall, fellow defensive tackle Hero Kanu and linebacker Tommy Eichenberg. The only Buckeyes defensive end to register at least one full tackle for loss, by the way, is Caden Curry. Along with Hall and Kanu, defensive tackle Tyleik Williams also has a TFL.

But while all this — at least so far — doesn’t bode well for the draft stock of Ohio State’s defensive ends, namely Tuimoloau and Sawyer, it not might be the biggest of concerns for D-Line coach Larry Johnson and Knowles, the latter of whom also likes to uses his linebackers pressure the quarterback.

This is what Johnson said in August, after all: “When you talk about sacks, you’re talking about a stat. Just imagine having four guys to have the skill set to rush the quarterback and no one cares who gets the credit, because now all of a sudden, you have four guys having a major impact. J.T., Jack or KJ (Kenyatta Jackson), no matter who they are, they’re not as good unless my inside guys [apply pressure]. So it’s a combination of both. So we don’t look at stats, but we look at the unit stats. What are we doing as a unit? Are we applying pressure? Are we getting there?”

Right now, Ohio State is tied for 12th in the Big Ten in sacks per game with 1.5. Don’t sound the alarm just yet. We’ll learn more about the success of the unit, Tuimoloau and Sawyer included, this week against pass-happy Western Kentucky.

TreVeyon Henderson has his burst back

Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson keeps his balance while carrying the ball in a 35-7 win over Youngstown State. (Matt Parker/Lettermen Row)

Henderson hasn’t put up the gaudy numbers he posted as a true freshman in 2021 yet. But, against YSU, Henderson showcased the burst that made him a name to know his first year on campus — not to mention the twitch and swift change of direction that was missing most of last season after he fractured a sesamoid bone in his foot Week 3 against Toledo.

Only five of Henderson’s carries counted Saturday. He, notably, had a nine-yard gain wiped off the board in the first quarter because of a Carson Hinzman holding penalty and a 17-yard touchdown negated in the second quarter because of an illegal hands to the face infraction committed by Simmons. But Henderson still finished with a team-leading 56 rushing yards and a pair of scores.

As mentioned above, shortly after Simmons was called for his personal foul, he helped pave the way for a 13-yard Henderson touchdown, during which Henderson cut back inside, powered to the goal line, lowered his shoulder and stretched past the plane for six. Then, in the third quarter, Henderson used a little stiff arm to create separation before going 30 yards, practically untouched, to the end zone.

Henderson has already recorded two runs of 15 or more yards this season — and, really, three if you factor in the negated 17-yard touchdown that preceded his actual score. After his injury last season, he had just three such runs in his final five games, according to PFF. It’s a small sample size, but Henderson’s breakaway percentage — PFF’s metric for a running back’s percentage of rushing yards on designed attempts more than 15 yards — is 47.6%, right in line with his 2021 mark.

HENDERSON BREAKAWAY STATSRUSH ATT15+ YD RUNSBRKWAY YDSBRKWAY %20231724947.62022106616328.320211831859347.5Stat Source: PFF

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