Rewatch notebook: Lessons Learned from Buckeyes win over Maryland
COLUMBUS — It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment when Ohio State finally snapped out of the lull.
But for at least the entire first half Saturday against Maryland, the Buckeyes offense just didn’t get it done. And while the defense did what it could to keep the Buckeyes from facing a steep uphill climb, Ohio State just looked flat for a large portion of the first two quarters.
Why? That’s still an unknown, but it cant happen against better competition, even as good as Maryland has been so far this year.
“I don’t. I wish I had an answer to it,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said when asked why his team came out of the gates so flat on Saturday. “But shooters keep shooting, you just keep shooting and push through it. But no, I don’t really have a good answer for it other than we got ourselves off schedule, and then found ourselves in some third-and-bad situations, which is why the third down [numbers] look the way it does. You know, one thing about third downs a couple weeks ago, we did a nice job of — we stayed in pretty manageable situations. This was not the case today. So, you know, didn’t quite get that done.
“But overall, I was pleased with the second half, but not the first.”
Day has good reason to be pleased with the second half Ohio State played, one in which it outscored Maryland 27-7 en route to a 37-17 win over the previously-undefeated Terrapins.
And on second watch of the game, Lettermen Row agrees. The second half looked good — with some clear issues still rearing their heads.
On the rewatch of the game, Lettermen Row has some notes and takeaways. Let’s dive in.
Ohio State defense bailed out poor offense early
I’ll give the Ohio State defense even more credit than I did when I watched the game live. Maryland could have scored 24 first-half points if the Buckeyes didn’t stand up and end Maryland drives when the Terrapins were driving. Ohio State continues to excel in short-yardage defensive plays, stuffing Maryland on a 4th and 1 deep in Buckeyes territory to get off the field. Ohio State also forced errant Taulia Tagovailoa throws by pressuring him nine times, according to ProFootball Focus advanced numbers.
And those pressures were felt. His second interception, thrown to Lathan Ransom in the Ohio State secondary, was caused by the pass rush.
Oh, and the pick-six by Josh Proctor truly ignited the entire sideline. Give Ohio State defensive credit for keeping them in a game that could have been a first-half blowout with the way the offense was playing. Ohio State is learning to win with defense, like I wrote here on Saturday night after the game.
Given the way the offense picked up the slack in the second half and began to find its rhythm, there’s reason to think Ohio State will be able to start games better on that side of the ball. But it’s also nice to know that a defense can help alleviate some of the early-in-the-game issues that are sticking with Ohio State.
Also, a round of applause for the Ohio State safeties, please. I wrote this in the immediate-reaction story on Lettermen Row. It all held up on the rewatch:
Ohio State was trailing Maryland 10-0 early in the second quarter. The Buckeyes offense looked sluggish, and the defense had already given up a score. And then Josh Proctor happened. The sixth-year Buckeyes safety stepped in front of a third-down pass, picked it off and scampered 24 yards for a touchdown, his first career touchdown. Proctor also had a touchdown-saving tackle on the first drive of the second half, although it didn’t matter as Maryland marched down the field and punched in a touchdown to take the lead anyway. As the Buckeyes sleptwalked through an inexcusable effort in the Horseshoe on Saturday afternoon, Proctor was a bright spot, continuing to make the most of his sixth year at Ohio State and show why he’s a key part of the defensive plan moving forward.
And then there’s Lathan Ransom and Sonny Styles. Ransom picked off another Taulia Tagovailoa pass to set up a Buckeyes field goal and Styles tracked down Tagovailoa on a critical third down late in the third quarter. All three of the Buckeyes safeties made major plays to help the defense — and set the struggling offense up for success. That unit is playing incredibly well for the Buckeyes right now.
Buckeyes must evaluate every single aspect of running game
Well, the Ohio State offensive line didn’t get it all figured out during the idle week. It’s safe to say that after rewatching the rushing game plod along and struggle to find any yardage against the Maryland defensive front. Whether it was pulling offensive linemen missing assignments, double-team blocks failing or offensive linemen failing to get to the second level to block free-running linebackers, Ohio State has a mess on its hands.
Ohio State certainly missed the burst from star running back TreVeyon Henderson on Saturday, but that doesn’t excuse the Buckeyes rushing for fewer than 2 yards per carry against Maryland. And while Chip Trayanum and Miyan Williams ran hard, they had to fight hard just to earn those yards per carry they could come up with. This offensive line is holding Ohio State back from having the offensive output Ryan Day and the rest of the staff expect. And the problems up front are reaching a breaking point for a running game that is stuck so far in the mud.
Kyle McCord finds footing, needs better start for Ohio State
Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord opened the game with a bounce pass incompletion to Marvin Harrison Jr. He didn’t improve much during his next few throws, either, starting Saturday 2 of 7 passing for just 14 yards. And then the switch was flipped, and he missed five throws for the rest of the afternoon.
All in all, McCord finished the day 19 of 29 for 320 yards passing — a career high — and two touchdown passes. He looked settled in and dialed in for the latter part of the day. So what’s with the slow start?
“He had a hard time early on getting a rhythm,” Day said. “As a coach, I have to try to help him and figure out how I can help with that. And then whatever it is, whether we have to go have him go run a few laps before we play the first drive or whatever it is, we’ll find a way to get him into a rhythm. Because you can see the talent is there. The ability is there. But he cares a lot. And, you know, as coaches we’ll will him get there.”
McCord did get there. Still, he was off on deep passes, underthrowing a would-have-been touchdown near the goal line to Julian Fleming and a deep ball to Marvin Harrison Jr. that could have been a long score, as well. He just seemed off, even when the offense began to hum Saturday.
Even with the shaky start and less-than-ideal throws, McCord finished the day with a career high in passing yards, a pair of touchdown tosses and a good distribution of the ball to all of his playmakers, especially with 15 targets to Harrison Jr.
Not bad for a quarterback that certainly didn’t have his best stuff. I’d say it was a positive step for the still-young — experience-wise — quarterback. He’ll continue to grow, learn and get better.
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