On Second Look: Indiana

Drew Thurman (2:54 pm)

Saturday afternoon while you were watching the mediocre slugfest between Ohio State and Indiana, I was at a golf scramble. Typically I wouldn't miss a Buckeye game for anything, but when I got the offer to play and saw the Hoosiers on the schedule, I thought watching on DVR would be just fine. Well, I guess I greatly underestimated what this game would be, which I realized as my dad ruined my golf game by giving me a text message play by play of the mess.

Since Saturday, I have had the chance to watch the game twice and break down what happened. Here is what stood out in my opinion...

The opening eight minutes set the tone for the game.

An accumulation of poor plays allowed Indiana to jump out to an early 10-0 lead and gave them hope that they had a chance in this game. Two in particular stick out: Drew Basil's terrible opening kickoff and Braxton Miller's lost fumble on the opening drive. Both of these plays gave Tre Robinson and the Hoosiers great field position, which they utilized to move the ball with ease against a sleepwalking defense. In fact, without a great individual play from John Simon on the opening drive, the Buckeyes could have easily been down 14-0 in the blink of an eye. Braxton's 81 yard touchdown would squelch some of the momentum going IU's way, but the damage had already been done. That 10 point lead gave them the belief they needed, and maybe more importantly, had to have changed things schematically for Bollman.

To me these first eight minutes were another lesson for this young team, and showed how far they still have to go. I understand the "hangover effect" and the difficulty of getting up emotionally after playing Wisconsin, but good teams don't just dial it in. The 1-8 record aside, Indiana is still a conference opponent. The Buckeyes on the other hand were 5-3 entering the game, not 8-0, and had to win this game.

Braxton looked like a freshman, and took far too many hits.

Yes, we know now Braxton can run the ball. He's shifty, he's quick, he's going to make things happen with his feet (105 yard, 2 TD). The hope going into this game, though, was that he would get into rhythm and gain some confidence in the passing game. Going 5/11 for 55 yards with one interception was a far cry was from what most hoped or imagined. This result can be credited to both Miller's erratic decision making and mechanics, as well as Bollman's unimaginative offensive strategy.

Like many freshman quarterbacks, Miller looks brilliant one moment then showcases his youth the next. Saturday he demonstrated this on numerous occasions. I thought he looked solid at the end of the first quarter on his third down strike to Chris Fields for 26 yards, then three plays later hitting Zach Boren underneath for 25 more. Two series later though, he would go 0/3 while not throwing the ball in the vicinity of his receivers. 

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Boiling it all down, Miller definitely struggled seeing the field properly, at times forcing throws in places he needed not to, while other times missing the guys he had open. For instance, to start the third quarter Miller locked into Chris Fields on 3rd and 18, and wound up picked off as he threw into double coverage. All along Stoneburner was running open underneath. That happened multiple times Saturday. To his credit, no one would be complaining about this as much had a few throws gone his way. I thought he threw a great ball to Corey Brown in the corner of the endzone, where pass interference should have been called. Another was the deep ball to Evan Spencer that was an easy seven points without pass interference.

Miller would also be helped out with a better strategy from Bollman, which I'm sure doesn't shock anyone. Bollman refuses to draw up some quick throws on first and second down that get his young quarterback in a rhythm and put him in a position to succeed. Instead, he continues to call play action passes and deep drops on predictable passing downs. By doing this he not only limited Miller's ability to make easy decisions, but put him in a position to get sacked 6 times and have to scramble more. While Miller did struggle to feel the pass rush, Bollman is to blame for putting him in lousy situations. At some point he has to start thinking about how many hits Braxton can take.

The defensive strategy was far too passive.

Before talking about some of the weaknesses I spotted, let me just say that the defensive line was solid. John Simon led the way with 10 tackles, three tackles for loss and a sack, while Johnathan Hankins and Garrett Goebel both contributed seven tackles each. Without the consistency of the defensive line week in and week out, this might have been exposed as one of the weakest Buckeye defenses in years.

As for the game at large, I would be very interested in finding out more on why Heacock and Fickell decided to come out with such a soft defensive strategy. My guess is that they figured a freshman quarterback without his top two receivers was bound to make mistakes on the road, but without attacking him, they did nothing to force them. Instead they put the defense on its heels, allowing Indiana to dictate the tempo and the back seven had to react to what was going on. While I wouldn't say Robinson picked apart the Buckeye secondary, the combination of the read-option and his success throwing on third down (7/11 on third down) was quite annoying. With more attacking and blitzes, I think Robinson would have been far less comfortable and effective.

The strategy also exposed how inconsistent the back seven for the Buckeyes truly is. Andrew Sweat had a solid game, but with Storm Klein and Etienne Sabino combining for two tackles, the overall play at linebacker was subpar. I thought Klein and Sabino played their best games against Wisconsin, but in this game they were non-existent. Like many others, I'm screaming for Ryan Shazier to get some more playing time. Every time he touches the field big plays happen, and he would bring an energy and athleticism at linebacker that currently is missing.

As for the secondary, they didn't have a good day either. Bradley Roby probably had his worst day of the year, especially on third down. Travis Howard was missing most of the afternoon outside of his interception. Christian Bryant looked good in run support (7 tackles) and I love watching him hit, but he looked lost in coverage. I noticed him getting burnt on a complete of different occasions. To their credit it is tough to keep your eyes on a mobile quarterback in the read-option while also accounting for your assignment, which was accented by the staff not attacking Robinson. With that being said, the way he was able to attack the middle of the field with such ease, including the 34 yard touchdown to Kofi Hughes, is just plain unacceptable. Go back and watch that play, the defense looks lost. 

I don't want to be overly negative, I love the potential for the future in our secondary, they just haven't arrived.

Boom Herron and Carlos Hyde looked great thanks to the offensive line.

The story of the afternoon was the Buckeyes ability to pretty much run at will. They had 346 yards on the day, with Boom Herron (141 yards), Carlos Hyde (105 yards) and Braxton Miller (105 yards) all eclipsing the 100 yard mark.

Herron definitely stood out when watching this game. Not only did he run the ball with authority, as usual, but his vision was very impressive. The last few games you could tell he was still adjusting to getting back into game action, and this week his 10.1 average per carry showcased that he is seeing the field and is officially back. What I was more impressed with was his blocking ability. He not only helped protect Braxton, but a his blocking sprung him loose on a couple of his biggest runs. You better believe the NFL scouts will notice that.

Hyde looked great too, and it seems his Twitter rant may have been justified. The guy is hands down the second best running back on this team. I like the versatility of Jordan Hall in the slot and as a returner, but he doesn't deserve more carries than Hyde. The proof is in the pudding. Both have had about the same amount of carries, yet Hyde has 513 yards and six touchdowns to Hall's 330 yards and two touchdowns. Maybe even more telling is that Hall is only averaging 3.9 yards a carry, and hasn't broken long for a run over 20 yards. Hyde is the kind of big, down hill runner that fits into Ohio State's scheme best, and the coaches have to take notice.

Finally, let's not forget that all of this is made possible by the offensive line. They won this game for the Buckeyes, and have proven themselves as one of the best units in quite awhile.  

There need to be more Buckeye stickers on those helmets.

One of the things that stuck out in watching this game was how few helmet stickers the players had. Even the best guys on the team hardly had one half of one side filled up. I'm glad these stickers are used as motivation tools, but at this point in the season I hate seeing such blank silver helmets. Fickell, Meyer, or whoever coaches next year needs to tweak Tressel's scoring system for handing those stickers out.

What makes them the best helmets in football is the helmet leaves, and I want them back!