First Posted: 11/2/2014
Here’s a Monday morning grade card after watching Ohio State pass a test that looked a lot like several others it had already aced this year.
But a much tougher test than Saturday night’s 55-14 win over Illinois awaits the football Buckeyes at Michigan State this Saturday night against the team that blew up OSU’s national championship plans last season.
OFFENSE
Quarterback J.T. Barrett’s performance was reassuring but not great. Barrett (15 of 24 for 167 yards and two touchdowns, 7 carries for 38 yards rushing) did not appear to be bothered by the knee sprain he suffered against Penn State. He was his own harshest critic, rating his overall game “poor.”
Barrett, who did not play in the second half after OSU built a 31-0 halftime lead, overthrew wide open receivers two or three times but also put a 32-yard touchdown pass to Devin Smith in the perfect spot.
Freshman Curtis Samuel got the start over Ezekiel Elliott at running back and scored two touchdowns in a move that coach Urban Meyer claimed was based solely on performance in practice. Jalin Marshall caught a pass, threw a pass and scored on a 30-yard run.
Backup quarterback Cardale Jones (5 of 9 for 82 yards, 2 TDs) and 47 yards rushing got the most playing time of his career and had a tackle that looked like something Joey Bosa would do on what was originally ruled a fumble but later reversed.
The offensive line allowed only one sack and the Buckeyes had more than 500 yards total offense for the fifth time in their last six games. But that is what was expected against a team that ranks last in the Big Ten in rushing defense, total defense and scoring defense.
Grade: A –
DEFENSE
Defensive end Joey Bosa was dominant again with three tackles for losses and two sacks, raising his season total to 14.5 for tackles for losses and 10 for sacks.
Linebackers Curtis Grant and Darron Lee had interceptions and lineman Steve Miller had three tackles for losses, a sack and forced a fumble in the biggest game of his career. Linebacker Joshua Perry was the leader in tackles for the fourth game in a row.
With starting quarterback Wes Lunt out with a broken bone in his leg, Illinois alternated Reilly O’Toole and Aaron Bailey at QB, but neither moved the team consistently against Ohio State’s first-team defense. Illinois didn’t score until less than two minutes were left in the third quarter and OSU was up 48-0.
Grade: A
SPECIAL TEAMS
Punter Cameron Johnston, who doesn’t have enough kicks to qualify for the national rankings, punted for 35 yards on his only attempt. Kicker Sean Nuernberger was 2 of 2 on field goals, including a 46-yarder.
Dontre Wilson had a 43-yard kickoff return and the longest kick return OSU’s special teams allowed was 17 yards.
Grade: A
OVERALL
When the worst thing that can be said about how a team played is that it could have been or should have been ahead by more than 31 points at halftime, it played pretty well.
It’s almost like Ohio State was getting two sets of grades as the game unfolded – one for how it was playing against Illinois and another for how those performances would be graded against Michigan State this Saturday.
The performances that got A’s against Illinois might translate into B’s and C’s at Michigan State.
Grade: A
