Takeaways from rewatching Ohio State-Texas

Here is another regular feature coming to the newsletter (unless I can get someone else to pay for it to appear on their website in the future). I’m not going to be going heavy into Xs and Os (probably), but I like to watch the game again so I can take a closer look at what went on, especially in the trenches because that is really tough to analyze live.

Upon further review, that game might have been even better for Ohio State than I thought.

Maybe I was grading difficult on a curve for the Buckeyes in the first place, trying not to be too impressed with one game.

The most interesting things I heard after Ohio State beat Texas

Of course any time you beat the No. 1 team in the nation, it’s a big deal. You have to do a lot of good stuff to pull that off.

But watching the game again made me feel like much of what did not go right for Ohio State is correctable. Again, that is not a shock, but it is good to confirm.

Also rewatching after the tension of game day has passed often makes recognizing when the other team just made a good play easier.

There were certainly a few instances of that, including by Texas run defenders.

On the other hand, I think I noticed a few more Arch Manning plays that were just not great.

Here are a few thoughts…

1. I wondered about the run defense during the game, but looking closer there is less to be concerned about (for now at least).

New defensive coordinator Matt Patricia didn’t help the run defense much with extra people in the box, and both of Texas’ long drives included a lot of snaps for the No. 2 defensive line. They weren’t getting blown off the ball, but Texas did a good job at being efficient and grinding out yards at times.

These days a lot of defensive coaches don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing as long as they are not allowing explosive plays.

Saturday was a perfect example of why that has become the prevailing theory of defense right now because Texas struggled on third and fourth down and in the red zone but had a great rushing success rate and decent offense success rate. That ultimately netted them seven points.

With the lines on both sides, we’ll have to wait and see how good they all tend to be, but we know Texas has good running backs, and those guys made a few nice runs as well.

Ohio State tight ends have never been talked about like this before

2. What about the Ohio State running game?

The numbers weren’t good, but there is something to build upon.

A couple of times you have to tip your cap to a defensive player blowing things up, including twice when Alex January pursued from the backside to stop plays that might have been successful otherwise. Of course there were times Ohio State got stalemated at the point of attack, and that is going to happen in “matchup games,” but often the extra man in the box was the one making the tackle.

At the end of the game, they weren’t able to play keep away, but they did have a couple of nice runs before a holding penalty put them behind the 8 ball.

Timing and execution should improve with more in-game reps.

I liked the plan, which was more based on gap runs (“Power” and various counters) than zone, but they had good and bad moments with both.

West Virginia transfer C.J. Donaldson looked better than sophomore James Peoples hitting the holes and running more decisively. Donaldson looked especially good on the fourth-and-goal touchdown run when he got great blocks at the point of attack from Will Kacmarek and Bennett Christian. Freshman Nate Roberts (lining up at fullback) got just enough of a blitzing linebacker to give Donaldson room to slide into the end zone, and Donaldson got skinny and just pounded it up in there, knowing what he needed to get. Austin Siereveld and Luke Montgomery also had a good double team on the play side.

3. Ohio State better production from the punt game.

This is the second straight game at Ohio Stadium in which they were badly under water from a field position standpoint. It cost them the Michigan game and made the offense play uphill most of the day Saturday, although twice that was also a result of the Ohio State defense standing tall inside the 10.

The terrible field position certainly played into some of Ohio State’s numbers as Day was trying to avoid disaster. It also contributed to Texas having an advantage in stats, which doesn’t necessarily mean anything but happened nonetheless.

The most interesting things I heard after Ohio State beat Texas

4. This was another Jim Tressel-type game for Ryan Day.

And it was the best impersonation yet, perhaps by far.

If you stick with this newsletter for the long haul you might get tired of me equating things to the past, but it’s my newsletter so I’m probably going to do it anyway, and sometimes the similarities are just inescapable.

Saturday saw Day do something he might never have considered early in his career, something Urban Meyer would have hated as well. He showed no problem with throwing away a few plays for the greater good. They knew they had to run into loaded boxes at times to protect the young quarterback and hot defense, so they did just that.

Ryan Day's surprising QB comparison

However the last series of the third quarter Ohio State did come out looking to throw when it had decent field position after the interception, and the result was a touchdown drive that showed a little bit of everything Sayin can do. He took multiple check downs, hit Jeremiah Smith on a key third-and-medium then went deep for Carnell Tate for the touchdown.

And, what the heck, how about one more historical reference…

5. Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia deserves all the praise he is getting.

I wasn’t sure how he would mesh with the returning coaching staff, but the first showing was immaculate.

Last year Chip Kelly brought back Woody Haye’s beloved T formation, at least once in a while.

Saturday there were times Patricia brought back five-man fronts.

He even out something that could almost be mistaken for Woody’s preferred 5-2 defensive alignment.

This requires a little more imagination, but it’s not too much of a stretch as they had five linemen and one linebacker in what’s now known as a “Penny front.”

Yes, Woody would have had two linebackers out there, but the three-deep zone is consistent with his approach.

What really got me, though, is the use of Caleb Downs. That guy is a classic Monster back if I’ve ever seen one because he can cover but it very comfortable close to the line of scrimmage (and at times he was pretty much lined up in a linebacker position so it really was a 5-2 look).

Patricia also took advantage of the versatility of Arvell Reese to play off the ball or on the edge and used former safety Sonny Styles as a deep dropper into coverage at times to enhance his ability to disguise the scheme.

6. I wouldn’t give up on Arch Manning just yet.

Patricia did a good job of changing coverages and keeping Manning and head coach/play-caller Steve Sarkisian guessing, but a handful of times Manning just made bad throws.

The junior also had three or four times he uncorked great balls, and the athleticism was evident when he was on the run.

I am not questioning Manning’s recruiting ranking. He is a legit prospect for sure.

My big question is if they should have gone to him last season to prepare more for this one. Of course, they won the SEC and made the final four with Quinn Ewers, but Manning’s skills make the offense much more dangerous once they are developed (whereas Ewers was not a run threat and actually was somewhat limited as a passer, which is why he wasn’t drafted until the seventh round). Perhaps they could have done those things anyway with him, and they would be farther along this year, too.