It wasn’t pretty, but these are the games that teams and players grow from. Ohio State struggled against a very good Indiana defense that sent a ton of pressure right up the middle and forced fields to make mistakes. The only part was that Indiana couldn’t capitalize on the mistakes.
A big positive for the Buckeyes was a running game that finally got going and was effective for most of the game. Another thing to take away is that when Fields had time to throw in a clean pocket he made smart throws. When he decided to take off he took yards in chunks. He has some work to do, but this was a good test to see what he needs to build on. Not his best game by any stretch.
The offensive line struggled with the twists and stunts up front but opened up good running lanes. Going forward, Ryan Day and his staff have to work on the issues Indiana brought to light. The running backs did do a good job picking up blitzes, but the pass rush was still a little too much for the offensive line at times.
On defense, the Buckeyes were getting killed by pick plays, really the only plays that were working against them. Shaun Wade getting an interception was great to see, as was completely stopping the run. However, there is a noticeable lack of pass rush and gap control in the secondary.
4-0#GoBuckeyes pic.twitter.com/cYvUK9mkDy
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) November 21, 2020
It is worth noting the officiating was not good all the way around this game. Not just for Ohio State, but there were a lot of bad or missed calls. This is no excuse for the performance, but there is some context that needs to be stated.
This looked every bit like a matchup between top ten teams, but there were some troubling things in this game. Ohio State has a lot to work on from this game. Beating a top 10 team is never easy, but this one seemed to be closer than it should have been.
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