Tag: Justin Fields

Ohio State Football names its Players of the Week against Michigan

The Ohio State Buckeyes put a 29-point beatdown on their northern rivals, and it was behind the dominant performances of their four players.

The Ohio State Buckeyes put a 29-point beatdown on their northern rivals this past Saturday. From start to finish, it was all Ohio State after Michigan got out to a lead early.

Michigan took their first drive to the house and put up sixteen first-half points on the nation’s best defense. While that wasn’t expected, Ohio State did respond in a big way, scoring the very next drive.

The Buckeyes took a 28-16 lead into half time. After a 14-3 third quarter, the 42-19 ballgame was all but over as the sea of red started to crowd one of the endzone sections.

That said, Ohio State has released its offensive and defensive players of the week.

Offensively, it was J.K. Dobbins and Justin Fields.

There are no questions asked here.

Dobbins ran for 200-plus yards, averaging 6.8 yards per game. He found the endzone four times. Fields then threw for four more touchdowns and 302 yards, his second 300-yard performance of the season.

Defensively for the Buckeyes, they appointed Davon Hamilton and Jeff Okudah.

Okudah, the nation’s best corner and projected top-five pick, was all over the field against the Wolverines. Surprisingly, they opted to actually throw his way, ending the game with two pass deflections.

For Hamilton, he finished the game with four solo tackles, two tackles for loss and one big-time sack. Chase Young was neutralized against a sturdy Michigan front.

Moving forward, although they didn’t need the victory to clinch the Big Ten East, the Buckeyes will be taking on Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game this coming Saturday at 8 pm EST.

Justin Fields: Ohio State ‘takes (The Game) more seriously’ than Michigan

The Buckeyes QB said after the game it’s evident that OSU takes the rivalry more seriously.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. —  After what looked like an impressive start on the offensive side of the ball, Michigan’s defense was a sieve against Ohio State, allowing 313 yards passing and an astounding 264 yards rushing, en route to another Buckeyes blowout victory, 56-27.

Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson had his third-straight 300-yard game through the air, but with 250 of that in the first-half, it was a rough game in the second for the maize and blue.

Chalk a lot of it up to Ohio State being the superior team. But Michigan also had a lot of self-inflicted wounds, including a staggering amount of drops made by the wide receivers before the game got out of hand.

So why do the Buckeyes continue to dominate the Wolverines like this? Is it a talent gap that’s making the difference?

Perhaps, but that’s not how OSU quarterback Justin Fields sees it.

After the game, he feels like Ohio State flat out just cares more than Michigan does, thus, it perpetually rolls in The Game, each one getting seemingly more lopsided than the last.

“I just think that we take it more seriously than they do, I think,” Fields said. “We prepare for it all year. Like (Director of Football Mickey Marotti) said, we’re preparing for them next year right now.

“I think it just means more at Ohio State. That’s pretty much the bigger reason we have more success than they do.”

That’s not necessarily how Jim Harbaugh sees it.

“I thought our team was well-prepared, I thought they were playing good football, I thought it was a football fight,” Harbaugh said. “It got away from us today. Give them credit for playing well.

“Yeah — we really want to win the game — yes.”

Now the maize and blue have to lick their wounds for another year, as The Game won’t repeat until 2020 in the regular season finale in Columbus.

Ohio State prolongs Michigan’s misery with 8th straight win: 5 things we learned

Ohio State declawed its arch rival Michigan once again in a similar fashion as last year. Here’s five things we learned.

Michigan will have to wait yet another year to get a shot at Ohio State. The Buckeyes shook off a quick start from the Wolverines, got the big-play machine going and raced out to a big lead in Ann Arbor, then held on for their eighth-straight victory over Michigan 56-27.

The defense wasn’t it’s usual stout unit, but at the end of the day, you simply take the win in a rivalry game and move on. There were a lot of bizarre and unusual things that happened in this one, and plenty to take from what we saw.

As is customary, here’s five things we learned from yet another victory over That Team Up North.

Ohio State won the battle up front

Michigan’s defense has looked fantastic through the last few games. But … it had yet to meet an offensive line like Ohio State’s. This Buckeye O-line is big, strong, and athletic and were able to lean on the Wolverine front all game long.

The team that wins the rushing battle in this one wins almost every contest without fail, and you could see the control Ohio State and J.K. Dobbins had in making holes and pushing the point of attack. Sure, there were some big plays through the air, but the ground and pound was the difference in this one.

Next … soft in the passing game

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Buckeyes up on Michigan at half despite giving up big plays through the air

Ohio State used a big play offense and opportunistic mistakes by Michigan to go into the half up 28-16.

The Ohio State offense has been moving the ball in the typical fashion we’ve seen all year long and carry a lead of 28-16 over Michigan in the first half. However, it’s the defense that is looking suspect so far today. It might have something to do with the absence of Shaun Wade.

Wade was dressed and participated in the pre-game warm up, but has yet to make an appearance in the contest. His absence is being felt in a big way as the Buckeye D has given up more passing yards in one half than in any one game this season. Of course, it doesn’t help matters that the refs seem to be okay with the Wolverine offense line bear hugging Chase Young.

Hard to complain about a 12 point lead. We’ll see what the adjustments the Buckeyes can make at the half to slow down the Michigan passing game.

JK Dobbins has three rushing touchdowns and 103 yards, and passed Ezekiel Elliott to become the second all time leading rusher in Ohio State history behind only Archie Griffin.

The Buckeyes will have the ball to start the the second half.

 

 

 

Ohio State vs. Michigan: 5 reasons the Buckeyes win The Game

The Game between Ohio State and Michigan is getting closer and closer. Here’s five reasons the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines Saturday.

It sure seems like we’ve said this on more than one occasion, but Ohio State is most likely about to meet its greatest challenge of 2019. The turnover bug hit a little bit last week against Penn State to keep things close, but the Buckeyes have still beaten every opponent on the schedule by two scores.

Now comes the big one, the annual grudge match against Michigan. And even though Ohio State has rented out the Wolverine program like a cheap timeshare over the last couple of years, Jim Harbaugh seems to have this team playing its best football of the season.

Still, there’s no denying that OSU is the more talented and deep team across the board. Here’s five reasons the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines on Saturday at high Noon.

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Next … Athlete on athlete

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5 Players to Watch Against Ohio State

Michigan football takes on Ohio State in the season finale as the Wolverines try and pull off an upset. Who are the five players to watch?

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Michigan’s biggest challenge of the year, Ohio State, is this week as the Wolverines look to try and pull off something nobody has been able to do this season, beat the Buckeyes. Michigan is coming off a 39-14 win over Indiana. Ohio State is coming off a 28-17 win over Penn State that made the Buckeyes look human.

Ohio State’s playoff hopes are on the line this week as a loss would put them up in the air. A win in the Big Ten championship off a loss to Michigan would put them right back in the fight. A loss could still be something as if they beat Michigan, then lose in the title game next week, their season could be over. Beating Michigan gives them a cushion if they lose the conference championship game next week.

Michigan would love nothing more than to ruin the Buckeyes playoff hopes and undefeated season. For that to happen, they will need everyone to help out and contribute to their absolute best. Check out which five players to watch for Saturday’s game below.

1. QB Shea Patterson – MICHIGAN

When you talk about Michigan’s recent success, it all starts with the quarterback play by Shea Patterson. Patterson has been playing the best football he’s ever played lately, throwing for 1,001 yards, 12 touchdowns and an interception in his team’s four-game winning streak. Patterson is taking control of the offense and doing things we haven’t seen until recently.

He’s taking shots downfield, letting his receivers go up and grab the football where the defender can’t grab it. He isn’t running as much as he was earlier in the year, but that can certainly change this week when going up against the best defense in the country. Patterson needs to keep playing with the hot hand that he’s had recently if he wants to keep his record in Ann Arbor without a loss.

For Ohio State’s offense, their quarterback who is in the Heisman race this year…
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Five reason to be thankful as Ohio State fans

Ohio State fans might be spoiled, but that’s because of the success the Buckeyes have had over the years. Here’s 5 reasons to be thankful.

It’s Thanksgiving and we all have reasons to be thankful… food on the table, family and friends, health, and of course our Ohio State Buckeyes. We thought, on this day of thanks, it would be nice to share five things were thankful for concerning the Scarlet and Gray.

Only five reasons to be thankful? There’s plenty more, but we know you only have so much time before the tryptophan kicks in fast asleep in your La-Z-Boy.

Let’s give thanks.

No. 5 – The Transfer Portal

Let’s give thanks for the transfer portal. Without it, no Justin Fields. That’s not a knock on Tate Martell, but let’s be honest, Fields has been better than anyone could’ve expected.

Maybe Tate Martell could’ve been the guy for the Buckeyes this season. But Justin Fields has shown poise and maturity far beyond his years. His numbers aren’t as gaudy as some other QBs on nationally ranked teams, but he has been one of the best in college football all season long.

And without the transfer portal, Buckeye fans would have had to wait a year or maybe he never even transfers with the old rules of having to sit out a year.

Maybe the portal comes back to bite OSU in the future and we lose a prize recruit, but for now, we give thanks for the transfer portal that brought us Justin Fields.

Now about Joe Burrow … well – there’s that.

Next … the new head man in charge

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Wolverines face unique, yet familiar challenge in Justin Fields

Michigan’s defense has a tall task this weekend against Ohio State, and it starts with trying to contain Buckeye quarterback Justin Fields.

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Michigan has faced gunslingers at quarterback over the course of the last five seasons. The Wolverines have faced mobile quarterbacks too.

But in all the games Michigan has played since Jim Harbaugh took over in 2015, the Wolverines may not have faced a better opposing quarterback than Ohio State’s Justin Fields.

Fields is a combination of three Buckeye quarterbacks that gave Michigan nightmares. His size and passing ability rivals that of Dwayne Haskins. His speed and athleticism induces fear like Braxton Miller. And his grit and toughness reminds you of J.T. Barrett.

Let’s throw in a fourth, from a different era, just for fun:

Think Troy Smith, but bigger.

Fields’ ability to hurt a defense in multiple ways isn’t lost on Harbaugh, who had plenty of good things to say about the quarterback on Monday.

“Justin Fields has had a tremendous year, playing winning football at all times,” Harbaugh said. “Really athletic, runs the ball extremely well. Gets a lane, gets a throw, he’ll make the throw. And also when there’s a lane, he’ll escape and he’ll do damage with himself running the football.”

Completing 69.4 percent of his passes, Fields has thrown for 2,352 yards with a staggering 33 passing touchdowns against just one interception. He’s also carried the ball 105 times for 445 yards and 10 touchdowns. Due to this running ability, Fields is an especially frustrating guy to defend on third downs.

“He’s a good dual-threat guy,” Harbaugh said. “He can hurt you in the passing game. He’s got a lot of good receivers and tight ends. Also, if they’re covered, he can pull it down, make the yardage, make the first down. Extend the drives, extend the plays. A very good player.”

If there is one criticism you can direct at Fields this season it’s this – he’s fumbled eight times in 11 games, losing four. Two of those lost fumbles came last week against Penn State, the second of which helped the Nittany Lions get within 21-17 after being down three touchdowns.

Fields made up for that later, however, throwing a touchdown pass to wide receiver Chris Olave to put Penn State away.

“He’s just very dynamic, he’s very good,” said Michigan defensive tackle Carlo Kemp. “And, as you can see, he makes little mistakes. It’s just going to be [doing] whatever we can to cause those mistakes to happen.”

The Wolverines have grown accustomed to facing dynamic Buckeye quarterbacks. But familiarity hasn’t led to success.

Of all the quarterbacks mentioned above, it’s possible that Fields will be the most difficult to contain. Michigan’s defense knows the challenge that’s ahead. It remains to be seen if they have an answer.

“Execution,” defensive captian Khaleke Hudson said. “Executing the job. Every defense that we have is made to stop the run and pass. All of our guys executing our job, doing what we’ve gotta do for every second of the game — we’re gonna get that done.”

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Jim Harbaugh extensively breaks down what he sees from Ohio State

Appearing on the Inside Michigan Football radio show, the Wolverines head coach went in-depth about what he sees from the Buckeyes.

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Michigan has a daunting challenge ahead of it on Saturday, with an Ohio State team coming in that’s not only beaten the Wolverines seven straight times, but also might be the most complete team in the nation.

The Buckeyes haven’t shown many, if any, weaknesses across the board, and have blown out all but one team, as Penn State kept it close en route to a 28-17 loss in Columbus this past Saturday.

Appearing on his weekly radio show, Inside Michigan Football, with host Jon Jansen, Harbaugh spoke about just how good this OSU team is.

“They’re a really good team, no question about it,” Harbaugh said. “They have one of the top defenses in the country. And offense is one of the top offenses in the country and they have a very potent ground game and also passing game. Really good on the special teams and all different units. A good team.”

From there, Harbaugh moved onto a litany of topics when it came to the Buckeyes, including key players on both sides of the ball.

Chase Young

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges Michigan will face on Saturday is keeping defensive end Chase Young at bay.

Harbaugh and some Wolverines players discussed Young earlier on Monday, but the Michigan head coach elaborated a little more with Jansen on the radio show.

“He’s really athletic,” Harbaugh said. “He’s one of the best pass rushers I’ve seen in the college game in quite some time. Physical in the run. Can take on blocks. Can also shrink the edge. Also athletic enough to get penetration, flow down the line of scrimmage.

“In all those ways, he’s really good.”

Justin Fields

But most of the talk is about how the Wolverines defense — no slouches themselves at No. 4 in the country — will be able to handle Ohio State and the No. 6 offensive attack in the nation.

It all starts with quarterback Justin Fields, the former five-star who was rated nearly as high as Clemson star Trevor Lawrence. Fields started his career at Georgia but transferred to OSU this offseason and has been a difference maker with both his arm and legs for the Buckeyes, with 2,352 yards passing (69% completions), and 33 touchdowns to just one interception. That’s just through the air — he also has 445 yards on 100 carries and 10 more touchdowns on the ground.

Harbaugh noted that the Wolverines will be on high-alert when Fields has the ball in his hands.

“He’s a good dual-threat guy,” Harbaugh said. “He can hurt you in the passing game. He’s got a lot of good receivers and tight ends. Also, if they’re covered, he can pull it down, make the yardage, make the first down. Extend the drives, extend the plays. A very good player.”

J.K. Dobbins

But Fields isn’t alone as the sole offensive playmaker.

While there’s still a bevy of receivers — Chris Olave, K.J. Hill, Binjimen Victor, Austin Mack — there’s the backfield duo of J.K. Dobbins — the junior out of Texas — and Master Teague.

The two have combined for 2,197 yards on the ground, but Dobbins is the bigger threat of the two.

“(He’s an) explosive runner,” Harbaugh said. “Slashing type of runner, but he can be very elusive. And he’s got very good speed. He gets into the open, he can go a long way. Plus, he can make people miss.”

Team speed

Last year, the Wolverines got gashed mostly by what seemed to be superior team speed by the Buckeyes.

But, Harbaugh doesn’t feel like that will be an issue this year.

“Yeah, we’re pretty fast, too,” Harbaugh said. “I’ll just leave it at that, I guess! No question they’re going to tough to beat, but we’ll be tough to beat, too.”

Ryan Day

Harbaugh didn’t have much to say about his counterpart on the other sidelines in head coach Ryan Day, who took over the program after Urban Meyer stepped down at the end of last season.

This will be Day’s first year as the head coach going up against the Wolverines, and Harbaugh praises the job he’s done in Columbus to this point.

“He’s doing a heckuva job,” Harbaugh said. “Him and his entire coaching staff have prepared their team well and are playing really good football.”

Offense

Lastly, given the challenges of an ascending Michigan offense going up against the No. 1 defense in the country, the Wolverines will need to play close to perfect to have a chance to take down Ohio State.

But, if there’s one thing to like about the maize and blue heading into this matchup is that, not only are they not shying away from the challenge, they feel like there’s a lot to prove about their own team — especially on offense.

“We’re not gonna talk schematically at all, but all things are options,” Harbaugh said. “Wanna see our team play good, play good football.

“And like I said earlier, the team is playing good football, the team is confident. The players themselves believe that there’s even more for them. There’s more out there in the running game and the passing game from an offensive standpoint. And our defensive players feel the same way. They’re hungry to do even better.”

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At least four Buckeyes named finalists for College Football Awards

Four Ohio State Buckeyes have been named finalists for major college football awards to be handed out in a few weeks.

Four members of the Ohio State football team have been named as finalists for a total of five major college football awards this year. Chase Young, even with his two-game suspension, is a finalist for both the Chuck Bednarik Award (best defensive player) and the Maxwell Award (best overall player).

Three other Buckeyes are finalists for their respective awards. Justin Fields is one of the three finalists for the Davey O’Brien Award for best quarterback. Former Buckeye Joe Burrow is another, along with Jalen Hurts.

Jeff Okudah is a finalist for the Jim Thorpe award for the best defensive back, while J.K. Dobbins is up for the Doak Walker Award for best running back.

A lot can still happen in the final two weeks, but Young will most likely win the Bednarik Award. Burrow will probably win the Davey O’Brien Award, and Chuba Hubbard of Oklahoma State seems to be the favorite for the Doak Walker Award.

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There will, of course, be plenty more awards and trophies given out at the end of the season–including the Heisman Trophy. The nine pictured in the tweet above above are some of the biggest. The last Buckeye to win one of these awards was when Malcolm Jenkins won the Jim Thorpe Award in 2008. (Pat Elflein and Billy Price did win the Dave Rimington Trophy for best center in 2016 and 2017, though.)

The last time the Buckeyes won more than one of these awards was in 1995, when Eddie George won the Doak Walker and Maxwell Awards, while Terry Glenn earned the Biletnikoff. Winning three might be tough this year, but the Buckeyes should take multiple pieces of hardware home in a few weeks.