Just Take the Ball and Run It; Let D Handle Receptions

Works for me.

Complain about the Ohio State offensive coaching staff all you want but somebody must have done their homework this week. Either through intensive film study or just dumb luck, they realized that the Illni were all but powerless against the likes of Boom Herron and Jordan Hall. Herron carried the ball 23 times for a total 114 yards while Hall and quarterback Braxton Miller added another 12 carries each for 56 and 34 yards respectively.

Draw back, hand the ball to Herron, repeat.

In all, Miller completed one of only four passes but he made it count connecting with Jake Stoneburner in the end zone. After gong 5/8 against Nebraska and running 91 yards on the ground, the lack of Miller highlights leads to one of two conclusions:

1) Herron’s success on the ground meant that Miller really didn’t need to do much other than hand the ball to him as he ran past.

2) Miller’s ankle is not good.
Unfortunately, the lack of passing leads me to think that Miller is having trouble with the ankle preventing him from throwing off the back foot. This kid also likes to scramble and we saw very little of that Sat. This might also be due to a desire to preserve Miller as the alternative is just that bad.

Hopefully, he’ll be back to full strength as the Buckeyes will need a few more tools in the box to compete against Wisconsin.

Fickell’s Deception
Throughout the week, Coach Fickell talked as though Herron had not necessarily earned his spot in the lineup. He wasn’t listed on the depth chartand yet there he was on the opening play pretty much carrying the opening drive combining with Hall and Miller to move the ball to withing field goal range entirely on the ground.

Herron’s back folks and his arrival couldn’t come at a better time.

Mr. Jenkins, Meet Mr. Roby
Going into this game, the Illinois receiving corp had been giving opponents fits and the offense had racked up an average 450 yards per game. Not only did the Buckeyes hold the Illni to half that number, they forced three turnovers making more receptions than the Buckeye offense.

The Ohio State defense all but shut down the Illinois receivers including A.J. “I’m the best receiver in the Big Ten” Jenkins who was averaging nearly 140 yards per game. Ohio State, lead by Bradly “(He’s) nothing special, a product of Illinois’ system” Robey, held Jenkins to 80 yards on 10 passes, forced him to fumble and give up an interception that Roby returned to the 12 leading to an Ohio State touchdown on the next play.

Defense is our Future
I’ve been saying for the past couple of weeks that Defense is our best hope and they proved it yesterday. They proved it through three and a half quarters against Nebraska and through most of three quarters against Illinois. The biggest concern is that they seem to get tired late in the game. By the fourth quarter against Nebraska, they looked completely deflated and they allowed Illinois to keep their hopes alive until the last few minutes of the game. Granted, Coach Ron Zook did his best to help failing to slow the clock when needed and for some bizarre reason going for it on 4-2 instead of taking an easy field goal.

They are going to get a much tougher test next in two weeks against Wisconsin. They will need to maintain a top-level performance through all four quarters and the offense will need to do a better job converting on third down and give them the rest they need.