Woody Hayes has to be turning over in his grave. Ohio State and Nebraska just put the finishing touches on a 63-38 defensive struggle Saturday evening. Big Ten schools normally would only rack up 500 yards of offense and score that many points in a single game when playing outside the conference against the “Little Sisters of the Poor.”
Times, they are a-changin’ in college football—even the staid Big Ten is embracing a more open-style offense. Spread offenses plus bigger and faster kids make for more exciting football and lots more scoring.
Woody always advised that only three things could happen when a quarterback dropped back to pass, and two of those were bad. Braxton Miller and Taylor Martinez proved Saturday that Woody may have missed a couple more favorable options.
Martinez and Miller both are exceptional runners. Those skills, in addition to their ability to chuck the football down the field, put a tremendous amount of pressure on opposing defenses to not only guard against the run but to also protect against the pass.
Martinez was 15-of-25 passing and accumulated 214 yards through the air. He did have one pass for a touchdown, but he also threw three interceptions. The Nebraska QB ran for another 40 yards and two touchdowns. The Cornhuskers totaled 437 yards of total offense against a relatively good Ohio State defense.
Continue reading at Bleacher Report – Big Ten Football
