The first home game of every season is special. After taking an eight-month hiatus, we finally got to see Buckeye football back in The Shoe. Even though Ohio State struggled early, they were able to shutout the visiting Hawai‘i Rainbow Warriors, 38-0.
Here are three things we learned from Saturday:
Scheduling Monday night games followed by a Saturday game is bad
The Buckeyes had execution problems on offense, and in the very early going on defense. Bobbled snaps by junior red-shirt quarterback Cardale Jones, in addition to a breakdown in pass protection allowed the Rainbow Warriors to stick around for most of the game.
A contribution to the sluggish play isn’t a complex answer but a simple one: the team had too short of a rest.
Coach Urban Meyer isn’t using that excuse, however.
“I think that’s a very solid excuse, one that’s not allowed,” Meyer said. “I mean, that’s good, that’s good to bring that up and say that’s the reason we didn’t play necessarily well on the offensive line.”
This week, the Buckeyes get a full week to recover before their clash with MAC foe Northern Illinois.
Talent, talent everywhere, but not enough snaps
Between having Jones, sophomore quarterback J.T. Barrett and senior H-back Braxton Miller, there aren’t enough snaps for everyone to take.
Even though the Buckeyes cruised to victory, they didn’t have a passing touchdown. Jones went 12-of-18 for 111 yards, and Barrett went 8-of-15 for 70 yards.
Jones and Miller had roles in wildcat-esque play calling against the Rainbow Warriors. Then, when Barrett came in as quarterback, we saw a variety of pass plays – and we didn’t even mention junior tailback Ezekiel Elliott.
Continue Reading: Three things we learned about the Buckeyes
