Ohio State Football: Great game plan can’t stop 4 and 5 star athletes
A good game plan sometimes isn’t enough when you face superior athletes.
Anyone who watched Ohio State’s opening game saw that Indiana head coach Tom Allen had excellent game plans for the Hoosiers on each side of the ball. But even though his players executed those plans very well, the Ohio State football program simply had too many 4 and 5 star athletes for Indiana to pull off the upset.
On offense, coach Allen wanted to get the football out of his quarterback’s hands early so he wouldn’t be pummeled by the Ohio State defensive line. He also attacked the rebuilt DB unit for the Buckeyes, especially the new corners. QB Richard Lagow worked the plan extremely well for over two and a half quarters as the Hoosiers put up 21 points and had a one point lead.
But that’s when their momentum stopped as 4 and 5 star players for Ohio State began to make an impact. It was just simply a matter of time before defensive linemen Tyquan Lewis (2 sacks), Sam Hubbard (1), Jashon Cornell (1) and Nick Bosa (1) were going to get after Lagow.
Two former 4 star defensive backs made their presence known as well. Safety Jordan Fuller and Corner Denzel Ward had interceptions with Fuller returning his back 40 yards. Indiana didn’t score the last 19 minutes of the game.
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On defense, the Hoosiers stacked the box to slow down the rushing game like teams have been doing the last couple of years. After all, the Buckeyes hadn’t exactly scared opposing defenses with their downfield passing attack lately.
That concept was working well until there were about five minutes left in the third quarter. Even though J.K. Dobbins was racking up rushing yards the Buckeyes had only scored 20 points.
But then Parris Campbell took the ball to the house for a 74 yard TD reception on a simple crossing pattern. About three minutes later, Johnnie Dixon caught a ball in the middle of the defense and out-raced the Hoosier players to the goal line for a 59 yard score. The 4 star athletes from the 2014 recruiting class sealed the deal for the Buckeyes.
It was a well-played first game by both teams. And for Buckeye fans, it was a bit of a nerve-racking one. It seemed like it took Ohio State far too long to get untracked.
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You really do have to give first year head coach Tom Allen a ton of credit for that, and his players for how well they performed. But in the end, Ohio State simply had too many 4 and 5 star players on the roster, and those guys came to play as well.