Questions after the Ohio State loss to Iowa that need answers.
When Ohio State played Iowa on Saturday, I thought it would be a hard-fought battle especially during the first half, but I had no idea the Buckeyes would get blown out. The decisive win by the Hawkeyes certainly raised a few questions concerning the Ohio State football program.
The first one that jumps out at me is, how did Iowa dominate the line of scrimmage the entire game?
It’s not unusual for a good team to come out with their hair on fire early on when playing at home, especially when they are a big underdog. However, the Hawkeyes kept pushing the Buckeyes around for four quarters.
As I wrote previously, November is the month for “big boy” football and the Iowa players certainly proved that to be the case. I can’t understand why the Ohio State players didn’t play just as physical in such a crucial game.
Next question, why did JK Dobbins and Mike Weber only carry the ball 11 times against Iowa? Dobbins averaged 8.5 yards per carry on his 6 rushes versus the Hawkeyes, and had a 35 yard run, Mike Weber 5.4 on his five.
Why not use the best running back tandem in the Big Ten? Just can’t figure that one out.
The third question, what is the problem with open field tackling? One play makes me think the problems may be “fundamental”.
Anyone who has ever played cornerback knows that the responsibilities defending the run and the pass on the edge are entirely different. On a sweep you want to have outside leverage and turn the running back inside to pursuing linebackers and linemen.
But when a corner is one on one with a receiver with the ball on the edge, it’s important to just get under control in a solid stance with inside leverage. Then you can use the sideline as a second defender.
One time an Ohio State defensive back came up to make a play on an Iowa receiver after a catch and was out of control with his head too far outside. The receiver made a solid cut and took off inside for a big gain.
That is just simply poor fundamentals, which in my opinion is unacceptable at this point in the season.
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Well, all of you who have read my articles the last three seasons know what’s coming next. Where was the downfield passing game?
It worked so well early in the game that I was certain offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson finally had received the message. Nope.
The Iowa defense didn’t have to stop the downfield Ohio State passing attack. The Buckeye coaching staff did it for them.
After the game was out of hand it simply wasn’t going to work. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz just had his front four tee off on JT Barrett and dropped the back seven into zone coverage. Then things really got ugly.
Next: Kirk Ferentz proved old school football still works
I guess I do have a fifth question. Will Urban Meyer get these issues corrected before the Michigan State Spartans come to town with the Big Ten East title on the line? If he can’t, it could be an ugly home loss on Saturday for the Buckeyes.