Ohio State Football: Week 7 unit grades vs. Minnesota

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COLUMBUS, OH – OCTOBER 13: Kamal Martin #21 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers drags down K.J. Hill #14 of the Ohio State Buckeyes after a pass reception in the second quarter at Ohio Stadium on October 13, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) /

Quarter 2:

Offense:

The offense was once again rolling in the second quarter but failed to get their third fourth down attempt of the game, and second of the drive. Urban Meyer obviously did not want to settle for field goals Saturday.

It was a fourth and short deep into Minnesota territory, and the Buckeyes once again made the grave mistake of lining up in the shotgun and running it straight forward. The offensive line got pummeled and the Buckeyes turned the ball over on downs.

I know I said this against Penn State, but the quarterback sneak is still a legal play, and these coaches just don’t want to use it.

K.J Hill’s catch on the next drive was amazing because of how he caught it, but if I were grading TD celebration, that one would be an A+. I think that it was something that all Buckeye fans needed during this game because, they weren’t feeling good about much else.

Grade: B+

Defense:

After watching the first touchdown drive for Minnesota, I told myself that there is no way that the Buckeyes run defense could look as bad as it did in the first quarter.

I was wrong as I usually am as the Buckeyes almost looked worse. They once again went 75 yards but this time in just over 4 minutes and it was just baffling to me how bad the Buckeyes were getting killed up front.

I learned after watching the previous drive not to trust this Buckeye defense. This is why I was absolutely terrified about giving Minnesota the ball when they were up 4 points. Luckily, the Golden Gophers coughed the ball up for their second turnover of the game.

The only team that was stopping Minnesota’s offense in the first quarter was themselves.

The Buckeyes finally bucked up after getting a fumble recovery on the previous drive and got a stop forcing the first punt by either team of the game.

Grade: C+

Special Teams:

Not only was I happy that Minnesota punted the ball, I was happy that someone finally gave something to write about in this section. The blocking on the punt return for the Buckeyes was not good as K.J. Hill got absolutely mauled. Other than that though, I can’t complain.

Grade: B

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