Ohio State Spring Game Review: Expectations were met
There were massive expectations for the 2019 Ohio State Spring Game and with several stellar performances it certainly didn’t disappoint.
There were plenty of highlights in the Ohio State Spring game today. Justin Fields threw a 98-yard touchdown pass and there were back and forth drives from Fields and QB counterpart Matthew Baldwin. There was also a marvelous touchdown grab by Garrett Wilson, a scoreless first quarter on behalf of the defense and even a proposal.
Ohio State’s 2019 Spring Game had it all. In a 35-17 Gray victory in front of just under 70,000 on a beautiful spring day, we got a look at everything that is special about this team.
The quarterback battle was at the forefront of discussion heading into a highly anticipated Spring Game and lived up to the hype.
Fields led the way with 131 passing yards and two touchdowns (including a 98-yard delivery to All-American candidate Binjimen Victor and a run from five yards out).
Even though Baldwin had more attempts and yardage (36 attempts to 13 and 246 yards to 131), and one more passing TD, he struggled at times.
Yes he tossed the ball that resulted in an exceptional catch by Garrett Wilson, but he also threw two interceptions and fumbled once. Like Fields, he started slowly in completions and fumbled without even being touched (Jevontae Jean-Baptiste was technically given credit with a FF).
Baldwin showed that he can carry the passing load if needed, but Fields delivered and showed that he can be trustworthy with the ball, even if he displayed his rushing skills more than his passing.
Speaking of rushing, Master Teague showed off once again after an impressive 2018 Spring Game, leading the way this year with 77 yards rushing and two touchdowns. With no more Mike Weber in the backfield we will likely see more carries from Teague throughout the regular season.
His counterpart J.K. Dobbins was mostly quiet (3 rushes for 11 yards), so the rest of the running load was carried by Marcus Crowley, Amari Jonhson and Xavier Johnson. A few plays had potential to burst open but the defense wrapped up the running back to avoid “thud” hits.
Speaking of defense, the Silver Bullets limited the Buckeye offense on both the Scarlet and Gray teams to zero points in the first quarter. The Gray would go on to allow only 17 during the whole game.
The defensive line from both sides (led by Jevontae Jean-Baptiste of Team Gray who had 5 total tackles and 1 sack) broke through for “sacks” 7 times.
But the most impressive unit was the secondary which forced 7 total pass breakups (PBUs) and several overthrows from both Fields and Baldwin. Jahsen Wint picked off Baldwin and senior QB Chris Chuhunov once each and Amir Reip added another interception courtesy of Baldwin.
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The passes that were caught by the right receivers (which outweighed the interceptions and incompletions, though not by much) were evenly distributed.
But Binjimen Victor, Jaelen Gill and Garrett Wilson led the way. Wilson and Victor grabbed two phenomenal touchdowns, one a 98-yarder by Victor and the other a leaping catch in the back corner of the end zone by Wilson.
We already knew about Victor’s talent, but Gill made 7 catches for 95 yards which helped the Scarlet team move the ball and stay in the game. Wilson also showed shades of Michael Thomas and Devin Smith by towering over defenders in the end zone and making the fantastic leaping catch.
In many ways, we saw what we expected to see today. Fields impressed (although it was more of one play than his overall performance) and Baldwin confirmed that there is certainly a chance for him to start if he can avoid turnovers.
We got a new look at an improved secondary and revamped receiving core, as well as a defense that will look to improve from last year’s struggles. And of course, we saw many former Buckeyes and even a proposal from punter Drue Chrisman.
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If the year pans out as the Spring Game did, we could be hearing a “Yes” from the College Football Playoff committee in December.