Ohio State Football: 5 winners and 2 losers from OSU vs. Minnesota

The defense left a lot to be desired in the first game of the year for Ohio State

The Buckeyes were hoping that after a full offseason with Kerry Coombs that the Silver Bullets would return to their dominant ways. After one game that does not seem to be the case. Against a team like Minnesota, there were going to be a lot of rushing yards given up.

Mohamed Ibrahim is too talented to be stopped over the course of a full game. The concerning part was how often Minnesota was able to move down the field with larger chunk plays.

The sky is not falling, there are reasons the Buckeyes might have struggled. Missing their top two corners will hurt any team which could have played a big impact. One thing I would expect the Buckeyes to not do as much moving forward is rotating players. Identifying the starters and letting them gain unity and practice will be a big part of this team coming together.

I am reserving judgment on Kerry Coombs and the defense for at least one more week, to see if they come out stronger against Oregon. But from what we saw in week one, there are definite improvements that need to be made.

Those improvements could be the difference between beating Oregon and losing the home opener.