The Ohio State Buckeyes picked up a 37-9 win over, the Ohio Bobcats that looks a lot more dominant on paper than it looked in real-time. The score was 16-9 in the second half and Ryan Day looked like he had some explaining to do before Julian Sayin settled in and threw touchdown passes to his top weapons, Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate.
All is well in Columbus heading into the bye week for the No. 1 team in the country after three straight wins, right? Not exactly.
Cleveland.com's Stephen Means explained the harsh reality facing the Buckeyes' offense with first-year play-caller Brian Hartline and the redshirt freshman Sayin running the show under center: it's still a work in progress heading into Big Ten play.
Means isn't trying to overdramatize it, but brought up the cause as an issue to monitor.
"The latter reminded everyone that even with all the weapons at this offense’s disposal, this is still a work in progress. That progress is a season-long journey of discovery, and the first true checkpoint comes inside Husky Stadium in two weeks when the Buckeyes face Washington for the first time as a Big Ten opponent," Means wrote.
"This offense has the potential to be more potent than any offense Day has had at OSU, either as an offensive coordinator in 2017 and 2018 or the head coach in the years since. But it is far from a finished product. Its issues aren’t yet alarming, but they should at least be on your radar."
Though OSU beat the Texas Longhorns with the exact gritty game plan intended and washed the Grambling State Tigers off the field in embarrassing fashion a week later, many were hoping the Buckeyes could erase any doubt with a one-sided beatdown of their in-state rival.
Ohio was uncomfortably competitive in the first half and in a large chunk of the third quarter.
Ipso facto, the elements of Ohio State that made that possible, mainly the offense and special teams, are works in progress as the Buckeyes begin going to war with conference opponents.