Ohio State vs. Michigan Film Breakdown: Buckeyes lose again

Before we get to the film review of the game, I think one of the biggest reasons Ohio State lost to Michigan was largely mental. I think Ohio State played a conservative in this game. Flash back a week before against Indiana; they played fast and smart and took it to the Hoosiers. This is 100% on Ryan Day and his staff. Day now falls to 1-4 in his career against Michigan, an unacceptable record for an Ohio State coach.

Lack of passing game

I kept screaming at the television. Throw the ball, Chip. My wife goes: "Who is Chip?". I was talking about Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. Ohio State has the best wide receivers in the country. Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka are special players, and Cornell Tate is an outstanding 3rd option.

Chip Kelly and Ryan Day kept trying to run the ball and it didn't work most of the day, rather than try to throw the ball the strength of the offense. The reason is simple: Ohio State has elite receivers, and Michigan was down Will Johnson's best defensive back.

Plus, Michigan has two outstanding defensive tackles, Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham. Then you add in a beat-up offensive line, it made no sense why Ohio State didn't throw it more. On Ohio State's last drive before the half, when they scored their only touchdown, Will Howard was 5/7 on the drive and threw a touchdown to Jeremiah Smith.

Why? Because they were in a two-minute drill mode and had no choice but to throw it. Finally, Quinshon Judkins rushed it 12 times for 46 yards and TreVeyon Henderson rushed it 10 times for 21 yards. It just made no sense to keep pounding the rock when you struggled in that area, and you got elite wide receivers.

Below is Ohio State's lone touchdown pass. They needed more of this and Ryan Day and Chip Kelly dropped the ball.

Special Teams Blunders

I am 100% putting this on the coaching staff for how bad the special teams were in this game. I used to be a special teams coordinator in high school, so I know the importance of this job. Ohio State’s special teams improved this year, including last week against Indiana when Caleb Downs returned a punt for a touchdown.

Then, this week, Jayden Fielding missed two field goals inside the 40. Joey McGuire, the punter, also had a rough day. Finally, Ohio State made no impact in the return game, and in fact, it was a negative in the game. On the opening 2nd half kickoff return, Henderson muffed it, and Ohio State had a bad field position to start the 2nd half.

Also, earlier in the game, Michigan punter Tommy Doman had a 68-yard punt after Caleb Downs did not catch the ball, and it rolled inside the 10. All these little things in the special team's games hurt you in tight games and are not winning plays. During Day’s tenure, special teams have had a lot more negatives than positives.

A punt by Joe McGuire went only 31 yards. Ohio State needs to be able to punt the ball better.

Lack of creativity on offense

Again, I used to coach football, so I see the game through a different lens. Ohio State had a big interception by Caleb Downs. They were facing a 2nd down and long. Ohio State went back to a staple of Ryan Day and something I have seen called many times.

It is called a tight-end leak. It is simply a pass play where you sneak the tight end out away from the play to catch the defense off guard. Well, Michigan was ready for it, and they tackled Gee Scott for a 1-yard completion. No imagination at all from Chip Kelly and Ryan Day.

Michigan, on the other sideline, was being creative. They tried a trick play and got a key pass interference penalty on Denzel Burke. Another example was Ohio State ran the speed option once with Will Howard and Judkins and Judkins rushed for 15 yards. It's a great design by Ohio State, but why not run it again? Where was the creativity from Chip Kelly and Ryan Day? It was non-existent in this game.

Below is the play called Tight End Leak against Clemson. Again, I have seen Ohio State run it many times. This is a repetitive play by the Buckeyes. A lack of creativity killed the Buckeyes on Saturday.

Final Thoughts

This loss is squarely on the coaching staff. Especially the offensive coaching staff. To only score 10 points is unacceptable. Again, like I said earlier, I believe it is mental and coaching that caused this defeat. Michigan is in Ryan Day's head, and it led to awful coaching from him and his staff.

The only bright spot for Ohio State is they have three weeks to self-scout and fix some things, and they should have a chance at making a playoff run. Finally, Jim Knowles and the defensive staff were awesome on Saturday. Ohio State fans can just hope Day and Kelly figure it out for the playoffs.