Holy cow that was a fun game to watch! That’s the Buckeyes we have been waiting for in 2020! Five Things that stood out to me. I’d love to read what stood out to you too.
1) Coach Johnson’s Win- In a year full of crap, seeing Coach Johnson get the W and break the color barrier for OSU Football Head Coaches couldn’t have happened for a better guy and is a true bright spot in this hard 2020 year. You could see the love the players have for him and he really had the energy going in very cold weather. He rallied the troops and the win was impressive!
2) Playoff Case- while the announcers spent half the game talking about scenarios that would put two SEC teams into the playoffs and having the graphic up on the screen that showed OSU having the worst SOS in the country (/s), the way we dominated after having so many key players out should be an exclamation point to the committee on the depth of talent, coaching, and pure awesomeness! We were missing our starting O-line for crying out loud! Clemson got a pass for missing players in a loss! No missing players as an excuse needed here!
3) The Running Game is Healthy My Friends- How fun was it to see the OSU rushers go off? And before I get to Sermon and Williams, did you see CJ Stroud run? He looked like a gazelle! THAT is what they are calling a Pro Passing QB nowadays? My goodness will he be fun to watch. But back to the RBs- you could see Trey Sermon steadily shaking the rust off as the season wore on, well against MSU, he shaked and baked! He would not go down. He found the holes. He hit a home run! And, I mean, how fun was it to see Fields take out the defender and not get flagged? Ok, I’m gonna do this here...I’m going to eat that crow now after what I saw from Miyan Williams and jump on the bandwagon before it takes off. That dude is going to be good! Who said we missed on a RB in the 20 class?
4) Wade’s Interception- I need to use one of the five spots on this because of how bad we’ve ragged on the secondary since the Indiana game. That might have been the most athletic and otherworldly-coordination-required INT I’ve ever seen. It’s like he started to dive for it before he knew where it would deflect to, was in mid-air with his body turning while bringing the ball in and it never hit the ground! Who says those who can’t catch play DB? That was a spectacular interception! Kudos to Wade and the rest of the secondary who played really well!
5) Olave, Olave, Olave- Only Chris Olave is smooth enough to drop two passes (or was it one?), fumble twice, and still have one of the best games of his career. His speed, route running, ability to track deep balls, and his (usually) flawless catching ability makes him such a gifted receiver. While all we need is Justin Fields to win, he sure has a talented duo to toss the ball to! Loved the deep ball TD catch by Olave. Dude draped all over him while he jumped for the ball going full speed- in the end zone? No problem!
What stood out to you, Buckeye Faithful?
