I have been grading games all year, and as much as I love Ohio State football, I must admit something:

I am not a graduate of The Ohio State University.

I graduated from the University of Utah.

This year’s Rose Bowl, for me, was one of the most emotionally confusing games I have ever watched, as I am sure Buckeye fans who went to other schools can attest.  It’s a cliché at this point, but this was Utah’s Super Bowl. The entirety of the Salt Lake Valley had been looking forward to this game as soon as the Pac-12 Championship was over. I didn’t know if Utah would ever win the Pac-12, so this season was one for the ages, especially considering it’s start. This was the best team Utah has ever had.

I was asked by multiple people about my loyalties going into this game. To a person, I responded that I had absolutely no idea. A Rose Bowl would be the perfect end to a magical season for Utah, but I have always been more invested in Ohio State, and a win for them would mean serious momentum for 2022. As the game went on, I found myself rooting for Ohio State, especially when Utah got up big early.

Regardless, my fandom of both teams gave me some unique insights into what this game would look like beforehand. While I thought that Ohio State was going to be able to score (the nation’s best passing attack against a backup running back playing corner seemed like guaranteed fireworks), I had no idea how the defense would respond. While Utah has had a good offense all year, Ohio State has defended the run well for most of the year following the defensive coordinator switch. Well, until the Michigan game, at least.

The defense left something to be desired, but the offensive effort was outstanding:

The players that I graded as champions in this game were C.J. Stroud, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Julian Fleming, Emeka Egbuka, Marvin Harrison, and Mitch Rossi. All of the receivers put in excellent efforts, and Rossi made a couple of clutch plays, including the big gain off of a bootleg (4Q 11:55). Stroud and JSN do not need to be explained for anyone who watched the game.

Here is how all of the players graded:

Jaxon Smith-Njigba put on the single greatest receiving performance I have ever seen from a Buckeye wide receiver. The only other receiver I have seen do something similar was Devonta Smith last year in the National Championship game. It seemed like there was quite literally nothing that could be done to stop him. It was the single highest point total I have given to a wide receiver, and I don’t think I will ever give a number higher. Here is the receiver chart:

How was JSN that dominant? Kyle Jones’ article has some good specifics in terms of scheme, but, more broadly, Ohio State continuously picked on Micah Bernard, a backup running back for Utah that was forced into playing on defense due to injury. This takes the air out of JSN’s performance a little bit, but Bernard wasn’t the only player on Utah’s defense. This is a defense that had, to this point, been good against the pass. Clark Philips III has developed into a guy that legitimately might be the best DB in the Pac-12, though he hasn’t gotten the accolades yet. In most games, teams refused to throw his way. Admittedly, I wasn’t devastated when he flipped to Utah. Even with those caveats, JSN was unguardable. When Utah did guard him correctly, he made their effort irrelevant. He was wide open for his first couple of touchdowns and made a sensational play on his third touchdown with a defender right on his back.

The other receivers had good days too, with Harrison coming down with three touchdowns, Egbuka coming down with a huge catch on the sideline, and Fleming making some nice blocks downfield. I thought all three of them looked good, with Harrison seeming to establish himself as a surefire starter next fall.

I am also probably more bullish on Fleming than most are after that game. I have heard comments that he seems to be the odd man out compared to the other three, and while that may be true, I have been impressed with him. Physically, he looks the most imposing of the group – like prime David Boston. Wide receivers are usually not that wide. This helps him with by far his best trait: his blocking. While I know it is a cliché, especially with Ohio State receivers, blocking prowess is how Parris Campbell and Terry McLaurin first got on the field. Those guys became outstanding wide receivers after some coaching from Brian Hartline. I would not be surprised to see if Fleming follows that mold. It isn’t like he has been some scrub receiving either. His catch at the end of the first half might have been the best of the game, but it was at the worst possible time. I could easily see him living up to expectations by next season, assuming he stays healthy. JSN didn’t have a ton of impact last year. Even early on this year, he did almost nothing against Minnesota. By the end of the season, he was a monster. In this game, Fleming was covered almost exclusively by Clark Philips. When your choice is between throwing at the best DB in the conference or throwing at a backup running back, you are not going to throw at the best DB all that often. This was never a game he was going to shine in. He will have his opportunities next year, and I fully expect him to have an outstanding career.

The guy getting the receivers the ball was no slouch either. One of the most common ways that teams chose to attack Ohio State’s offense was to force C.J. Stroud to win the football game with his arm. It worked once, as although Oregon gave up almost 500 yards to Stroud, they held strong in the red zone multiple times, and on fourth down throughout the game. When the game was on the line, Stroud couldn’t deliver. Penn State, Nebraska, and others employed this same strategy to varying degrees of success. It isn’t like Stroud was bad or anything; the man was the Heisman favorite until the last week of the season. However, he would miss opportunities, especially early in the year. I have mentioned this before, but Stroud always impressed me with his ability to read a defense and throw with anticipation. Both of those attributes are rare in college quarterbacks. His biggest issue were his misfires in critical moments.

In this game, those misfires didn’t really happen.

While I didn’t grade this as his best ever performance, it was probably my favorite of his performances. He did throw two really bad passes: the interception to Clark Philips, and the near interception throwing to Jeremy Ruckert after scrambling out. Still, he threw eight perfect passes, which is tied for the most I have ever charted him throwing. In that other game, though, he had plenty of misfires. Besides the two that I have already mentioned, I think he only had one other, and that was on a little pass on a bootleg to Ruckert. Other than that, everything was on target. This game was the culmination of the anticipation, reading ability, and proficiency with progressions along with the accuracy that I always felt like he could possess. He even scrambled at a critical junction in the game! The QB that played in the Rose Bowl could go #1 in the 2023 NFL Draft and win the Heisman. This was the best possible way to end the season, and it gives him great momentum going into 2022. This feels like a Troy Smith in 2005. Given how much Fields improved in his second season, I have no doubt that Stroud is going to be exceptional next year.

The other parts of the offense weren’t particularly bad either. I thought the play-calling was quite good. I know that there are complaints about telegraphing plays, but I really don’t think it is as blatant as the meme going around with the spreadsheet. Day addressed this the other day, but many of those are RPOs. In the Michigan game, they were forcing the run. In the Utah game, they were forcing the pass. These will always skew different play calls toward too many runs and too many passes.

Game situations also matter. In both of the Utah and Michigan games, Ohio State was playing from behind the entire game, incentivizing them to pass in order to slow down the clock. Also, it’s easy to call pass plays when Stroud and the receivers are the guys you need to rely on. Both of these game plans were always going to be pass heavy.

The Pistol and Ace Formations are run heavy on purpose. Throughout this entire season, there was not a single traditional drop back called from the Ace formation, and I don’t believe there was one from the Pistol either. All the passes from these formations were runs, or counters to runs in the form of RPOs or play-action passes. In the Michigan game in particular, the safeties were playing back, but were screaming down on run action. Play-action is designed to beat this, but the QB had no time to throw when they ran it, so they largely shelved it. Also, their biggest constraint play in these formations, a bootleg split flow pass was largely downloaded by other teams, though they used it to great effect against Utah on the Mitch Rossi completion. The constraint plays do not work as well when the team is down or when the team has difficulty blocking. Play-actions are always going to be ineffective when you can’t run the football and the other team knows that you want to pass the ball. Improved execution opens up the playbook enormously, and I think it will become more evident as more changes are made.

In particular, Greg Studrawa’s departure and his eventual replacement will decide the fate of the offense’s effectiveness. I believe that a great offensive line coach can turn this into a 2019 LSU or 2020 Alabama offense. They were awfully close this year, they just needed a little more efficiency. If they can get that, I don’t see how they get stopped.

The change in offensive line coach makes the performance of the offensive line in this game somewhat inconsequential for next year. As I will talk about for the defense, coaching changes usually lead to bigger changes in performance than personnel changes do. Still, the offensive line was somewhat of a microcosm of the Greg Studrawa tenure at Ohio State. They struggled getting push up front in run blocking, with the interior of the line in particular struggling, but they were more than competent against the pass rush. If there is a couple of personnel issues worth watching, I think that Dawand Jones, Paris Johnson Jr, and Matthew Jones are in really good shape for next year. While PJJ didn’t play his best game, he has been playing really well recently, so I think a pass is in order. You have a solid core with those three guys, assuming that the two Jones’ stay. Wypler has struggled as of late, however. He is only a redshirt freshman, and a new coach can absolutely do wonders for a player. He is the returning guy that I am least confident in, however, and I will be curious to see if Harry Miller starts at guard or center next year, if he starts at all. The new offensive line coach will have his work cut out for him, but if he can be successful, this offense will only continue to improve.

The running backs played okay, but there isn’t much to say about them. I thought Henderson looked better today than he has since October, and it isn’t just because he looked fresh. For one of the first times all year, I thought he found creases where there weren’t any, though he still made plenty of mistakes. Williams on the other hand had two really good runs and one really bad run. I think both of these two are good pieces for next year. I have said it before, but I would love to see Williams in the red zone and Henderson between the 20’s. I think they can utilize Henderson’s receiving, pass blocking, and big play ability in the open field, while utilizing Williams’ improved vision, and elusiveness when they value efficiency and running over big plays and passing. Still, Henderson is only a freshman and will continue to improve. I just think he wouldn’t mind a lighter load considering what he had talked about during his recruitment.

What should we worry about for next year?

Running the ball effectively. I am not overly concerned with this, but with the offense, I have to split hairs in order to find something worth wailing and gnashing my teeth over. There are two issues that I see: right now, none of the running backs are as consistent and balanced as Sermon, Dobbins, Elliot, and Hyde were, and the offensive line has struggled with their coordination.

For this team to be good running the ball next year, Henderson is going to have to take a big step forward, which is, thankfully, typical for a sophomore after their freshman season. They say that the biggest leap for players usually happens during this time, and I think this bears out.  

The offensive line is also a concern. While a new offensive line coach will ultimately dictate how this turns out, they were not well coordinated this year. Their pass protection was still pretty good until the Michigan game, but the run blocking left a lot to be desired. It’s shocking to look at the 2012-2014 teams and look at those offensive lines. If this team gets something resembling those lines, they won’t lose. That’s a tall task, and it might not be something that can be fixed in a year. Also, if the hire isn’t adequate, it’s not going to get much better. While I think Day has made mostly good hires, he certainly hasn’t been perfect in this regard.

What should we not worry about for next year?

The loss of the Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson. Normally I am one to pump the breaks about losing premier players, but with the performance of Egbuka, Harrison, and Fleming, along with the coaching of Brian Hartline, I can’t see it mattering much. JSN won’t be able to replicate that performance every week. Some team will be able to neutralize him, so the other receivers will need to be up to the task. Based on what Hartline’s receivers have done over the past four years, I think that this is a reasonable ask.

I also don’t think we should worry about Ryan Day’s ability to make the tough decisions. After the mid-season defensive shift to moving on from Greg Studrawa, he’s already had a few examples of doing the hard thing. Urban had not fired a coach in his entire career until Zach Smith, and that was for solely off-the-field stuff. Day has moved on from Coombs after 10 total games (a shorter leash than Urban had in Jacksonville), and he got rid of Stud for only having pretty good lines. He wants to win it all, and I think he is making the decisions that will produce that result.

What should we be excited about for next year?

Stroud’s second year in the offense. I was so impressed with Justin Fields’ improvement from Game 1 against FAU to the Clemson game in 2019 to the Clemson game in 2020. He just kept getting better and better. In his first game, he was a good athlete with some special physical traits, but the offense didn’t always run that smoothly. By the end of the year, he had some genuine quarterbacking skills. By the Clemson game in the playoffs, he was an NFL quarterback. Stroud improved steadily throughout this season as well (go watch the Minnesota game again if you aren’t convinced), and I fully expect that to continue.

The new offensive line coach is also something to be excited about. As I said earlier, this is the position that could take the team to new heights and turn this into one of the greatest offenses the sport has ever seen. My excitement is highly dependent on the opponent, however.

Thank you for reading. The defensive one will be up later today hopefully. Also, I hope to do a yearly review next week before waiting for next year, unless I get the itch after the spring game. 

This series was inspired by Upon Further Review at MGoBlog. They haven't made one for the Georgia game yet, but if they do, it will be a wonderful read.