After twelve games, my thoughts on this team...
(1) The cornerback room was a liability throughout the season and got bailed out by the fact that the front 7 was playing so much better this year and we never faced an opposing offense with the receivers and QB to test them. Scheme may have something to do with it, but the fact that all of our corners regressed and that we never found a sure-fire tandem to stick with (plus, with CBs giving up on certain plays) is a huge red flag for Tim Walton. Being a good position coach in the pros does not necessarily translate to the same in CFB, and if the struggles continue, he has to be let go.
(2) CJ Stroud just doesn't have the "it" factor. He has incredible arm talent and vision for reading the backfield, but lacked the thick skin, leadership, and clutch ability that so many prior OSU QBs have had regardless of their talents. Justin Fields was in a league of his own, but even JT Barrett, Dwayne Haskins, and Craig Krenzel played their best football when the lights were shining brightest, simply willing their teams to victory by any means necessary. CJ was not responsible for the volcanic defensive meltdowns in our games against Oregon and Michigan x2, but looking back on his tenure, I see the Rose Bowl against Utah as the only game he truly put the team on his back and won a high-stakes battle. My enduring memories of Barrett or Fields are of them playing hurt but still churning for every last yard on the ground and leaving nothing on the field.
(3) Day's playcalling is starting to cost us. I still believe that Ryan Day is one of the most talented play designers in college football, but as of late, he's starting to get way too into his own head and obsessed with exploiting defensive matchups. A prime example of this was the 3rd and 3 where he ran a toss run following a short gain in the running game. At that time, the OSU offense was having its way with the Wolverine secondary--why would you not place the ball in the hands of your two most trusted playmakers, Stroud and Harrison? Matchups matter, but when execution has been spotty all season for the supporting cast, sometimes you have to trust your surefire stars.
(4) We really missed JSN this season. Marvin Harrison Jr. is a revelation, but he can't do it all himself. Egbuka has been productive but drops too many passes and oddly disappears in some of the most important moments. He isn't consistent enough yet to be a safety blanket. Fleming is fine but is at best a WR3. Cade Stover is good when schemed wide open, but was exposed as a former linebacker playing TE on contested catches. Similarly, he glitches in the perimeter blocking game. With JSN healthy, he and Harrison would have terrorized opposing defenses. Without him, we got a lot of double coverage on our WR1 and a ton of drops underneath by the supporting cast.
Going forward:
- I think we need to prioritize finding a leader at QB who is willing to put his heart and body on the line to win. We've been missing that the past few years and the team has gone only as far as our opponents' skill level. I hope that Kyle McCord has that factor (albeit in a "strong but silent type" package) but if not, I'm curious to see what the charismatic gunslinger in Devin Brown can bring to the table.
- Day should think about simplifying his playcalling. He'll have a first time starter coming in at QB, so he needs to stop overthinking things. He's still recruiting well and most games will have an advantage in the talent department. Let the stars cook and stop putting the players in bad positions they can't win.
- Knowles needs to spend a lot of time in the offseason figuring out what to do with the CB room. He was brought in to do one thing this season, which was to avoid the national disgrace that was the defensive performance against UM, and he did that for just 30 minutes, before doing even worse than his predecessor for the remaining 30. He may have made us look better against lesser competition, but unless he can show that the fixes can come against the best of the competition, the upgrade has merely been cosmetic. Knowles is clearly a smart man and has reinvented his defense many times throughout his career. If he needs to do it again to make up for a shaky secondary, then now is the time to do so.
