After a landslide win against Akron to open up the season, Ohio State hopes to clean things up and improve against Western Michigan.
Quick Summary
We're reflecting on the journey of the 2024 season by watching back each game of last season through condensed, 40-minute videos of just the plays. Share what you remember going into each week and how your thoughts on the team have changed compared to where we ended up.
If you have comments on specific plays as you watch, to help keep things organized, leave your comment under the appropriate quarter's top-level comment and preface your observation with the time on the game clock so everyone can find the play you're talking about.
Coming out of Week 1 (things I should have put in the last topic)
- Stock Up/Stock Down - Jeremiah Smith makes an immediate impact, the defense scored more points than it gave up, and punt returning get exciting. Run blocking looked shaky, despite averaging 5 ypc.
- Will Howard shines - Despite a rocky early game and an extremely ill-advised unstable backwards pass, Will Howard completed 61% of his passes for 228 yards and tallied 3 TDs and no turnovers. His running ability also impressed. Glowing reviews from the commentariat.
- Care/Don't Care - We liked most of what we saw from Will Howard and the defense was exciting. OL takes ranged from underwhelmed to patiently optimistic, many wanted to see more from Judkins.
Going into Week 2
- Score Predictions - Another blowout predicted.
- Ryan Day Wants Improvements Across the Board - Good effort and great flashes, but he saw a lot of areas that needed improvement. Specifically called out the OL, not accepting any excuses for missing DJ.
- Mic Check - Would Brandon Inniss spark a revival in OSU's long-dormant punt return game?
- Week 2 Trailer: The Next Step
- Western Michigan Preview - WMU came off a near-upset of Wisconsin. They were up 14-13 early in the fourth quarter, but a special teams miracle for Wisconsin led to a 28-14 Badger victory. Would the run game come together and would Quinshon meet expectations? Jack Sawyer had a strong showing in Week 1, but would the DE tandem become the game wreckers OSU fans are used to?
Week 2 against Western Michigan in 40 Minutes:
Open Threads: Q1 | Q2 | Halftime | Q3 | Q4
Coming out of Week 2
- Ohio State Steamrolls WMU, 56-0 - The Buckeyes put up over 600 yards of offense and pitched their first shutout since 2019. The run game started strong with a red zone 3-yard TD run in the opening drive. Jeremiah Smith proved last week wasn't a fluke with a 70-yard TD catch-and-run. The run game piled on as Quinshon Judkins rips a 23-yard TD with Josh Fryar delivering the key leading block and follows it up with another 23-yard TD, this time with the rest of the OL leading the way. We had little to say in terms of criticisms following that performance.
- More praise of Judkins
- Ryan Day saw the improvements he was looking for - He specifically called out Ty Hamilton's performance.
- Stock Up/Stock Down - Run blocking improved, nose guards shone, Arvell Reese continues his ascent, and backup DBs rise to the occasion after Burke's early ejection. CJ Hicks struggled at LB.
- Care/Don't Care - A lot of praise for the defense, appreciation for Inniss' role, OL improvements, and a lot of criticism for the officiating.
So, the defense looks dominant, the OL is coming together, our skill players are impressing, and there's a spark on special teams. This team could be going places.
Up Next: Marshall (after a bye week an improvement week)
