Saturday's clash in Happy Valley had the makings of an intriguing showdown under the lights.
Instead, Ohio State pulled out to an early two-touchdown lead and held the advantage on Penn State for the duration of regulation even if it didn't pull away from the Nittany Lions the way it looked like it might early in the first half. Justin Fields put forth another performance that has him in the thick of the Heisman Trophy discussion, completing 28-of-34 passes for 318 yards and four touchdowns, and a stingy front seven held Penn State's ground game to 44 rushing yards.
We rewound the film and chose 11 plays – or sequences of plays – that stood out from Saturday's game and can teach us about the Buckeyes moving forward.
1st quarter – 15:00 and 14:21: Garrett Wilson rushes for 61 yards, and Master Teague carries the ball for 9 yards.
- Parris Campbell? That was the first thought when the coaches drew this up and ran it for Garrett Wilson. Brian Hartline and Ryan Day talked before the season about how they think Wilson can both be employed as a downfield threat and a traditional H-back. Previously, we had seen a ton of his contributions down the field but didn't see many plays like this. Intriguing.
- Hitting a play like this right off the rip does so much for an offense. Suddenly, defenses pay more attention than usual to that type of jet motion, opening up some holes. The Buckeyes never handed it off to a wide receiver like this after the game's first play, but they used this motion again and again to manipulate the defense. It really threw them off.
- In fact, they used the motion – with Jameson Williams coming across the formation – the next play. It helped pull one of the linebackers outside, further opening the hole for Master Teague.
- In general, Teague hit harder and was more explosive through holes against Penn State than in the opener. No hesitation on this 9-yard carry.
1st quarter – 8:04: Zach Harrison and Jonathon Cooper sack Sean Clifford.
- Don't use the official stats if you want to account for the impact made by Haskell Garrett over the weekend. He accounted for two tackles. But as seen here, he consistently thoroughly dominated their matchups on the inside.
- Such a pretty pass rush by Garrett. Took a hard jab step with his left foot to the outside of the right guard before hitting such a picture-perfect swim move that he caused the off-balance offensive lineman to fall over while trying to recover.
- This fall, Garrett probably won't go a weekend without the television announcers discussing the fact that he got shot in the face less than two months before the season yet managed to play. That's understandable. It's unbelievable he's even playing at all right now. But nobody should overlook the level at which he's performing, either. Garrett has now stacked two standout games on top of each other.
2nd quarter – 12:52: Jonathon Cooper and Tommy Togiai tackle Sean Clifford for a 1-yard gain.
- This was arguably Tuf Borland's best game versus a high-profile opponent as a Buckeye. He put himself in position to make plays and got off blocks well. For more on him and the front seven, our own Kyle Jones dug into their play with a Film Study earlier in the week.
- Watch Togiai recognize the impending screen pass and quickly turn to chase the running back leaking out into the flats. His mind works fast, and he just never stops hustling.
- A new third-down wrinkle appeared on Saturday. A 3-3-5 defense with Baron Browning and Teradja Mitchell as the outside linebackers showing blitz and Pete Werner in the middle.
- On at least three occasions, Werner blitzed out of this look and blew up the running back. Here, it causes Clifford to take off. Props to Togiai and Jonathon Cooper for disengaging from their blockers to make the tackle. Stopping the quarterback run was clearly a priority, and the linemen frequently ensured Clifford didn't find any openings.
2nd quarter – 2:13: Tommy Togiai sacks Sean Clifford.
- One of the many instances where Ohio State did well to cover Pat Freiermuth, Penn State's potential All-American tight end who managed three receptions for 46 yards. Clifford wanted to toss it to him, but Werner's draped all over him on the out route.
- The inability to get it to his first option forced Clifford to look elsewhere, giving the interior linemen a chance to get home. This was the first of Togiai's three sacks.
- Watch Garrett toss aside the right guard and jump on Clifford to finish him off. The guy's powerful.
3rd quarter – 8:50: Justin Fields throws 49-yard touchdown to Chris Olave.
- Who knew the Justin Fields-Chris Olave connection would take another step this year? Their chemistry on deep balls led to this seemingly perfect touchdown.
- Nice work by Olave to get a step on the cornerback who, as Kirk Herbstreit pointed out on the broadcast, had just entered the game, meaning Ryan Day specifically targeted him. Fields couldn't have thrown this ball any better, too.
- The offensive line gave Fields all the time in the world on Saturday night against a quality defensive front. On this play, Thayer Munford completely cuts off Jayson Oweh's inside move and Nicholas Petit-Frere – with the help of Master Teague – shoves Shaka Toney away from the quarterback. As a unit, the line passed this test.
3rd quarter – 8:16 and 8:12: Sean Clifford throws an incomplete pass, and Tommy Togiai sacks Clifford.
- Cameron Brown's closing speed on display here. An Achilles injury later this game, however, means his season has come to an end. A lot of pressure on Shaun Wade, Sevyn Banks and Marcus Williamson to perform at a high level as starters and a younger guy or two to step up.
- Once again, say hello to Garrett's swim move.
- And on the next play, reintroduce yourself to Werner blowing up the running back on a blitz out of the 3-3-5 third-down look. Togiai, once again, cleaned the pressure up by securing a sack. This front seven swarmed to the ball on Saturday in a way that'll have to continue moving forward.
3rd quarter – 4:38 and 3:55: Justin Fields throws a 14-yard pass to Jeremy Ruckert, and Master Teague rushes for 3 yards.
- A good read by Fields to recognize the pressure off his right side and deliver it to his tight end who leaked out that way. Time after time, he makes the right decision.
- By himself, Ruckert turned a potential five-yard gain into a 14-yard gain that put the Buckeyes a yard away from the first-down marker. A big-time effort by the junior tight end who's rounding into form in front of our eyes.
- The Buckeyes made the 3rd-and-1 conversion look simple. Harry Miller stood up the defensive tackle, Thayer Munford made his way to the second level, Ruckert shot past the defensive end to open the hole and Teague followed his blockers.
- Ruckert made his name in high school with his receiving ability. This year, he's clearly taken a step as a blocker. He's in the midst of turning himself into a heck of an NFL prospect.
3rd quarter – 0:03: Javontae Jean-Baptiste sacks Sean Clifford.
- On his rush off the edge, Jonathon Cooper didn't use any moves. He relied on brute strength to send Freiermuth stumbling backward into his quarterback. Javontae Jean-Baptiste got credit for the sack, but this was all due to Cooper's effort.
- Cooper has never, ever been better than he was on Saturday night. If he can turn in performances similar to the one he had over the weekend on a consistent basis, the Buckeyes will be in business.
- We see this time after time yet many forget it happens so often. A fifth-year senior who hasn't lived up to his hype comes out of nowhere to go from a contributor to an impact player. Last year, DaVon Hamilton and Damon Arnette were those guys. Cooper could fit the bill this season.
4th quarter – 11:15 and 10:54: Justin Fields throws an 18-yard pass to Garrett Wilson, and Master Teague carries it for a 7-yard gain.
- How much does Day trust Fields and Garrett Wilson? Well, enough to call a downfield pass on 4th-and-1 with a two-man route combination. He fully anticipated that either Wilson or Chris Olave would get open, and he knew Fields would find one of them and deliver a strike. That's exactly what happened.
- Fields loves throwing to Wilson on third downs. Five of Wilson's 11 catches on Saturday came on third down.
- Munford deserves some shine here, too. Oweh tried a delayed speed rush around the edge, but Munford gave him nothing to work with. The veteran left tackle's playing at a high, high level so far.
- Ohio State ran a lot of these inside zone handoffs on Saturday to Teague, who has run better up the middle through traffic than Trey Sermon, whose best carries have been outside toward the sideline.
4th quarter – 9:55 and 9:18: Justin Fields rushes for a 1-yard gain, and Fields throws a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Ruckert.
- Just a mistake to leave the inside linebacker unblocked, allowing him to tackle Fields. The play call, however, set up Ohio State's eventual touchdown.
- On 4th-and-goal, given Fields' wheels and how Teague had run so far in the game, the Nittany Lions sold out to shut down the ground game. Oops.
- Fields' jab step forward faked out the entire defense, allowing Ruckert and the wide receiver to get behind the secondary. An easy pitch and catch for Fields and Ruckert for six points.
4th quarter – 6:38 and 6:33: Marcus Hooker forces an incompletion, and Sean Clifford throws a touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson.
- Opponents won't try to replicate Jahan Dotson's acrobatic snags down the sideline. They can't draw those up. They will, however, surely look at the film and see how Penn State hit a few slant passes and test the Buckeyes with that moving forward.
- A nice hit by Marcus Hooker breaks up the pass on 1st-and-10. But Dotson beats Wade at the line of scrimmage on 2nd-and-15, giving him an opening, and Hooker can't jar it loose.
- Kerry Coombs knows Ohio State has to improve in that area: "I think that we have to play better on some of the other inward-breaking routes where (Dotson) caught passes, and I think we will."
Other Observations from Saturday's Game:
- Everything Justin Fields touches turns to gold. He went 28-for-34 for 318 yards and four touchdowns on Saturday, only throwing one ill-advised that could have led to a turnover. Otherwise, he again made his case to be viewed as college football's best quarterback.
- We could've included a number of other Fields tosses in here. He threw an obscene 16-yard pass to Jameson Williams on the sideline while rolling out to his right and hit Wilson on a few tough throws. Somehow, Fields got even better as a junior.
- Still not exactly sure what the Buckeyes have in Sermon. He has been more tentative and less explosive of a runner than Teague through two games. Sometimes when he gets an angle on the edge, though, he can turn out some nice runs. He has to figure out how to become a more decisive ball-carrier.
- The surprise quarterback sneak for 4 yards was a nice little touch near the goal line on 3rd-and-3. Perfectly executed by Fields and the offensive line in the second quarter.
- Kevin Wilson mentioned earlier this week that Harry Miller might've made the most progress from Week 1 to Week 2, and the film backs that up. He had a shaky starting debut but was solid in his second game. He'll continue to get better in time. Furthering his chemistry with Munford and Josh Myers will be important for the left guard.
- Greg Mattison deserves some credit for the physicality and toughness the front seven displayed on Saturday. The co-defensive coordinator preaches fundamentals that were on display this weekend.
- Significantly fewer scrambles on Saturday for Fields, who recorded six carries for -4 yards. One of the reasons? This offensive line had a standout game as pass protectors. The Buckeyes have to like the early returns on their Petit-Frere-Munford duo.
- Clifford threw a one-on-one fade to Clifford that Baron Browning defended about as well as anybody could have hoped. A nice moment for the senior.
- We included the second of Olave's two touchdowns in this article, but the 26-yarder could've made the cut, too. Fields really trusts him to go up and get the ball.
- Borland legitimately did a Dikembe Mutombo-like finger wag after making a tackle on a Clifford draw in the second quarter. He was really feeling it on Saturday.
- Through two weeks, Banks and Williamson haven't had a ton of balls come their way. That'll change at some point, and we'll get a better handle on them and where they are in their development later this year.
- Wilson has a knack for finding the soft spots in a secondary, and Day likes to involve him in misdirection. A lot of potential uses for the sophomore wideout. Feeling better and better about my prediction that he'll lead the team in receptions this season.
- Wyatt Davis made a couple of mistakes in succession in the first half. He whiffed on a linebacker near the goal line early in the second quarter, which led to a two-yard run instead of a touchdown. Ohio State subsequently missed a field goal. The next drive, his foot slipped on the grass and he gave up a sack, preceding a punt. But otherwise, he put forth a typical quality performance. He's been the team's best interior offensive lineman thus far.
