Skull Session: Ohio State's Offense Needs to Improve Quickly, Marvin Harrison Jr.'s Injury Scare Gave JSN Flashbacks and Denzel Burke is Ohio State's "Buck of the Week"

By Chase Brown on September 4, 2023 at 5:00 am
Kyle McCord
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

Ohio State is 1-0.

Let's have a good Monday, shall we?

 MUCH TO IMPROVE. Ohio State's offense looked out of sorts on Saturday, as the Buckeyes – who were 31-point favorites against Indiana – led the Hoosiers 10-3 at the intermission and added 13 second-half points to win 23-3 in Bloomington.

While the Buckeyes secured a three-score victory over a Big Ten opponent on the road in a season opener, I wanted... well, what Ryan Day expressed in his postgame press conference: "I wanted better."

Before Saturday, I believed Ohio State was bound to score 30, 40 or 50 points on Indiana, who is expected to finish near the bottom of the conference in 2023. But with Kyle McCord at quarterback and Josh Simmons, Carson Hinzman and Josh Fryar as new starters on the offensive line, perhaps I expected too much from the new-look Buckeyes.

Or did I?

The Buckeyes have averaged at least 41 points per game in each of the six seasons since Day took over as offensive coordinator in 2017 and scored an average of 48.2 points in those six season openers. Of course, that production came with J.T. Barrett, Dwayne Haskins, Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud under center.

As a former five-star recruit, McCord should be the next record-breaker, Heisman finalist and first-round draft pick to come out of Day's quarterback factory. To fulfill his destiny, he must perform better in Ohio State's future matchups. A 239-yard, one-interception performance will not cut it.

McCord's future efforts – and the future performances of the Ohio State offense, for that matter – could directly correlate to the performance of the Buckeyes' offensive line. According to Pro Football Focus, the slobs had a bad, bad day on Saturday and allowed seven quarterback pressures to the Hoosiers' defense.

Additionally, McCord and the offense would benefit from Day as a more aggressive play-caller. I understand a CFP battle with Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium is far from a road matchup with Indiana at Memorial Stadium, but Ohio State could have used the punch-throwing, red-in-the-face version of Day in the season opener. It's his best version, and I hope to see it more in 2023, regardless of the opponent.

Ohio State defeated Indiana on Saturday. That's all it needed to do. But a more formidable opponent lies ahead in a Week 4 road matchup with Notre Dame, where the Buckeyes will probably need more than 23 points to beat the Irish. Luckily, they have Youngstown State and Western Kentucky on the schedule to iron out the kinks.

 THANK HEAVENS. At the end of the second quarter of Ohio State's matchup with Indiana, Marvin Harrison Jr. slammed into the turf, reached for his shoulder and winced in pain. All of Buckeye Nation held its breath.

I don't know about everyone else, but I was reminded of "The Office" episode where Toby Flenderson returns and Michael Scott screams, "No, God! No, God, please no! No! No! Nooooooooo!" as I watched Harrison remain on the turf. And, of course, I thought: First, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and now this? And both had to happen in the season opener? Why, world, why?!

Thank the Maker, those anxieties were short-lived. Harrison returned to the field after a handful of plays and looked ready to catch another pass. Harrison didn't receive the opportunity before the half ended, but he did near the end of the third quarter when he secured a touchdown pass from McCord. Unfortunately, the touchdown was called back because Harrison stepped out of bounds before the catch.

At least we have this photo to remember what could have been:

​​ PLAYERS OF THE GAME. After each Ohio State win in 2023, Eleven Warriors will honor an offensive and defensive Buckeye with player of the game awards. This week, tight end Cade Stover (a.k.a. Farmer Gronk) and safety Sonny Styles (a.k.a. Always Sonny – need a better nickname for him) received our top honors.

Ohio State also shared its selections for the Buckeyes' offensive, defensive and special teams players of the game on Saturday. The coaches agreed that Stover was the team's best offensive player against Indiana. However, they selected defensive JT Tuimoloau as their top defensive player, while Notre Dame transfer cornerback Lorenzo Styles Jr. received the accolade for special teams.

Tuimoloau, who also earned Jim Knowles' Silver Bullet of the Game award, had four tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss and four quarterback hurries in Ohio State's win. He also would have collected a sack late in the contest had he not been tackled by an Indiana offensive lineman. Alas, the 6-foot-4, 269-pound defensive end is used to that after last season. Good news: He will record lots of sacks for the Buckeyes in 2023 to make up for it.

Lorenzo Styles was a surprise selection for Ohio State's special teams player of the game award, as kicker Jayden Fielding accounted for 11 points with two extra points and three field goals from 40, 22 and 22 yards. Still, I respect the decision. Styles was a member of first-team all-heart, zooming around the field on kickoff and punt coverage. Although he didn't record a tackle, that moment will come soon enough as he continues to "cut his teeth" on special teams.

 BUCK OF THE WEEK. While Stover, Tuimoloau and Lorenzo Styles were named Ohio State's players of the game, cornerback Denzel Burke received the program's "Buck of the Week" honor for performance on Saturday, which included two well-timed pass breakups on Indiana throws.

Despite Burke's stellar defensive effort, the third-year starter left Bloomington unsatisfied. After the game, Ohio State's No. 1 cornerback said that the defense should have shut out the Hoosiers in Week 1. He believes the Buckeyes should settle for no less than zero points allowed in the future as it strives to become a dominant defense and “bring the Silver Bullets back” in 2023.

I love that mindset. I love it.

AD 2023 is the year of the Silver Bullets.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Carmen Ohio" by The Best Damn Band in the Land.

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