Ohio State vs. Grambling State was essentially the most enjoyable, productive blowout in latest reminiscence

Now look, I do know that Grambling State was not solely the worst staff that Ohio State will play all 12 months, however most likely the worst staff they’ve performed in a few years, and that clearly contributed considerably to the Buckeyes’ near-perfect efficiency on Saturday afternoon in The Horseshoe.

However, now we have witnessed loads of video games over time through which OSU sleepwalked via video games in opposition to severely overmatched opponents, so to see the Buckeyes come into the sport and look engaged from begin to end was the primary optimistic takeaway from the 70-0 drubbing, however the successes of that recreation go far past that admittedly low baseline.

The very first thing that any coach or fan is usually nervous about in a recreation this lopsided is whether or not or not everybody emerges from the competition unscathed. And, so far as we all know, no Buckeyes suffered accidents in opposition to the Tigers. So chalk one other one up within the productiveness column.

From there, we had been in a position to see the offense take issues to a degree that it didn’t even try in opposition to Texas, and the protection was in a position to stay dominant with out having to get too artistic and unique. From an on-field perspective, it’s powerful to think about a recreation going higher than what we witnessed in Ohio Stadium on Saturday, however in my thoughts, that recreation was greater than only a butt-kicking of epic proportions; it was additionally an entertaining train that confirmed Buckeye followers thrilling glimpses of what the long run holds for this system.

Clearly, anytime a staff scores 10 touchdowns in a recreation, there are going to be tons of highlights for followers. But from the opening 47-yard landing move to Will Kacmarek that featured a fantastically thrown ball by Julian Sayin to a record-breaking 87-yard reception by Jeremiah Smith to Riley Pettijohn’s 23-yard scoop-and-score to Bo Jackson’s first profession landing run, the scores had been thrilling, and watching them was enjoyable.

I do know that video games in opposition to groups that put up little to no resistance will be tedious to look at (lord is aware of we’ve seen a ton of them over time), however I by no means felt that manner about this recreation. Part of that’s as a result of Grambling State by no means retreated; they knew that they had been severely overmatched, however they stored popping out and throwing punches. Very few landed, however they stored throwing them.

But, for me, the larger a part of why I loved the 70-0 romp is that Ohio State didn’t do what it typically does in these conditions: shorten up the sport by working as few performs as potential and simply get out of the sport with none accidents.

Instead, Ryan Day and firm used each second of the sport to get guys much-needed reps. Whether these had been for starters, like Sayin, who had by no means earlier than been requested to truly command a throwing recreation like he was on Saturday, or for younger gamers who won’t by no means see the sphere once more this season, OSU primarily ran its offense and protection, so that everyone on the sphere bought actual, teachable expertise in opposition to an opponent not sporting the identical jersey as them.

That made what we noticed way more fulfilling than the Buckeye offense ready to snap the ball till underneath 5 seconds on each play and simply working between the tackles on each play as a result of their expertise is so significantly better that there was by no means any manner that they might lose the sport. Instead, we noticed as legit a model of the Ohio State staff as we probably might, given the circumstance,s and the outcomes had been an entire heck of a variety of enjoyable.

While that is likely to be why I discovered the sport to be so entertaining, the truth that 73 gamers noticed the sphere on offense or protection was unbelievable. For a lot of Day’s tenure as the pinnacle man in Columbus, many followers and analysts (and LGHL bloggers) have complained about his reticence to get the starters out of the sport when it was clearly out of hand.

However, that was not the case in opposition to Grambling State. Sayin was gone after halftime, no starter on both aspect of the ball performed greater than 32 snaps, and tons of men noticed the primary motion of the season and their careers. Of course, once you couple that with what I talked about earlier than — that OSU didn’t sit on its 35-point halftime lead and continued to run its regular offense and protection — that signifies that we bought to see our first actual seems at gamers who might have an incredible impression on the staff later this 12 months and in years to return.

Clearly, it seems that working again Bo Jackson might be a near-immediate resolution to a considerably torpid working recreation. I’m positive that there are issues in move safety, blocking, and studying defenses that he might want to proceed to enhance upon (as all true freshmen do) to be the kind of well-rounded again that Ohio State prides itself on. But, in relation to a working again’s major job — working with the soccer — he appears to be greater than able to contributing straight away.

West Virginia switch C.J. Donaldson and sophomore James Peoples have been pretty strong via two video games, however neither brings the dynamism or big-play capability that both TreVeyon Henderson or Quinshon Judkins did a 12 months in the past. Admittedly, only a few working backs are going to be on the degree of these two former Buckeyes, however, regardless of the restricted pattern dimension in opposition to sub-par competitors, Jackson appears to be the closest to being a distinction maker out of the backfield for Ohio State. Personally, I’m hoping that Day and working backs coach Carlos Locklyn proceed to get him carries whereas hammering the move professional stuff that he must be an every-down again, in order that after we get to November and past, Jackson has totally entrenched himself because the staff’s RB1.

On the opposite aspect of the ball, Riley Pettijohn clearly had an enormous day, being named the staff’s Defensive Player of the Game, regardless of solely taking part in 15 snaps. While the linebacker’s path to common taking part in time is way more tough than that of Jackson, recording two tackles, a move breakup, a compelled fumble, a fumble restoration, and a landing in these few performs is unbelievable.

But past these headliners from the sport, we additionally noticed comparatively important motion for Tarvos Alford, Jarquez Carter, Bennett Christian, Zion Grady, Mylan Graham, Eric Mensah, Bryson Rodgers, Aaron Scott Jr., Epi Sitanilei, Tavien St. Clair, Garrett Stover, Gabe Van Sickle, Bryce West, Isaiah West, and lots of others.

Of course, that taking part in time was massive for these gamers and their respective developments, nevertheless it was additionally extremely satisfying for followers who had adopted their particular person recruitments and are excited to see how prepared they’re to play on the collegiate degree.

While nobody is ever going to say that Ohio State’s 70-0 win over Grambling State was the top of collegiate competitors, I believe the train greater than glad each the Buckeyes and followers by offering an entertaining and productive afternoon of soccer that can hopefully show to be a constructive blueprint of even higher issues to return later within the season.