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College Football

Ohio State football: Grading the Buckeyes after win over Florida Atlantic

Jim Tomlin

By Jim Tomlin

Published:

Ohio State’s season opener on Saturday against Florida Atlantic was fairly uneventful, in a good way, for Buckeyes fans.

There was never any doubt that Ohio State would win, not after the Buckeyes led 28-0 in the first quarter. But the Owls played much better after that, and some statistical categories were closer than one might suspect from a 45-21 Buckeyes win.

Of course, Saturday was the day when Ryan Day made his debut as full-time Buckeyes coach, transfer quarterback Justin Fields began his career in scarlet and gray rather than Georgia’s red and black, and a pretty decent-sized nationwide TV audience saw OSU begin to make its case as a Big Ten title favorite and College Football Playoff contender.

So, here are 5 things I liked and 3 I didn’t from Ohio State’s opening victory:

5 things I liked

Fields on wheels

Justin Fields can run. Fast. This was not a secret because he showed glimpses of his speed in his limited playing time last season at Georgia. But his 51-yard touchdown run to open the scoring on Saturday was a welcome dimension for Buckeyes fans to see — and so was his offensive line’s blocking, which allowed him to make the run untouched:

J.K. Dobbins with the stiff-arm

The junior running back brings a nice blend of speed and physicality to his play. He demonstrated that latter trait well with a fine stiff-arm during a first-quarter run. Dobbins later dove over the top (main photo) for a touchdown to make the score 42-14.

New QB, new targets

One of the main things any quarterback has to do when he takes over the starting job, much less adjusts after transferring to a new school as Fields has done, is make connections with his receivers. Veterans like K.J. Hill and Binjimen Victor are working with their third QB in three years, after all. Fields found them both (Hill had three catches for 21 yards; Victor had just two catches but led OSU with 65 receiving yards) but perhaps his best work was with two fellow sophomores — wide receiver Chris Olave and tight end Jeremy Ruckert. Each had four catches; Olave had 59 receiving yards and a score and Ruckert had 38 yards and two TDs.

No ground given

Last year, OSU’s defense was prone to giving up big plays both on the ground and through the air. There are still 11 regular-season games ahead and the unit has plenty to prove, but OSU allowed just 22 rushing yards to the Owls on 33 carries, an extremely stingy 0.7 yards per carry.

Brandon Bowen’s comeback

A lot was written in the offseason about how OSU’s offensive line had so much turnover. But one lineman has struck around and really stuck it out through hard times, truly deserving Saturday’s reward as a starter. Right guard Brandon Bowen saw his first game action since partway into the 2017 season when he broke his leg. After Bowen endured three surgeries and a year and a half on the shelf, it was terrific to see him on the field again.

3 things I didn’t like

Too many penalties

Ryan Day won’t like this either. OSU committed seven penalties for 62 yards, which would be slightly more understandable in a conference game against a heated rival. This was not that kind of game at all.

Longer day for starters

When OSU led 28-0 just 8:10 into the game, some in the stands — and perhaps even in the coaches’ box — might have been excused for thinking that the second string would get to play pretty much the entire second half. Things did not work out that way. Give full credit to the Owls because coach Lane Kiffin’s bunch kept fighting and refused to fold even when it was clear they would lose. After the first quarter, FAU outscored OSU 21-17.

Red zone defense

Of course this would be a bigger concern in a closer game. Nonetheless, FAU reached the red zone four times and score on all four of those possessions — two touchdowns and two field goals. The Buckeyes will want to button up that red-zone defense fast.

Jim Tomlin

Longtime newspaper veteran Jim Tomlin is a writer and editor for saturdaytradition.com and saturdaydownsouth.com.