Bo Jackson bursts for big yardage during the Buckeyes’ win over UCLA. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Scott Stuart)
Ohio State started well, easily overcame the absence of Carnell Tate and a short day for Jeremiah Smith, ran the football effectively and, of course, shut down the Bruins’ offense.
Columbus, OH – First impressions don’t often reveal lasting truth. Unless you’re watching Ohio State play football.
The Buckeyes, whether they score early and often or not, produce many ways of making it known early that they are in charge, that they intend to hang on to No. 1, that average to below-average teams will have no chance to feel good about themselves for even a quarter.
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Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State football and basketball and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
The Buckeyes advance the football and score. The opponent does not.
Ryan Day’s team is as script-driven and routine as it gets from mindset to execution, like a closer who almost always pitches a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
“We want to make sure, as we’ve talked about before, that we bring it every day and have that look in our eye,” Day said. “And I thought we did that again tonight.”
From the first play Saturday night against outmanned UCLA, the Buckeyes were efficient –Day’s buzzword of the season. And efficiency characterized many moments and series of moments in the No. 1 Buckeyes 48-10 complete and expected domination of UCLA.
The absence of wide receiver Carnell Tate to an undisclosed injury, the undisclosed lower leg injury that limited wide receiver Jeremiah Smith to less than a half of action, and a left-foot thing that sent Julian Sayin briefly to the medical tent made no impact on the outcome.
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And by the way, Day said Tate and Smith’s injuries are not long term. That’s good news for the expected playoff run.
Still, Ohio State (10-0, 7-0) is deep enough to weather teams like UCLA (3-7, 3-4) without their future first-round draft picks.
“We showed a lot of depth,” said quarterback Julian Sayin who relied on WR3 Brandon Inniss, tight end Max Klare and a passel of young receivers. “The receiver room looked good tonight whether they were blocking or making big-time catches to convert on third down and fourth down.”
Buckeyes defense clamps down on a UCLA runner during Saturday’s win at Ohio Stadium.
Inniss caught a team-high six passes for 30 yards and made key conversions on third down and fourth down. Klare caught five passes, Smith four, and Mylan Graham three to lead a group of nine pass catchers.
Back to those first impressions.
The first six minutes and 13 seconds were all you needed to see to understand why Ohio State is ranked No. 1 and owns the nation’s longest winning streak at 14 games. And why UCLA’s season will be known for only beating Penn State and contributing to the firing of Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin.
UCLA had the ball first. The Bruins’ first possession consisted of four plays and two yards. First-time starter Luke Duncan got the keep-it-simple treatment from his coaches and completed two passes for minus-two yards. He got the call when starter Nico Iamaleava was held out because of concussion protocol.
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Duncan threw to the sideline behind the line of scrimmage and All-American safety Caleb Downs showed why he is PhD candidate for football intelligence. He read the play, shed the block and made the sure tackle.
After the Bruins punted, the Buckeyes’ offense did what it does. Sometimes flashy, but mostly efficient. Sayin threw seven yards to Klare, a common early target for Sayin on first drives. Then Bo Jackson ran for seven yards. Next, Sayin threw 16 yards to Bryson Rodgers, filling in for Tate.
Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin scans the field during Saturday’s win over UCLA.
Then it was Smith’s turn for 18 yards to the UCLA 41 for the night’s first highlight reel play. The throw was to Smith’s back shoulder on the left sideline. Smith turned, snagged the ball with his right hand, kept his feet in bounds and made another one-handed catch look ridiculously easy.
Jackson got the ball on the next four plays for 4, 7, 11 and 1 yard for a 7-0 lead with 8:47 left in the first half. By halftime the scoreboard read 27-0.
The statistical comparisons told the story. The Buckeyes outgained the Bruins 294 to 50, and had 147 yards passing and running. The Buckeyes ran 31 plays to 21 for the Bruins. The first downs favored the Buckeyes 16-2. And time of possession was 18:28 to 11:32.
In the second quarter, Sayin threw an 11-yard touchdown to Rodgers, the first of his career, on fourth-and-five. And highlight reel play No. 2 happened when running back James Peoples hurdled a defender on his way to a 19-yard touchdown. Peoples learned that fluid hurdling form when he ran the high hurdles in high school.
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Highlight play No. 3 came at the end of the half when Caden Curry was credited with a blocked punt that surprised even him. Will Karoll hit the ball off the side of his foot and right into right-place-at-the-right-time Curry. Jayden Fielding followed with his second field goal to close the half.
“I’m claiming for me the intimidation factor,” Curry said.
Buckeyes celebrate another score during Saturday’s win over UCLA.
The Buckeyes kept scoring in the second half on a drive led by Sayin and one by backup Lincoln Kienholz. But the play of the half was a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Lorenzo Styles Jr. right after UCLA’s only touchdown.
The touchdown return was the first for Ohio State since Jordan Hall in 2010 and the first for 100 yards since Ted Ginn Jr. in 2005.
“I knew if I had an opportunity, I had to take it to the house and represent the university, my teammates and all the work we put in,” Styles Jr. said. “The best feeling is celebrating with your teammates, but most of all my brother. Him being so excited for me, telling me how sweet that play was, it felt great.”
Inniss, who has returned the most kicks of any kind for the Buckeyes this season, loved seeing Styles Jr. break away for a touchdown.
“He’s the fastest guy on the team,” Inniss said. “Everybody knew once he gets an open field, there’s going to be a touchdown. We just had to make the blocks.”
Speaking of making blocks, much has made of the slow maturation of the running game. UCLA is 123rd in the nation against the rush, but, nonetheless, the Buckeyes ran the ball well. With C.J. Donaldson out, all the carries went to Jackson (15 for career-high 112 yards, one touchdown), Peoples (six for 42, two touchdowns) and Isaiah West (eight for 61, one touchdown) for a total of 222 yards and 6.7 yards per carry.
As a group they broke tackles, avoided tacklers and finished plays, all traits Day believes the backs are getting better at with more and more game reps.
“They all ran really hard and did a really good job,” Sayin said. “James, watching him hurdle that guy, it was awesome to see. They’ve been challenged to run angry and run tough, and they do a really good job of that. They showed that tonight.”
Next for the Buckeyes at noon next Saturday is the final home game against Rutgers (5-5, 2-5), a continuation of uninspiring opponents that have made for routine wins like Saturday. Yet, the Buckeyes have yet to treat an opponent as routine.
“We had to realize it doesn’t matter who goes on the field, we gotta do our job,” said Inniss, who is a captain. “You see some other teams around the country take a step off, but Coach Day has been a person that’s just been steady on that. We’re not letting up. It doesn’t matter who we play.”
So far, that’s the lasting impression of this team.
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