On Saturday, we posted our Ten Pressing Questions for Ohio State’s game against Rutgers. Today, we are back with the answers following Ohio State’s 35-16 win at Rutgers.
* 1. Can the Buckeyes get out to a fast start? – Once again, the Buckeyes sputtered out of the starting gate. OSU went three-and-out on its first possession and then sustained only one drive and only had one touchdown as it trailed 9-7 at the half. The opponents OSU has played have not been able to fully capitalize on these terrible starts each week. Don’t worry, there will be one that very well could coming up in a few weeks.
* 2. Can Kyle McCord have a bounceback game and avoid critical turnovers? – There is much hand kvetching about McCord and what he can’t do. The coaches went into the Rutgers game – against the nation’s No. 2 pass defense – thinking they needed McCord to dink and dunk his way down the field. He completed his first 11 passes and, when coupling those with his last seven completions at Wisconsin last week, he had a new OSU record for consecutive completions with 18.
Unfortunately, OSU was only averaging about 5 yards per pass attempt as it trailed Rutgers at halftime. It was noted that Rutgers was playing a two-high safety look with a “cloud” as well. Translation: They weren’t allowing OSU’s receivers to run unfettered for big plays. The Buckeyes made some adjustments and things opened up a bit in the second half. McCord ended up 19 of 26 passing for 189 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
OSU’s early struggles can’t be pinned entirely on McCord. The first possession went three-and-out because, in part, the third-down pass wasn’t beyond the first-down marker. Another drive was snuffed when an unblocked blitzer sacked McCord. He had critical drops by Julian Fleming and Gee Scott Jr. as well that stymied two more possessions. Yes, McCord underthrew Marvin Harrison Jr. and was intercepted, and that’s certainly on him. But laying all…
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