Instant Observations: Buckeyes Roll into Big Ten Play with Win over Marshall

Ohio State started a bit sluggishly on Saturday afternoon but righted the ship and received several explosive plays from its offense to defeat Marshall 49-14 and head into Big Ten play a perfect 3-0.

The Observations might not be quite as glowing as the last time the Buckeyes suited up, but there were plenty of positives once again with the offense.

1. For the second straight game, the Ohio State offense averaged more than 10 yards per play. Regardless of competition, that is an insane stat and putting in the backups to salt away games has only hurt the average.

2. The last two games for Quinshon Judkins? How about 23 carries for 281 yards and four touchdowns. He’s a holding penalty away from 24 carries for about 360 yards and five touchdowns. Just an absolute heater right now.

3. While I thought things settled down in the second half, it was a sluggish performance from the defensive front seven. Some poor reads by the linebackers and, outside of Caden Curry, I didn’t feel anyone along the defensive front played a particularly strong game. First world problems in a game that you win by five touchdowns, but there will be plenty to teach from this film.

4. The coaches will hate me saying this because you don’t want to create an atmosphere of complacency, but the margin for error on this team compared to last year is night and day. The ability to mask issues with explosive plays on offense and a defense that is turning its opponents over more so far this year gives the Buckeyes more wiggle room than perhaps any team they’ve had recently. Now making sure the locker room understands that isn’t an excuse to not be focused each and every Saturday will be the challenge, but this is a veteran group and the leadership on this team seems very player driven, which is a good thing.

5. I’m trying to think of the last Ohio State backfield tandem that was as good as what the Buckeyes have right now with Judkins and Tre Henderson. Yes, the Buckeyes have loaded running back rooms before but often times it was one player carrying the load with a young and exciting backup spelling them or it was two players with contrasting styles. The ability of Judkins and Henderson to be completely interchangeable adds an extra element of excitement for this offense and makes it that much tougher to defend. These two have a chance to have a very special season.

6. I don’t think today did anything but help Arvell Reese’s case for more snaps. He looked like the most consistent linebacker out there today and it’s going to be interesting to see if his share of snaps increases in Big Ten play or if the staff reverts to previous years’ substitution patterns. I tend to the think the rotations that we’re seeing are here to stay.

7. Austin Siereveld was not really talked about much in the right guard competition in fall camp. Most of that was due to his firmly entrenched spot as Donovan Jackson’s backup at left guard, but he played really well against Western Michigan and was rewarded with a lot of time at right guard today with Jackson back in the lineup. Building out the depth upfront is always good, but the Buckeyes are about to lose two very key interior players in McLaughlin and Jackson after the season and being able to plug Siereveld in next year as an experienced player is going to pay a lot of dividends.

8. My game ball was Emeka Egbuka this week. It would have been easy to go with Judkins again, but Egbuka had a big day with over 100 yards and a touchdown, did a great job blocking, and continues to be an example and a mentor for the young and talented receivers on this roster. We’re all enamored with the shiny new toys this roster has, but sometimes the classics deserve some love too.

9. I say this in jest, but did we see a negative today to Ryan Day giving up play calling when he was penalized for screaming at the official over Marshall’s late substitutions? If Day was the primary play caller, he wouldn’t have had time for all of that as he would have needed to focus on getting the next play in. That’s why you come here, folks, to get this type of contrarian insight.

10. Thankfully this uneventful non-conference schedule is over and we won’t see anything like it again for a very long time. 3-0 was a given, surviving without any major injuries was the real W.