Ohio State Buckeyes Show More Purpose Against Northwestern

The Ohio State Buckeyes showed more purpose against Northwestern, but Urban Meyer’s team still has lots of work to do.

First off, this contest was different from last week’s debacle in Happy Valley, The Buckeyes showed more aggressiveness and purpose on offense. They did something for the first time all year and that was score on their first possession.

Hard to believe, I know. Ohio State tok it down down the field. Nine plays and 94 yards. Mike Weber ended the drive with a 1-yeard rushing touchdown.

Then it was the defense’s turn. Raekwon McMillan stepped up and tipped a pass. It was intercepted by Damon Arnette. But the offense couldn’t do much and settled for a field goal.

That’s when they went back to the Ohio State we’ve known this year. They let Nortwestern back in the game as they were unable to mount much of pass rush or cover Wildcat receivers.

The Wildcats covered 75 yards on 16 plays. Without much resistance from the Silver Bullets, the Wildcats cut the lead to 10-7.

The defense had no answer for the Wildcats quarterback Clayton Thorson and wide out Austin Mack. Theconsistently hooked up for chunks of yardage.

The Buckeye offense came back to life thanks to a 23-yeard Mike Weber run around end. It was the second touchdown of the game for Weber, and it gave Ohio State a 17-7 lead.

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But again the failure to cover Northwestern receivers resulted in a Wildcat field goal as the defense stiffened and held them out of the end zone and to a field goal.

Ohio State is a Jeckel and Hyde team. At times, they look like the team we’d thought they’d be.

But then, Urban Meyer’s group retreats to the team that played horribly against Indiana and Penn State.

They are splendid at being consistently inconsistent.

Ohio State started the second half like they ended the first. Weak play calling and even weaker execution by the offense. J.T. Barrett missed open receivers with bad off-target passes. Quite frankly, Meyer needs to think about benching Barrett, at least a couple of series.

The Buckeye defense needs a better scheme as the corners are too far off their respective receivers. The pressure needs to step up on the defensive line!

There’s just too many eyes looking in the backfield and not on their respective receivers. The defense is catching what the offense has. It must be contagious as Northwestern scored to tie the game at 17, with ease, marching 84 yards on 10 plays.

Early in the fourth, Ohio State finally put a drive together. Curtis Samuel‘s 3-yard touchdown run gave Ohio State a 24-17 lead.

The game looked to be trending in the Buckeyes’ direction. Wrong!

When the defense needed to make a stop, they let Northwestern drive 60 yards, which resulted in a 33-yard field goal from Jack Mitchell with just over three minutes remaining.

OK, we know the Buckeyes held on to win 24-20, but there are still some serious questions surrounding this team as the schedule gets harder.

Is this team good enough to beat That Team Up North? And what about Nebraska?

After the last four games, there’s no way this team’s beating Michigan. It pains me but even Urban Meyer said they have a lot of work to do.

Next: Harbaugh $3 Million Better Than Urban!?

Nebraska next week in the Shoe. There must be improvement in the offensive line and the defensive back field and pass rush!

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Ohio State Buckeyes Show More Purpose Against Northwestern Wildcats

By Ric McElroy | Oct 29, 2016

The Ohio State Buckeyes showed more purpose against Northwestern, but Urban Meyer’s team still has lots of work to do.

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