OHIO STATE

Jon Spencer's Ohio State report card

Jon Spencer
Reporter

OFFENSIVE LINE

The front five didn't get pushed around like last week, but then it would have been hard for anybody on offense to look worse than the Buckeyes did against Michigan State. The line sprung Ezekiel Elliott loose on a 66-yard run to set up the Buckeyes' first TD and that set the tone on a day when OSU racked up 482 yards, 369 on the ground. The line got great push on fourth-and-1 from the U-M 17, leading to a TD on the next play that capped a 16-play march, goosing the lead to 28-10. The Buckeyes scored five TDs on six trips inside the red zone against a defense that had allowed 2 in 17 previous opportunities.

GRADE: A

RUNNING GAME

Ezekiel Elliott's grievance with the play-calling after the loss to Michigan State didn't fall on deaf ears. He had one of his better first halves of the season with 99 yards rushing, including a 66-yard burst leading to the first TD. The skin infection in his leg that landed him in the hospital for three days earlier last week must still be bothering him because he doesn't normally get caught from behind like that. Otherwise, Elliott looked like his old self with a Heisman-like 214 yards and two TDs on 30 carries and quarterback J.T. Barrett was a great complement with 139 yards and three TDs on 19 attempts.

GRADE: A

PASSING GAME

After mustering only 18 yards through the air in the first half, Jalin Marshall's high-reaching 25-yard touchdown catch against tight coverage on the first series of the third quarter did wonders for OSU's embattled passing attack and gave hope that maybe the offense isn't one-dimensional. But the Buckeyes cannot afford to lose sight of what made that play possible: Ezekiel Elliott picked up 45 yards on three carries on that drive, which gave OSU a 21-10 lead and some breathing room. Barrett finished with 113 yards passing, so this facet of the game needs to improve. Unless OSU can rush for nearly 400 yards every game.

GRADE: C

DEFENSIVE LINE

Although he wasn't rewarded until the end, Joey Bosa spent the game in tireless pursuit of the quarterback. He wreaked a lot of the havoc himself until the lead grew to 28-10 and the Buckeyes collectively were able to tee off on quarterback Jake Rudock. Fittingly, he applied the exclamation point with a tipped interception off Rudock's backup and 28-yard return. OSU couldn't cash in, but that was a rare failure in a 28-point second half. When he had time, Rudock was very effective. When he didn't, he wasn't nearly as lucky. Typifying Michigan's second half was Rudock getting planted by Bosa in the fourth quarter. A fumble on the play was overturned, but Rudock's day was done. Adolphus Washington had a solid game in the middle of that line as Michigan managed only 57 yards rushing.

GRADE: A-

LINEBACKERS

Picking up where they left off last week, the Buckeyes allowed Michigan to answer right back with scores after Ohio State's two touchdowns in the first half. Last week in the 17-14 loss to MSU, it wasn't the points allowed that was the problem. It was yielding two long TD drives immediately after OSU scored its two touchdowns. When that pattern finally ended on Michigan's first possession of the second half, the OSU offense celebrated with a 16-play TD drive to make it 28-10. Raekwon McMillan hobbled off in the final minute of the first half, but returned and finished with nine tackles, one less than team leader Joshua Perry and two more than sidekick Darron Lee.

GRADE: B

DEFENSIVE BACKS

It was too easy for Jake Rudock to pick on the Buckeyes when he wasn't being pressured. Everyone knew the Michigan running attack has struggled over the past month, and that Rudock had passed for 250-plus yards in three straight games — a school record extended Saturday — but the secondary was a sitting duck when Rudock had time to stand back in the pocket and look for someone. He was also effective on some rollouts. But the Iowa transfer didn't have a big comeback in him and the pass defense looked a lot better once the Buckeyes were able to manhandle Michigan on the line of scrimmage.

GRADE: C

SPECIAL TEAMS

Given the offensive struggles of late, a special teams score seemed sorely needed. Michigan did a good job of making sure that didn't happen, putting its kickoffs in the end zone and punts where Jalin Marshall couldn't get to them. Cameron Johnston, who had a rough day in the wind against Michigan State, only needed to punt twice. The first he launched  56 yards for a touchback. The second was partially blocked after Johnston had to field a high snap. So he's had a couple of kicks travel 17 and 7 yards the last two weeks. The Wolverines returned five kickoffs, but none of them for more than 22 yards.

GRADE: B

COACHING

Urban Meyer said it was his job to make sure the Buckeyes were ready after the first regular season Big Ten loss under his watch. Were they ever. He also had offensive coordinator Ed Warinner doing his job from the press box for the first time this season, where he joined quarterbacks coach Tim Beck. I jokingly wondered on Twitter if Meyer cut off their connection from upstairs to the sidelines. It's not like the Buckeyes did anything dramatic on offense. They just went back to feeding Zeke (it's not rocket science.) and sprinkling in some runs by quarterback J.T. Barrett. As a result, Meyer is now 4-0 against TTUN.

GRADE: A

— Jon Spencer