Now that the Buckeyes have upset the Badgers, the Big Ten's Leaders division is wide open. Thanks to a strong effort from the defense, mixed in with some dazzling plays from Boom Herron and Braxton Miller, Ohio State controls their own destiny to get to Indianapolis for the inaugural B1G Championship Game. Let's take a look back on Saturday to see what went right and wrong for the Scarlet and Gray.
What Went Right
- Defense Wins Championships Big Games: The Silver Bullets have shown flashes of defensive domination in games, such as against Michigan State, the first half of Nebraska, and now Wisconsin. Almost collapsing in the 2nd half similar to the Nebraska game, this time Braxton Miller and the rest of the offense were able to give this defense more of a break, to allow for Andrew Sweat and John Simon to continue to harass Russell Wilson all night long. The defense was also able to hold Montee Ball down on rushing the entire night, and was very effective to contain Wilson until the end of the 4th quarter.
- Special Teams Are Back To Being Special: Up until the very last year of Jim Tressel's tenure, Ohio State was known for having very solid special teams, especially when it came to kick and punt returning, thanks to Ray Small and Ted Ginn Jr. Now, after last year's horrendous showing, it appears the special teams are once again clicking. Kick coverage has been fantastic, while the obvious blocked punt by Ryan Shazier was huge, the unit as a whole has been very impressive. Nate Ebner and Shazier are similar to missiles when it comes down to moments where we need a special teams play.
 |
| Boom's big run got things started |
- Passes Are Nice, Boren Goes Boom: While the fans of Ohio State were screaming to pass the ball all season long, the offensive line and Zach Boren have been fantastic in breaking open holes for Boom Herron to run through. Boren may be the best blocking fullback in the whole country, and he proved it Saturday night. Braxton Miller didn't have any real big passes until the Hail Mary, but was pretty consistent in his attack going 7/12 (58% completion percentage) for 89 yards, and rushing for 99 yards on 19 attempts. He looked cool and collected out there even in the most tense moments. Boom Herron has great vision, as he had 160 yards on 33 carries.
What Went Wrong
- Where's Carlos Hyde?: No one seems to have the answer when it comes to getting Carlos Hyde onto the football field. The last time we saw Hyde get meaningful snaps was against Nebraska, where he literally exploded for 104 yards on only 13 carries. We're not sure if Hyde is in the doghouse yet, but there has to be a reason he didn't get 1 snap on Saturday, when Hall got 6 carries for 9 yards.
 |
| Moeller did his best to bring the heat |
- Prevent Defense Doesn't Prevent Anything Anymore: I'm not entirely sure it ever did, and was a complete "prevent" defense, because OSU rushed 4 down linemen in their typical 4-3 base set. As far as coverage, it looked to me like deep quarters, or Cover 4. While this is the norm for any college football team, it blows my mind that Wilson was connecting with Toon on two catches that would have had the Badgers to the Buckeyes' 15 yard line. That's not OK in anyone's minds, and was overshadowed by OSU's big upset. Heacock has to be careful about calling a defense like this in these type's of situations, because we all know Denard Robinson can arm punt way worse than Terrelle Pryor ever did.
- Blown Opportunities Almost Give Wisconsin Life: Jordan Hall's muffed punt, the facemask call with 0:00 left on the clock, and a couple of other stupid mistakes were also overlooked in the game. All of these plays gave some momentum to Wisconsin, and luckily they couldn't capitalize. Although Ohio State played great, they still have a lot to improve if they want to win out and head to Indy for a rematch with one of the Legend leaders, which would be Michigan (yes, it's possible to face them twice in a row), Nebraska, or Michigan State.
