Oller: Ohio State tunes up for Michigan by drubbing Minnesota with second-half flurry
As tuneups go, Ohio State was the 2½-hour oil change that finally leaves the garage purring after too long of a wait. But that was better than Michigan, which checked under the hood and ... gunk everywhere.
The Buckeyes started slowly – again – against Minnesota on Saturday before shifting into high gear the second half to breeze to a 37-3 win in Ohio Stadium.
Quarterback Kyle McCord, coming off his best game of the season last week against Michigan State, was not on point against the Golden Gophers. The junior completed 20 of 30 attempts for 212 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. He was statistically strong, but he also threw behind receivers and did not look as sharp as he should have against a defense ranked 68th against the pass. With McCord, it’s all about his footwork. When it is good, so is he. When not, fans get restless.
Not that anything McCord, TreVeyon Henderson or Marvin Harrison Jr. did mattered all that much against Minnesota. The No. 2 Buckeyes (11-0) would have won without any of those key pieces shining, because Minnesota (5-6) continued a pattern of Ohio State opponents failing to present any semblance of a scoring threat. Credit the Buckeyes’ defense for much of the Gophers’ offensive woebegone (159 total yards). There is no question the “boring” side of the ball is this season’s MVP. The defense’s 9.27 points allowed per game puts it in the school’s top five since college football’s modern era began in 1970.
This group is special, but it also is true they have not faced two quarterbacks in the Big Ten that put a scare in you.
Will Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy flip that script? That is a major talking point entering Saturday’s game in Ann Arbor. A Heisman Trophy candidate two weeks ago, McCarthy saw his chances evaporate last week against Penn State, when his final pass attempt came in the second quarter. After that, UM called 32 consecutive run plays. That’s no way to get your guy to New York, much less get him in a groove with the OSU game on the horizon.
The game. Or The Game, if capital letters get you excited. That’s what we’re really here to talk about, right? Minnesota was a .210 leadoff hitter for the sluggers stepping to the plate on Nov. 25.
Still, it is worth a quick look to see if Ohio State and Michigan are both on form with the biggest challenge of the season approaching. So let’s get to it.
As discussed, Ohio State got out of the gate like a square-wheeled wagon, taking a 13-0 halftime lead that felt more like 6-0. Then the Buckeyes did their usual quick-change act by quickly putting the game out of reach early in the second half when Henderson (146 yards on 16 carries) ripped off a 75-yard touchdown run and Harrison caught a 4-yard TD pass from McCord less than a minute later. Game. Set. Match.
Michigan’s day was more problematic, and not just because Jim Harbaugh, suspended by the Big Ten through the regular season, was not around to green light what has become an increasingly rare species of play call: “the pass.” But maybe that was just as well, since McCarthy did not scare anyone – except his own team – with his shaky passing performance.
The Wolverines survived their trap game close call at Maryland, 31-24, but there were casualties. Leading wide receiver Roman Wilson and backup left tackle Myles Hinton exited with injuries and starting left tackle LaDavis Henderson missed the game, listed on the injury report as unavailable. Their status? We may never know. It’s called employing the Central Michigan sideline stranger strategy. (Ohio State is not exactly transparent with its injury updates, either).
How will the Wolverines handle operating behind a possibly banged up offensive line and perhaps without Wilson? I am guessing they attempt to ground and pound the Buckeyes like they did the past two years, and hope McCarthy’s 4.4 speed in the 40-yard dash gets gut-punching first downs on third-and-6. Ohio State’s weak spot on defense – really most teams’ weak spot – is the running quarterback. Michigan hasn’t had to rely on McCarthy’s legs because tailbacks Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards have been more than effective behind one of the best lines in the nation. That likely changes against Ohio State. Are the Buckeyes ready for it?
For his part, Ryan Day needs to be creative, but not too creative, which is why they pay him the big bucks. (Another reason is that he is expected to monitor the program, including his staff, something Harbaugh apparently considers beneath his pay grade).
Day didn’t want to talk about Michigan on Saturday, other than giving a cagey answer to whether he watched any of the first half of the Michigan game before heading to St. John Arena for the skull session.
“I might have, yeah,” Day said, smiling. “When you have time you’re watching other games, and certainly that one was on.”
The game was on, but Michigan wasn’t. The Wolverines ran the ball twice as often as they threw it the first half against the Terrapins, and the UM defense got a wake-up call. Until facing Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa, the Wolverines had faced only one quarterback (Penn State’s Drew Allar) in the top 50 of QBR, which ranks QB productivity on a 1 to 100 scale adjusted for strength of defenses faced. Tagovailoa (No. 30 ) burned UM for 247 yards on 21-of-31 passing, although he also threw two interceptions.
McCord is No. 7 in QBR, which bodes well for the Buckeyes – if he gets his footwork right. Day plans to pull his quarterback into the shop this week to tune him up.
McCord sounded ready for it.
“We say we prepare (for Michigan) 365 days a year, and I truly believe that,” he said. “Guys on the team, we think about it every day, especially the way the last two years have gone, so to be back kind of in the same position we were last year with a chance to right the ship, everybody is excited for it.”
The trip north is on the doorstep. You can feel the motor humming.
Get more Ohio State football news by listening to our podcasts
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football tunes up for Michigan by blowing out Minnesota
