Pretty good summary.
I would add:
-pass blocking was very good. Zero sacks or QB hits given up
-run blocking was constantly missing a key defender- so many plays blown up by unblocked player.
- Hoosiers ran a speed option- really designed to eat up clock It worked to eat clock- buckeyes stuffed it.
- Day ran more 2 TE formations than he did ever before ( resembled Tressel at times)
- Downfield passing game was rarely called, Day wanted establish run to protect QB
- McCord still learning to read defense. Made some NFL throws, but also botched some and didn’t see wide open WRs because they were 2nd or 3rd read.
With the exception of Brown not playing much at QB- it was fairly predictable.
I think that you and
@Abba and others have made some good points.
Watching the game and in the immediate aftermath I was VERY concerned about tOSU for this year but now that I've had time to think on it for a bit, here are some counterpoints in an effort to avoid overreacting to one game:
The offense started slow last year as well. You can say that it was Notre Dame and it was, but the Buckeyes only scored 21 on the Irish last year and they turned around the next week and gave up 26 to Marshall.
The defense, if anything, looked better than expected. You can say that it was Indiana and it was, but Indiana's lowest output last year was 10, against Michigan. Ohio State just held them to three. Their next worst output last year was 14 which they hit twice, vs PSU and @tOSU.
In terms of margin, the Buckeyes just beat the Hoosiers by 20. Here is how that stacks up compared to Indiana's nine league games last year:
- L to tOSU by 42, 56-14
- L to PSU by 31, 45-14
- L to M by 21, 31-10
- L to UNL by 14, 35-21
- L to PU by 14, 30-16
- L to RU by 7, 24-17
- L to UMD by 5, 38-33
- Beat MSU in 2OT
- Beat IL by 3
So tOSU's performance on Saturday was actually better defensively than ANY team did against IU last year and the MoV was better than all but tOSU, PSU, and M last year.
It is more than likely going to be impossible to learn anything meaningful from the next two games so I guess we'll find out in South Bend on September 23.