Your #1 Ohio State football team is still undefeated. The Nation’s best winning streak extends to 23. Urban Meyer, ESPN’s all-time favorite college football coach, is now 48-3 during his time in Columbus. However, there is still plenty of room for improvement. It’s more than just room, it’s a city block.
The Buckeyes’ 28-3 triumph today was not the proverbial “closer than the score indicated” kind of game. Ohio State won by 25 and it felt like they won by 25, but again they let a much less talented team hang around too long.
Illinois was in it for three, three and a half quarters, and had their own offense been able to execute, the chances were their for a huge upset. Maybe Ohio State football would have still been triumphant in the end, but the Illini were right there had a couple forward passes been completed.
Any college football player or coach will tell you the cliche “all wins count the same,” or “style points don’t matter.” To some extent that’s true, but look further than next week’s opponent, the Michigan State Spartans, for an example of how eventually, letting worse teams compete into the fourth quarter is a bad thing.
Sparty let it bite them in the ass in Nebraska. Sure, there was questionable officiating, but MSU really has no one to blame but their own pass defense.
Most Ohio State football personnel and Ohio State football fans will tell you that they probably don’t care about style points, and maybe they shouldn’t. Next week is the de facto Big Ten East Division Title Game, and the winner of that controls their own destiny. So while traditionally, style points matter a lot in college football, under the playoff system, now in its second year, maybe much less so.
You could tell the Buckeyes were looking ahead to Sparty today, and if you read in between the lines with some of what was said in the post game media opportunities, you would definitely see that.
“We know what is coming down the road next week, and have to be a little bit more balanced than we were,” said Meyer.
“That starts right now with pass protection. That’s the only negative.”
Certain mistakes here and there, like Punter Cameron Johnston not running it for it on 4th-and-1 from midfield when every single person in the stadium saw 40-50 yards of open space in front of him, won’t ultimately cost you against the Illini.
Those kinds of things could haunt you against Michigan State and then potentially against Iowa. On the other hand, Illinois made bigger gaffes of their own to help Ohio State out. See below:
Illinois Football! #B1G https://t.co/Np4nadbOoE
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 14, 2015
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. The website is also featured on News Now.
Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye. He also appears regularly on numerous television and radio talk shows all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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