Grading the Bucks: Week 6 -- Indiana

It's time to take a deep breath Buckeye Nation.  We just beat a team by 21 points (should have been 28) and everyone is losing their minds.  Let's not forget that this team has played nearly flawless football for the first 4 games.  They weren't perfect this week but still pretty darn good.

Offense: B
MVP: Mike Weber and Curtis Samuel
Let me give you a stat line: 137 yards on the ground on 26 carries with 1 touchdown and a fumble.  Pretty much every running back in the nation would take that.  Throw on top 93 yards passing with 1 TD and 1 interception? Pretty nice day.  Yeah, that's JT's stat line on a bad day.  I'm not defending his day through the air.  He missed some deep balls and wasn't super crisp, but we need to calm down.  Indiana was giving the ground game, and JT took advantage.  The interception wasn't his fault (drop by Baugh) and his rushing stats more than made up for the poor day passing.  I know, I know, he needs to be better throwing the rock, but there will be ups and downs.  Everyone is ignoring the fantastic game he had on the ground.  Weber and Samuel were great as usual (Samuel needed more touches again) and the O-line play was fine.  Receivers dropped some passes that continue to reflect on JT but overall, nice day.  Primary concern for me wasn't the lack of passing efficiency today, but the number of hits JT took.  That needs to decrease going forward.

Defense: B+
MVP: No standout
I'm gonna throw something out there: Indiana might be the best passing offense OSU faces all regular season.  With that considered, the defense played pretty well.  IU is a decent running team as well but that was bottled up after the first few plays.  The lack of 3rd down production was concerning but the Hoosier's game plan was solid with dinks and dunks down the field which worked on 3rd down.  I was surprised that Kevin Wilson committed so much to the run when the Bullets shut them down, but that's the way it goes.  There were a few big plays given up which we haven't seen and a rare brain fart overreaction by Malik Hooker on the TD (he's covering the slip screen unnecessarily and leaving the TE wide open), but holding IU to 17 points (10 of them coming from gift turnovers) is pretty good.  They stiffened on the 4th down stop when IU threatened to get back in the game.  Let's also credit Hooker with another touchdown even though the ref jobbed him of it with a pathetic low block call.  TD's scored is now tied between OSU defense and their opponents (should be +1).

Special Teams: B+
MVP: Parris Campbell
Another kick out of bounds....then Parris Campbell finally does something positive with a huge return (I think he would have scored had he tucked his shirt in).  The punting has been great as usual; the punt return team has been less than optimal; the kick return team has been blase (except for Campbell's return); the field goal unit is fine; and the kick coverage team needs to stay in their lanes to prevent the big return.  I think Urban is so concerned with special teams giving positive plays (hitting them short of the 20), he's giving up far too many big plays (kicks out of bounds and big returns).  I'd prefer a more conservative approach.

Coaching: B
The team did seem to suffer from a bit of 'this is Indiana, who cares' syndrome which shouldn't have happened after they beat the Spartans and the last few years of struggling.  Coaches need to be more on top of the mental aspects of the team, especially since IU has been steadily improving over the last few years.  I thought the Bucks would put the hammer down, but the fire wasn't there.  The gameplan was fine to focus on the run game, but I would really like more safe passes dialed up.  Hit Brown with a quick slant or Samuel on a screen.  It just seems too obvious.  Schiano and the defense was better than they're getting credit for.  IU was stoned at the line for most of the game and the secondary held up pretty well with the linebackers supporting the run game.

Overall: B
21 point Big Ten win that should have been 28.  Yes, I know it was Indiana, and yes, I know JT wasn't 'on' in the passing game, but hiccups happen.  If a 'hiccup' is a 21 point win when we truly weren't threatened in the 2nd half, I'm ok with that.  I think this team gets back on the 'beat people up' train as we head to Madison.  Beat Wisconsin!