The Ohio State defense didn’t play their best, but played well enough to win and could certainly sue their offensive mates for lack of support. Every nightmare Buckeye Nation had about the offense going into the season came to fruition in Miami, and now there’s a full-blown quarterback controversy and a sudden, jolting adjustment of potential goals.
Carlos Hyde got the offense off to a positive start with a six-yard pickup on the evening’s first play, but then Joe Bauserman misfired on a simple swing pass to Chris Fields in the right flat. Fields had a step on his defender down the sideline on third down, but Bauserman airmailed the ball way past him. Not that it would’ve mattered- Jake Stoneburner was whistled for being ineligible downfield since Bauserman nor anyone else noticed that Jake was “covered up” by the slot receiver to his right.
It wasn’t quite the same punch in the mouth as David Gilreath’s 97-yard kickoff return to open the loss in Madison last year, but it would be close enough. Miami’s Lamar Miller, who had rung up an 88-yard kickoff return for a score in last year’s matchup, sprang loose on the ‘Canes’ first play. The Buckeye linebackers got bottled up, and C.J. Barnett knocked Miller off his stride long enough for Bradley Roby to close the gap and save the touchdown. But the 54-yard burst had set the tone and Miami was in business at the OSU 9. Miller stayed in following the long run and carried left for 6 more. Following an incompletion, Jacory Harris floated one over Tyler Moeller and by Orhian Johnson, who has looked a step slow all year long. Allen Hurns was there and the hosts had grabbed a quick 7-0 advantage.
The Ohio State offense continued to flail. Evan Spencer juggled and dropped a first-down pass at the sideline. After a 4-yard Bauserman scramble, Jordan Hall took a short pass in the right flat but linebacker Sean Spence made an outstanding play to close in and hold the play to a 4-yard gain. Ben Buchanan got off a nice punt, forcing Travis Benjamin to spin away and retreat. But the coverage team couldn’t pen him in as Benjamin, who had taken a punt 79 yards to the house in Columbus last year, turned on the jets and left Chad Hagan in the dust as he got the corner. The 24-yard return gave the ‘Canes excellent field position at their own 47 and off they went. Two Lamar Miller runs netted 8, and a pass to Maurice Hagans got the first down. Moments later on 3rd-and-9, Miami’s O-line picked up a blitz from the left and Harris was able to dial up Hurns for 14 on an out route. A pair of carries from Miller brought up 3rd-and-4, and coach Al Golden stuck with his hot hand as Miller got loose for 19 yards down to the Buckeye 2. After an Ohio State timeout to settle the defense, Ryan Shazier forced a fumble but the pigskin got out of bounds before anyone in a white shirt could nab it. So Jacory Harris decided on the air route and found Allen Hurns once again for the score on a fade to the endzone. Bradley Roby never turned to look for the ball and it whizzed right by him for six more, pushing Miami out in front 14-0. By this point, the ‘Canes had gained 38 yards on their 4 third-down plays, converting each one of them.
Jordan Hall took his first reps at tailback for 2011 and immediately perked up the offense, which was now being engineered by Braxton Miller. Hall blasted through for 13, and then found nothing left and quickly darted through a hole on the right side for another baker’s dozen. Two plays later, though, Miller had Hall open in the flat for what would’ve been a first down, but the freshman fired into a sea of orange shirts for Jake Stoneburner. Sean Spence knocked the ball way up into the air and safety Jojo Nicolas dove to pick it off.
Lamar Miller continued to gash the Silver Bullets, hammering for 6 and then setting sail down the left sideline for 16. Dominic Clarke blitzed from that left side and didn’t even appear to see Miller blowing right by him. The scamper put Miller amazingly over the 100-yard mark, but Jacory Harris killed all the momentum on the next snap. Rolling to his right, Harris had LaRon Byrd wide open on a deep crossing route with no one behind him, but he held on too long and C.J. Barnett had time to come over from the middle of the field and make an easy interception.
Jordan Hall continued to try and keep pace with Lamar Miller. Facing 1st-and-15 after a false start, Hall wiggled through for the needed 15, and then made another nasty cutback and motored for 12 more. Hall went to the sideline to catch a breather, and he took all the momentum with him. Miller was sacked on second down- where he fortunately caught his own fumble- and then threw behind Verlon Reed on third down. Miller seemed ticked at Reed and the two had an animated conversation on the way off the field. I was hoping this was one trait of the tattooed thug in Oakland that Miller wouldn’t pick up. We’ll see how things play out…
Miami tried both a throw and a run featuring Lamar Miller, but the OSU defense was getting wise to it and held each play to a single yard. Andrew Sweat knocked down a third-down pass attempt and the ball went back to the guests, who proceeded to chew up almost 7 minutes in finally getting on the board.
Two Jordan Hall totes moved the sticks, but then Bauserman was victimized by another drop by Verlon Reed. Unlike Braxton Miller’s earlier throw which was behind him, Reed misjudged this one and couldn’t hold on. O-coordinator Jim Bollman apparently had enough and locked things down, rotating Carlos Hyde and Jordan Hall via the ground game. The promising drive looked like it would come unraveled on 3rd-and-6 from the Miami 15 when Bauserman couldn’t handle a bad shotgun snap. Carlos Hyde alertly picked up the loose rock, shook off an ankle tackle and bulled for 7 and a critical first down. But just as the football gods appeared to be smiling on the Scarlet and Gray, the ‘Cane “D” stiffened. Hall managed 3 yards on 2 carries to get to the Miami 5, but Bauserman saw everyone covered on a rollout and threw it away. Drew Basil finally knocked through a field goal- this one from 22 yards out- and the Hurricane lead was trimmed to 14-3.
Jacory Harris continued to regress, somewhat inexplicably for a senior. Two plays deep into the ensuing drive, Harris fired one right to Bradley Roby, who returned Harris’ sixth interception in two years against OSU to the 23. The Bucks caught another break as Miami was whistled for roughing the passer, but they couldn’t take full advantage. Bauserman had Jake Stoneburner open on third down from the ‘Cane 7, but his throw was behind Jake to scuttle the drive. Drew Basil booted a 24-yard field goal to put his team within eight at 14-6, but the redzone breakdowns- a carryover from the Tressel era- were still nagging at the Buckeyes.
Miami had just under 4 minutes to work with, and pieced together an effective march to pad their lead. Out of a third-down timeout, Jacory Harris found his former high school teammate Tommy Streeter down the seam for a huge 29-yard pickup, and then the ‘Canes continued to convert on third as Harris smartly pulled the ball down and scrambled for an 8-yard pickup. From the OSU 15, tight end Clive Walford took a short toss, let a couple of defenders slide by him, and plowed over for what looked to be a back-breaking touchdown. But the Bucks were given a reprieve as Miami only had 6 men on the line of scrimmage. Mike James was able to bull ahead for 12 yards to the Buckeye 8, but time was ticking and Al Golden opted for the field goal, much to the chagrin of some of the ‘Cane faithful. Jake Wieclaw was true from 25 yards away, lifting his team into a 17-6 lead at the intermission.
Buckeye Nation knew Miami would get the ball to start the second half and the defense would need to keep them in check. They did just that, forcing a quick three-and-out. Jordan Hall planted, bobbed and weaved his way 27 yards back upfield with the ensuing punt, but he went off with cramps in his leg and it would seriously hinder him, and his team, for the remainder of the evening. Carlos Hyde covered 10 yards on three tough carries, but Joe Bauserman’s rough night continued. After gaining squat on a keeper, he threw another high pass that Verlon Reed couldn’t get a handle on, and finally took a 7-yard sack after the Hurricanes snuffed out a screen.
Ben Buchanan stuck Miami at its own 4 with a great punt, but the ‘Cane running game kept slicing up the OSU defense. Lamar Miller gave his unit some breathing room with a 7-yard gain to move the chains, and then got the corner on a pitch right, shook off three tackles and sped ahead for 25. Mike James got in another uppercut with a 10-yard gain and the defense appeared to be reeling, but they hung tough, bringing up a 4th-and-1. Jacory Harris turned to handoff, but no one was there and Storm Klein knocked the ball loose. Miami recovered but OSU took over and was still alive.
Anyone who was having recurring nightmares of the 2008 USC game got a truly clear flashback on OSU’s next series. Braxton Miller re-entered and was either going to hand to Jamaal Berry on a sweep or fake it, but the ball came loose and Miller had to dive on it, losing 4. Joe Bauserman immediately came back in, and even ESPN’s Brad Nessler questioned the wisdom of rotating quarterbacks on a play-to-play basis. Bauserman had time on second down and hit Berry for 9- only Joe’s second completion of the night- but on third down he had Devin Smith open deep but, naturally, overshot him. Ben Buchanan once more pinned the home team inside their 10, but time was slipping away.
Miami kept things conservative and went three-and-out, but Dalton Botts helped tilt the field position with a 49-yard punt. OSU’s next series was a disaster, with an incompletion, a 2-yard loss from Carlos Hyde and another Bauserman throw that was swatted down. It certainly didn’t take this series for the Miami coaching staff to realize that their opponents’ offense probably wasn’t going to get it in gear, but it sure solidified that thinking, and as the game moved to the fourth quarter, the ‘Canes went to work on the clock.
Lamar Miller, no surprise, carried on four of the next five plays and managed to get one first down, but on a 3rd-and-1 Storm Klein dragged Miller down short. With the ball at his own 32, Al Golden went into “Tresselball” mode and kicked away.
It paid off handsomely, although for a brief moment it appeared Braxton Miller was finding a groove. The freshman QB carried on 6 of the next 7 plays and shimmied his way for 30 yards into Miami territory. But as he reached that 30th yard carrying the football like a loaf of bread, Marcus Robinson poked it loose and corner Mike Williams cradled it at the 31. 9:21 was left, which in another 11-point game might seem like a lot, but the ‘Canes would cook all but 33 seconds of it. It would be somewhat reminiscent of the end of the Illinois game in 2007, when the Illini salted away the remaining 8 minutes playing keep-away from the Buckeye defense. Ironically, the 240 yards rushing that Miami would accumulate on this night would be the most OSU had given up since that fateful matchup with the Illini, who piled up 260.
The Buckeyes had one last fleeting moment of hope. Jacory Harris looked to pass on the first play of the march and went for Travis Benjamin in the right flat. It wasn’t a bright idea with three white shirts in the area, and Christian Bryant undercut the route and had a sure pick-six in front of him. Naturally, he couldn’t bring it in, and the ‘Canes set sail on a 69-yard, 14-play march to put this one to rest. Harris and Co. converted three more third-down plays, and the Silver Bullet defense tried, despite none of their three timeouts being called, to show resistance one last time on the goal line. But on 4th-and-goal, Mike James made a second-effort spin and capped off the night’s scoring.
Miami will stay put in South Florida this weekend for a matchup with Kansas State, a game that would’ve been really entertaining a dozen or so years ago. The Bucks return home for a 3:30 tilt with new Pac-12 member Colorado. Columbus residents can see the game on ABC, while everywhere else will get the game over ESPN 2.
RANDOM THOUGHTS- Our opening random thought comes courtesy of Buckeye 50’s Gregg Watson, who pointed up that Miami gave up a touchdown to Maryland on the opening drive of the season, and hasn’t surrendered one since…Ohio State’s 104-week run in the AP Top 25 ended after the Miami loss. Ohio State fell out of the poll after losing to Purdue in West Lafayette in November 2004, but Troy Smith’s one-man show against Michigan the next week catapulted the Bucks back in, and they had been entrenched since … Despite the Buckeye woes, or perhaps because of them, ABC is still happy to feature the Buckeyes on the tube. The Big Ten opener with Michigan State at the ‘Shoe will kick at 3:30…
Miami 24 (16)Ohio State 6
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Sun Life Stadium
Miami Gardens, FL
Attendance 66,279
September 17, 2011
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By 'Joe-S-U' Hylton
OSU March '90
Buckeye50.com
