Welcome to halftime of the Ohio State football’s game against Wisconsin. The Buckeyes are looking less than impressive against as they head into halftime with a 10-3 lead. The offense looks slow and depressing, but the OSU defense is continuing to display its dominance.
Anyone who took the Buckeyes as the favorite or the over on the total is stressing right now, but for fans just watching the game for fun, they are far less upset.
This game is interesting for many of the same reasons we talk about every week and that starts with conversations about the quarterback and red-zone play calling. Let’s dive into five of the more interesting things from the first half.
We hope to see the offense turn things around like we’ve seen over the last few weeks in the second half like we saw against Notre Dame and Penn State.
Playcalling has been interesting
Hysterical clock management from both Wisconsin and Ohio State here.
— Watt05 (@Watt_05) October 29, 2023
I’m not necessarily upset by the clock management, but the play-calling doesn’t have much a rhythm and that is especially true in the red-zone. It seems like Ohio State is running the ball well, but the Buckeyes go away from it too often.
Wisconsin will beat itself
Shield your eyes if you have a sensitive stomach pic.twitter.com/D7Pno5WGrk
— Andrew Gillis (@Andrew_Gillis70) October 29, 2023
Ohio State has made plenty of dumb mistakes, but Wisconsin has made even worse mistakes. It appears that even if the Buckeyes continue to struggle, the Badgers will find a way to shoot themselves in the foot.
Just waiting for the knockout
Ohio State has taken an insurmountable 10-0 lead against Wisconsin.
10:36 2Q.
— Andrew Gillis (@Andrew_Gillis70) October 29, 2023
This point kind of piggybacks off of the previous post, but the Buckeyes seem to be one big play away from giving Wisconsin a dagger to the heart and finishing the win. But, if the Badgers hang around, there could be trouble at the end.
Red zone
Ohio State came into this game ranked 84th nationally in red zone touchdown percentage.
Tonight, 0-for-2, including a Kyle McCord INT just now — after a Wisconsin unsportsmanlike gave the Buckeyes new life.
This is how upsets have started in the past. https://t.co/TXbDg0kkuO— Nathan Baird (@nwbaird) October 29, 2023
Unlike the post above, I don’t think Wisconsin is in a position to get the win here, but the lack of red zone efficiency is still concerning and improvements need to be made for Ohio State.
Special Teams are an issue
Ohio State is missing 1 aspect that makes them a great defensive team:
Special teams.
— JR’s Rankings 🌰🅾️⭕️ (@jrs_rankings) October 29, 2023
At least once a week we end up discussing the special teams in a negative light and not enough in a positive. There are many issues with Ohio State, but not enough attention is spent on the special teams.
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