Welcome to Femme Football, the Ohio State football coverage for Her Campus. Here, you’ll find an overview of this week’s game with in-depth explanation to build your understanding week by week, as well as position highlights that will teach the responsibilities of different players.
On a sweltering Saturday in the ‘Shoe, the Buckeyes beat University of Nevada Las Vegas 54-21. This game was an extension of Ohio State’s plan to bounce back, with clear alterations to quarterback J.T. Barrett’s game, increased receiver availability, and an aggressive defense. Here’s the breakdown with a little help along the way.
On the offensive side of the ball, J.T. Barrett started mixing up his options (1; see bottom), utilizing both his running backs and wide receivers. Barrett passed for 209 yards, J.K. Dobbins rushed (2) for 95 yards with 14 carries, and Parris Campbell received 3 passes for 105 yards.
Barrett completed multiple touchdown passes to a new variety of receivers, a feature that is slowly developing in almost every game. Parris Campbell caught a 69 yard touchdown pass, and Johnnie Dixon had a 16 yarder. Terry McLaurin caught a 4 yard touchdown pass following an interception. K.J. Hill, C.J. Saunders, and Rashod Berry all contributed with touchdown passes as well. These are names that have been relatively quiet until UNLV’s defeat.
However, many wide receivers had a chance to shine; eventually, Urban Meyer dipped into the depth chart (3) about halfway through the game, allowing his starters to rest (and avoid injury) when the Buckeyes had built up a solid lead against the Rebels. Second-string quarterback (4) Dwayne Haskins passed for 228 yards and rushed for 15 yards.
Perhaps the biggest play for the offense this game was the safety (5) that salvaged Parris Campbell’s fumble (6) on the two yard line, tacking on two more points to the Buckeyes’ extensive lead.
The defense came to play the Rebels on Saturday as well. The pressure on the quarterback in the pocket (7) was successful; Nick Bosa had 2 sacks (8), and Jerome Baker and Sam Hubbard combined for a sack. Nick Bosa also deflected a pass that lead to an interception (9) by Damon Arnette, and Damon Webb intercepted as well.
However, the Buckeyes were again haunted by useless penalties. Pass interference (10), roughing the kicker (11), and an illegal snap (12) all made appearance in Saturday’s game.
Position highlight on the wide receivers and quarterback:
The quarterback is the director of the field; he is snapped the ball, and it’s his job to distribute the ball to his receivers or running backs. He can hand off, pass, or run the ball. He is often one of the team’s most prominent leaders. J.T. Barrett, Ohio State’s veteran quarterback, is a team captain and a player that Urban Meyer regards as one of the most athletic member of the team. Wide receivers are the players who run downfield and try to catch the ball. They are often the fastest players on the team in order to make themselves available for the quarterback, and in college, they are the players who return the kicks and punts because of their speed.
1 Options: The quarterback has different outlets to distribute the ball, including running backs, wide receivers, and running himself. These are his options.
2 Rushed: The running back running with the ball to gain yards.
3 Depth chart: Players who are “back ups” in certain positions and offer more as well as different talent in different positions
4 Second-string: The next players up behind the starters
5 Safety: The ball carrier is tackled in his own end zone, causing the other team to earn 2 points
6 Fumble: A player loses control of the ball before being tackled and the other team recovers it
7 The pocket: When the quarterback receives the snap, he backs up into “the pocket,” where he can survey the field and consider his options
8 Sacks: The quarterback is tackled by a defensive player before the ball is thrown
9 Interception: The quarterback throws the ball, but instead of it being caught by a member of his own team, the defense catches it instead
10 Pass interference: A foul that occurs when a player interferes with a receiver’s ability to make an attempt to catch a pass.
11 Roughing the kicker: An action in which a defender tries to tackle the kicker in a way that might injure him.
12 Illegal snap: When the ball is snapped before the offensive line is set