Ohio State vs. Oregon: Halftime Analysis

Here are my biggest first half takeaways after the Buckeyes got pushed around a little bit by Oregon in the opening half:

Ohio State's offense in the first quarter had a few good moments, including several good throws by C.J. Stroud to the outside. But Ohio State is struggling to run the ball as efficiently as we are used to seeing. 20 of Miyan Williams' first quarter rushing yards came on one carry. Outside of that, the team had 10 carries for 33 yards in the first half.

Only three of Ohio State's 20 first quarter plays went for 10 or more yards. They need to start trying to stretch the field a bit more - we really haven't seen many shots down the field.

They did just that in the early second quarter, as Stroud connected with Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a 27-yard pass when the Buckeyes were running a tempo offense. Many of the Oregon defensive players were still looking down at their wrists to identify the play-call when Stroud snapped the ball and Ohio State scored easily.

It was a nice bit of retribution from the Buckeye starting slot receiver after the offense moved the ball nicely down the field on the first drive, but failing to convert a fourth down after Smith-Njigba's drop on third down.

Oregon is largely controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Ohio State is giving Stroud plenty of time to throw, but it feels every run play between the tackles has gone for three yards or fewer. And on the other side of things, Anthony Brown hasn't been under duress much all day.

Meanwhile, the Ducks moved the ball efficiently on the ground in the first half. CJ Verdell drew first blood with a 14-yard touchdown run in the opening minute of the second quarter. It capped a 10-play, 99-yard drive that took 3:57 off the clock.

Game Day Central: No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. No. 12 Oregon Ducks

Verdell scored a second time, racing to the same left pylon after Ohio State got a bad break. The Buckeyes bailed out Oregon on 4th and 1 after they called a timeout a split second before Oregon’s right guard flinched and was flagged for a false start. The penalty was waved off and the timeout awarded. Oregon scored the next play.

Treven Ma'ae is Kayvon Thibodeaux's replacement this afternoon, and he left the field with an injury mid way through the first quarter. He was taken to the locker room on a cart and his left shoe had been removed. No word on the severity of his injury, but it's a tough blow for Oregon, who's also down Justin Flowe. Their depth is really being tested, but so far they've handled the Buckeyes okay.

Dontae Manning made a pretty costly penalty, hitting C.J. Stroud after the Buckeye QB had run out of bounds late in the first quarter. OSU didn't go on to score on the drive, but in a game that is shaping up to have some field position challenges, giving up 15 free yards isn't great. Thankfully Stroud is okay.

Two vaunted offenses? Two great defenses? How about some love to the punters! Ohio State's Jesse Mirco buried the Ducks at the 1-yard line to start their second drive after OSU took over inside their own 5 on a great punt from Tom Snee. Mirco had a second consecutive punt that pinned Oregon back at the 1.

Ohio State got the ball back on the last drive of the half and padded 62 yards on their stats, but didn't score and trail 14-7 at the break.

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