Close Call in Columbus

After a nearly flawless performance in week one, Luke Fickell and the Buckeyes faltered in a near-loss to their in state opponents, the Toledo Rockets. The Buckeyes underwhelmed against the Rockets in the 27-22 win on Saturday. The day showed some troublesome offensive struggles that will need to be taken care of before this week's prime time showdown against the University of Miami.

The biggest problem the Bucks had was their offensive line, and every football fan knows that it's tough to get any offense going with a struggling O-line. This was proved by the measly 189 passing yards gained by the offense. Although the running game was not terrible, it was not spectacular either. The Buckeyes averaged about 3.3 yards per carry for 112 yards, but without any help from the line who simply could not get a push for their running backs.

The offensive line was not all to blame for the poor passing. Joe Bauserman looked rattled all game, and his completion percentage went down 21.7% from last week to this week. This was partially due to the lack of time to throw the ball, but that was not the only reason he didn't look nearly as impressive as last week. Bauserman consistently overthrew wide open receivers and two of the overthrows were potential touchdowns. Despite an all-around poor performance from Bauserman, the true freshman Braxton Miller didn't take a single snap. Miller looked sharp in the opener against Akron, but it seemed as if Coach Fickell's decision to play Bauserman was set in stone. This move made no sense to me. There wasn't much to lose by putting Miller in for a series to two to see if he could get something started with the offense. He certainly has the explosiveness that Bauserman lacks, but Fickell played it just as conservatively as his predecessor Jim Tressel would have.

It was a night and day difference from the Buckeye team that showed up against Akron. A lack of concentration and sloppy play nearly led Ohio State to its first loss to an in-state opponent in 90 years. Fickell and his team will need to show big improvements, especially on offense, if they plan on stealing a victory from the Hurricanes on the road this week.