Ohio State Football: Defense shaky, offense wows against Oregon State

(Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

The defense has too many holes to be a contender

The one glaring issue with the Buckeyes emphatic win was the poor play of the defense. When you give up 31 points to a less talented team in their first game under a new head coach, eyes are going to pop open at the stat line.

Artavis Pierce was red hot against the Ohio State front seven. He ran 11 times for 168 yards and two touchdowns (including a long 80 yarder). As a team, the Beavers averaged five yards per carry and the Buckeyes faithful can only hope the front seven focuses on that in practice this week.

The secondary broke in a few new pieces, and as I expected, a big play was given up through the air early. As the game progressed the Beavers weren’t able to move the ball down the field as much through the air, but the rain delay did seem to bring out the best in Trevon Bradford, who finished the game with six catches for 104 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Ohio State won’t be able to slow down Clemson, Alabama, or Georgia if they play like this, and with TCU right around the corner, they may be on upset alert before September ends.