{"id":371774,"date":"2025-11-11T15:08:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/371774\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T15:08:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:08:16","slug":"stock-up-down-silver-bullets-got-quick-stops-vs-purdue-isaiah-west-shines-despite-offensive-lines-run-blocking-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/371774\/","title":{"rendered":"Stock Up\/Down: Silver Bullets Got Quick Stops vs. Purdue, Isaiah West Shines Despite Offensive Line’s Run-Blocking Struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Another week, another 60 minutes of dominance against Ohio State. All signs indicate that the next two games will be the same for the Buckeyes. Writing these Stock Up\/Down introductions is getting redundant. <\/p>\n

\n\tIf this past Saturday taught us anything, it\u2019s that sometimes that aforementioned dominance can be boring. Ohio State smacked Purdue 34-10<\/a> in West Lafayette in a game that dragged quite a bit in the second half. The Buckeyes doubled the Boilermakers\u2019 time of possession, 40:56 to 19:04, and almost doubled their number of plays, 76 to 44. Neither team scored in the third quarter after OSU took a 24-3 lead into halftime, the Silver Bullets smothering any hope the Black and Gold had.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIssues persist on the Buckeyes\u2019 offensive line, though a solid running back rotation is finally emerging, fueled by two freshmen. Otherwise, stocks are once again soaring for Ohio State. Boringly excellent. Especially as a lot of mid is out there in college football.\n<\/p>\n

\tStock Up<\/p>\n

\tQuick-Stop Silver Bullets<\/p>\n

\n\tPlenty of running plays definitely helped in Ohio State\u2019s time of possession domination, but quick stops were an emphasis for the Buckeyes\u2019 top-ranked defense after Penn State stitched together a few drives (seriously, like two) in their previous game. Five of Purdue\u2019s eight drives resulted in a punt or turnover after five plays or less, and its lone touchdown drive came against Ohio State\u2019s second-string defense.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think it was really just putting an emphasis on it,\u201d safety Caleb Downs said after the game. \u201cLast week, we didn’t really do that at a high level. We gave up a couple plays on third down that we shouldn’t have gave up, so just really being intentional this week about it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tIsaiah West<\/p>\n

\n\tSharp cuts. Feet always churning. The freshman West took the second-most carries in Ohio State\u2019s backfield after fellow freshman Bo Jackson and racked up 60 yards in just nine carries vs. the Boilermakers, a team-high 6.7 yards per carry. It felt like a game where the three-star prospect solidified himself as the No. 2 running back in the Buckeyes\u2019 rotation.\n<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\tBack-to-back runs by Isaiah West that had to be blown dead by the refs. pic.twitter.com\/lDaUlVIvq2<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n

\t\u2014 Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) November 10, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\t44-Second Drills<\/p>\n

\n\tOhio State stayed aggressive before halftime and went 45 yards in seven plays with just 44 seconds coming off the clock to set up a 49-yard field goal and go up 24-3 entering the locker room. Julian Sayin showed surgical precision to get the job done, going 4-of-5 for 35 yards passing with a 10-yard scramble on the ground to put the Buckeyes into range.\n<\/p>\n

\tJayden Fielding<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking of that 49-yard field goal, Fielding had a fantastic game as a placekicker, knocking down a 45-yarder in addition to that near-50-yard boot to finish 2-of-2 on field goals and 4-of-4 on extra points. Both snuck inside the left upright with plenty of leg. For the season, he\u2019s now 11-of-13 (84.6%) on field goals and 38-of-38 on extra points.\n<\/p>\n

\t\"Jayden<\/p>\n

\tRecruiting<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Buckeyes have landed four commits for their class of 2026 in the past five days, three of them four-star prospects and all of them former commits to other schools. Ohio State\u2019s long-term strategy seems to be paying off on the NIL front. Welcome to the party, four-star cornerback Jay Timmons,<\/a> three-star offensive lineman and Buckeye legacy\u00a0Mason Wilhelm,<\/a> four-star defensive tackle Emanuel Ruffin <\/a>and four-star athlete Legend Bey.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\tTexas A&M<\/p>\n

\n\tThe No. 3 Aggies have emerged as college football\u2019s third elite team alongside No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana this year. They kept rolling with a 38-17 road win over then-No. 22 Missouri on Saturday, nearly doubling the Tigers in total yardage 464 to 284. The program has seen many teams with high ambitions sputter out before, but this season is truly starting to look different.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tStock Down<\/p>\n

\tTegra Tshabola<\/p>\n

\n\tTshabola\u2019s lapses in technique continue to permeate his play, even when there are some good stretches mixed in. He had several that cost the Buckeyes significant yardage against the Boilermakers, including the screen pass below, where he seems to stand still rather than move his feet and block the defender in front of his face.\n<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\tThis is a TD if Tegra lands his block. Watch the sideline reaction by Day and Bowen pic.twitter.com\/3S7nk3y3kv<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n

\t\u2014 Buckeye HQ (@RealisticBuck) November 8, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n\tOhio State\u2019s right guard finished with two pressures allowed in the passing game, per Pro Football Focus, in addition to these kinds of plays that hurt the team on screens and running plays. Ryan Day is rarely one to criticize any of his players before watching film, so him affirming that Tshabola was inconsistent postgame was quite telling. Joshua Padilla\u2019s injury couches the chances the a change is made at the position, but Padilla will continue rolling with Tshabola when he returns against UCLA or Rutgers, at least per the timeline Day gave.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI agree with you (that he was inconsistent) because I watched it and saw it,\u201d Day said of Tshabola. \u201cThen there were some other things that were good. But we need to grade out a champion here, and that’s for everybody. So that’s what the expectation is. And we’ll continue to look at it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\tAlright, the Whole Offensive Line<\/p>\n

\n\tCenter Carson Hinzman and left guard Luke Montgomery were also hit with their share of struggles vs. the Boilermakers. The advance stats have regressed for the Buckeyes\u2019 offensive line in recent weeks, despite playing some of the worst run-defending fronts they\u2019ll see all year in Penn State and Purdue. Both do present pass-rushing problems, but it doesn\u2019t excuse what\u2019s happening there, either.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSayin suffered his first multi-sack game against the Boilermakers with two, but it\u2019s only because of the Heisman Trophy contender\u2019s elite pocket presence and ability to avoid pressure that he didn\u2019t take more. Hinzman gave up three pressures, including one of the sacks. Montgomery surrendered two pressures of his own. That\u2019s a combined seven pressures between the interior trio. It should be noted that the offensive line kept their quarterback clean on 75.7% of his dropbacks, at least, and one of the two sacks was due to a failed blitz pick up by West.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe run-blocking metrics are bad all around, however. Averaging 4 yards per carry against one of the Big Ten\u2019s worst run defenses is not up to Ohio State\u2019s standard. Adjusting for sacks, it was still a subpar 4.6 yards per attempt. But the major indictment on the offensive line\u2019s performance is that an average of 3.1 of those 4.6 sack-adjusted yards came after contact. Jackson and West were making much more of their carries than the offensive line provided them. That doesn\u2019t seem sustainable against better run defenses.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHopefully, the best passing game and defense in the country keep carrying Ohio State to dominant wins. But run-blocking is a crack in the team\u2019s armor.\n<\/p>\n

\tThe ACC<\/p>\n

\n\tThen-No. 14 Virginia was upset 16-9 by Wake Forest. Then-No. 15 Louisville got handed a 29-26 defeat by Cal in overtime. The ACC is looking more and more like a one-bid league to this season\u2019s College Football Playoff, with no undefeated teams and only one one-loss team, 8-1 No. 14 Georgia Tech, remaining.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tWashington<\/p>\n

\n\tOhio State saw a ranked win drop from its r\u00e9sum\u00e9 when then-No. 23 Washington traveled to Wisconsin and handed the Badgers their first Big Ten win of the season in 13-10 fashion. A needed breath of fresh air for former Buckeye Luke Fickell, Wisconsin\u2019s head coach. The students rushed the field afterward.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n