COLUMBUS – Despite a less-than-scintillating performance from an offense that head coach Urban Meyer admits is “discombobulated,” the Buckeyes held on to beat Northern Illinois on Saturday, to keep the top spot in the major college football polls.
Michigan State is No. 2 in the new Associated Press Top-25 poll, while TCU is second in the coaches’ poll. The Horned Frogs and Ole Miss are tied for fourth in the AP poll following the Rebels’ upset win over Alabama. Baylor is No. 5.
The 20-13 win over the Huskies extended Ohio State’s winning streak to 16 games, but the Buckeyes (3-0) had their streak of consecutive games with at least three touchdowns halted at 31 and did not score a rushing touchdown for the first time in 26 games.
“There’s a little discombobulation that’s got to get worked out,” Meyer said about his offense, which gained only 298 total yards and turned the ball over five times. “Easiest way to think, it’s 11 people doing the right things at the right time. And we’re having some issues with that. It’s not happening, obviously.”
To prepare for Western Michigan’s visit Saturday (3:30 p.m./ABC) Meyer is mulling over his quarterback question, admitting that he’s not sure who will start against the Broncos after both Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett failed to spark the offense.
He even hinted he may name one of the two the starting quarterback for the foreseeable future, something he has been reluctant to do so far.
“I’m going to spend a lot of time thinking about that,” he said.
The defense got much of the credit for the win over Northern Illinois (2-1), holding the Huskies’ energetic offense to just 190 yards and scoring a touchdown on Darron Lee’s third-quarter interception return, his third career touchdown.
“We’re happy to win, but we’re not blaring music down there right now. As a team, we want to be going on all cylinders so we just have to get things corrected and be better next week,” Lee said after the game.
A lingering cause of concern: An offensive line that has yet to show it can handle a 3-4 defense.
“It is very frustrating because I know we’re capable of executing much better. Our offense is being held back by us but at this time last year we weren’t playing at that level. Year-to-year we keep getting better and I have all the confidence in the world in our line,” said junior offensive lineman Taylor Decker.