Denzel Burke has night to forget

EUGENE, Ore. – The trip to Oregon, the first visit to Eugene since 1967, was a spectacular smorgasbord of pretty much anything you would ever want to see in a college football game.

From Oregon’s recovered onside kick to Ohio State’s clutch fourth-quarter drive to regain the lead, to Oregon’s counterpunch, to the Buckeyes‘ last-gasp effort, including an odd sliding run by Will Howard to end the game, the wrinkles were wonderful and the atmosphere was electric in The Duck’s 32-31 instant-classic win. 

Tough night for Denzel Burke and the OSU secondary

Cornerback Denzel Burke remained with the Buckeyes this season when he could have turned pro, partly because he wanted to win a national championship. The senior may still get his wish, but he did not help his draft status with subpar play against the Ducks.

Considered OSU’s best cover corner, Burke gave up a 69-yard catch to Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart, then two plays later, watched Stewart make a nice catch over him for a 10-yard touchdown.

Later in the second quarter, Burke again got beat deep, this time on a 48-yard strike from Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel to Tez Johnson. It wasn’t just that Johnson blew past Burke to get open, but he carried Burke another 10 yards after the catch.

The deep completions to Stewart and Johnson were just the first and second time this season that Gabriel had completed passes of 20+ yards to the right side of the field. And he did it twice against Burke.

That wasn’t all. Burke struggled with tackling most of the night. Sometimes you have an off game. This was one of those. But Burke wasn’t alone. The entire secondary was shaky, allowing 341 passing yards, many coming to wide-open receivers.

Emeka Egbuka flashes pro future

Jeremiah Smith is a phenom, but the Buckeyes rightfully trust Emeka Egbuka more than anyone else on offense. The fifth-year senior, who caught 10 passes for 93 yards against the Ducks, is smooth, loves to block and few players in recent memory can turn the corner and turn upfield as well as the speedy wide receiver. 

One play that really illustrates this: On a third-and-4 from OSU’s 31 and the Buckeyes trailing 29-28, Howard found Egbuka crossing underneath coverage for a first down. It kept the drive alive.

It makes you wonder why the Buckeyes don’t throw deep to Egbuka more often. Then again, they don’t throw deep to anyone. Why?

It’s becoming abundantly clear that Howard’s ability to throw deep is not a strength. Even on his one long completion (38 yards) to Smith, the ball was underthrown. The Ducks, meanwhile, completed four passes of 30 yards or more, including 69 and 48-yarders. 

At least on Saturday, one team showed it could throw deep and the other showed it wouldn’t. Because it couldn’t.

Buckeyes try to pound ball to prove a point?

The last time the Buckeyes and Ducks met, Oregon imposed its will in the trenches, winning 35-28 in Columbus. That loss exposed cracks in OSU’s foundation and was the beginning of the “toughness” question that has dogged Ryan Day’s teams ever since. 

Toughness was not an issue Saturday, and as if to prove it the Buckeyes twice lined up in the robust T formation on fourth-and-short and gained first downs both times. The first resulted in a 1-yard score as Quinshon Judkins bulled in behind a block from tight end-turned-fullback Pat Gurd.

The second was a 3-yard gain by Judkins on fourth-and-2. The Buckeyes converted on another fourth-and-1 when Howard gained three yards on a keeper.

Ohio State averaged 4.5 yards rushing for the game, while Oregon averaged 5.0, with Jordan James finishing with 115. But the Buckeyes’ often-maligned lines were not their biggest problems.

Autzen Stadium brings the fireworks atmosphere

I’m not ready to crown Oregon as the best road atmosphere in the Big Ten – Penn State still has my vote – but Autzen Stadium comes a close second. The Ducks fans know how to have fun, which is something missing from too many venues, including Ohio Stadium too much of the time. Autzen isn’t just loud, its fans also bring an anything-goes attitude that comes close to crossing the line but doesn’t go (too far) over it.   

roller@dispatch.com

@rollerCD

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