The Gray team (Defense) defeated Scarlet (Offense) 40-31 during Ohio State’s spring game yesterday. The Buckeye faithful showed up in droves for this scrimmage with a crowd of over 75,000 reported.

As usual, despite this being a meaningless scrimmage for the purpose of getting fans excited, there was social media overreaction to the performance on the field. So, we’ll take a look at the big takeaways and what fans should or shouldn’t be concerned about.

THE TAKEWAYS:

The QB Battle:

All off-season the main talk has been who will start at QB for the Buckeyes. Unfortunately, due to Devin Brown’s minor finger surgery there was no battle between him and Kyle McCord. Still, Transfer Tristan Gebbia was able to put on a modest showing and provide some exciting offense for his side.

McCord: He totaled a stat line of 18-34 with 184 yards and a beautiful touchdown pass to Carnell Tate.

Gebbia: His stat line was slightly worse at 14-24 for 127 yards, boosted by a 57-yard touchdown to Noah Rogers.

Ultimately, the QB play was underwhelming on both sides. But this shouldn’t cause much concern because the WR1’s were either out recovering from minor injuries or didn’t play much due to risk of injury. Also, this is a scrimmage, the Buckeyes certainly aren’t going all out or opening up their playbook for teams to see during spring ball.

WR Talent:

With the limited offensive display, passing wise, we were still able to see the young studs show up. Carnell Tate caught a 37-yard dime for a touchdown from McCord, Noah Rogers scored a 57-yard touchdown from Gebbia, and Jayden Ballard had a nasty one-handed snag while streaking toward the sideline. It is evident that under Brian Hartline the Buckeyes remain safe at WR, bringing in stud after stud. This should be as a deep and talented a group as ever.

Defense:

Despite a high score of 40-31 fans saw some solid play on the defense side of the ball, from all three levels.

On the defensive line young, hopefully future stars Hero Kanu and Caden Curry were able to record sacks. They’re teammates Ty Hamilton, Kenyatta Jackson, and Tyliek Williams also recorded sacks of their own.

In the secondary, highly anticipated transfer from Ole Miss, Davison Igbinosun, played well in his Buckeye debut as he recorded 5 total tackles. Second year player Sonny Styles recorded 6 tackles of his own. He is an exciting young player who showed off elite skills in limited action last season. This group is probably where Ohio State needs to see the biggest improvement, as they were a weakness last season.

The linebackers also had a great showing. Gabe Powers was the team leader in tackles with eight. Reid Carrico and CJ Hicks also recorded six of their own.

Surprise TD:

Ohio State threw in a very unique and fun wrinkle when they let 2-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin run in a TD. He took a carry untouched into the end zone and threw up the Heisman pose. A fun and cool way for the Buckeyes to honor a legend.

Concerned or not?

Overall, this was a spring scrimmage and everything meant nothing. Was the QB play underwhelming? Yes. Does that matter? No. The Buckeyes will be good to go come the fall and I believe either McCord or Brown will light it up. The social media panic is unwarranted, but to be expected. As Buckeye fans we need to trust the process, our coaches have brought in the talent and they will surely maximize its potential.

Featured Image: David Petkiewicz, Cleveland.com