Justin Fields Overcomes First Adversity in Ohio State Victory
Cliches get to be cliches not just because people keep saying the same thing over and over but because what they say over and over is actually true.
So, presuming anything worth having is indeed worth working for, then Justin Fields should be happy a 34-10 win over Michigan State -- his first victory over a ranked opponent as Ohio State's starting quarterback -- didn't come easily.
Throughout an uneven first quarter Saturday night, Fields didn't look like the same player who cruised through OSU's first five games without throwing an interception and whose lone fumble went for a harmless safety in a 76-5 win.
Fields looked rattled, and judging from his performance, was rattled.
On OSU's first series, he overthrew a wide open receiver. Then he took an 18-yard sack.
Things didn't get much better the rest of the period, which ended with Ohio State having only 16 offensive yards via 16 snaps.
"You can’t really dwell on it for that long — just kind of see what we have to adjust and really just see what kind of adjustments we have to make going on to be successful," Fields said.
By the half, things had changed dramatically, and they changed because Fields made them change.
His scrambles for 35 yards and another for 13 -- even though most of that went away via a teammate's holding penalty -- helped back down MSU's pass rush and ignited a quarter in which the Buckeyes exploded for 296 yards and 24 points.
It wasn’t Justin — it was everybody up front,” OSU coach Ryan Day said. “...We were kind of just moping around a little bit. But as the leader of the offense (Fields) is in charge and ultimately responsible for it, and we’ve got to get it right.”
Ultimately, Fields did.
It was far from a perfect performance, but at the end of his biggest struggle so far in scarlet and gray, Fields still finished with 206 passing yards, two touchdown passes, 61 yards rushing, another rushing TD and an on-going streak of having thrown for and rushed for at least one touchdown in every game.
That's something no Big Ten player has accomplished in two decades.
