While it was good to see the Ohio State defense once again playing a dominating game in a 37-3 Senior Day victory over Minnesota — even when considering the opponent’s overall strength — the Buckeye offense returned to its bad habit of stalling without finishing drives. It’s a problem that has been there most of the season, with the exception of last week’s win over Michigan State.

It was still basically a complete performance, however, so let’s check in with the minor annoyances that made me think negative thoughts about a group of players and coaches who were on my television on Saturday.

Gettin’ Grabby

A holding penalty on the punt return unit set the tone for a game filled with poor starting field position after Ohio State stopped the first drive by the Golden Gophers. Jayden Ballard called a fair catch, so no yards were gained by the hold, but the Buckeyes started at their own 15-yard line instead of the 25 because of a penalty. This was the first of several drives in which the OSU offense began from awful field position. Ohio State was able to easily move down the field and score anyway, which set a false tone for the offense.

Still Getting’ Grabby

The second OSU drive started from even worse field position. Ohio State took over at its own 3-yard line and quickly moved six yards on a pair of TreVeyon Henderson runs. However, on the second, Cade Stover was called for holding, putting the Buckeyes behind the chains and off schedule. Stover caught a short pass on the next play to get the ball back to where it was, but an incomplete pass on third down killed the drive and set Minnesota up in good field position (at its own 45) after the punt.

Still Not Snappy

The snap problems Ohio State has had intermittently the last several weeks showed up again on Saturday on the third OSU offensive series. A bad ball from Carson Hinzman began the drive. Kyle McCord was able to field it on one hop and deliver a strike to Marvin Harrison Jr., but the timing of the play was affected, and it’s a bit maddening that this keeps happening this far into the season.

Wait, I Thought We Were Calling Holding?

Minnesota was facing a 3rd-and-14 on its third drive. The Buckeyes seemed poised to make a big play on defense and quickly get the ball back. However, Minnesota quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis was able to hit Corey Crooms on a crossing route for a big play of 32 yards. The time to throw was generously supplied by the Golden Gophers’ left tackle, who lived up to his position’s name by tackling J.T. Tuimoloau right in front of Kaliakmanis.