While a lack of elite quarterback play grabbed the headlines as Ohio State's 2023 season crashed and burned with back-to-back losses to Michigan and Missouri in the Cotton Bowl, a below average rushing attack triggered by a below average offensive line was a larger foundational problem.
Behind and offensive line with no top tier performances and no depth, a quarterback ill-suited to do anything useful with his feet and no legit backup tailback behind TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State ranked 88th in country averaging just 138.9 rushing yards per game on a nation's 79th-best 4.12 yards per carry.
You have to go back to 2004 to find an Ohio State offense with a worse yards per carry result (3.3) and to 2003 to find a lower rushing yards per game result (126.7) than the 2023 Buckeyes.
In the back-to-back losses to end the season, the Buckeyes ran for a combined 204 yards on 3.34 yards per try. The lackluster results were generally on par with how Ohio State's run game fared when facing top 50 rush defenses. Whereas, as you'd expect, the Buckeyes looked better against lesser competition, aka those ranked outside the top 50 in rush defense.
| OPPONENT RUSH DEF RANK | GAMES | ATTEMPTS | YARDS | YARDS PER GAME | YARDS PER CARRY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INSIDE TOP 50 | 8 | 273 | 943 | 118.8 | 3.45 |
| OUTSIDE TOP 50 | 5 | 158 | 862 | 172.4 | 5.46 |
In eight games against teams that ended the 2023 season inside the top 50 in rushing defense, Ohio State averaged a dismal 3.45 yards per carry and recorded one or fewer touchdown runs in six contests.
The Buckeyes were held under 100 rushing yards in three of the eight against top 50 defenses as Maryland (62), Penn State (79) and Missouri (97) stymied the OSU ground attack. Ohio State averaged just 2.59 yards per carry across those three games. Of note, Henderson missed the Maryland and Penn State games, severely limiting the Buckeyes.
Speaking of Henderson, he did appear in five of the eight games against top 50 defenses and did his part averaging 105.2 rushing yards per game on 5.37 per carry with four touchdowns. Michigan did hold him to 60 yards on 19 tries behind a porous offensive line while he feasted on Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Rutgers. He somehow managed 72 yards on 19 carries against Missouri in what the worst performance by an Ohio State offensive line many of us can ever remember.
Against all 10 opponents he faced, Henderson cranked out 92.6 rushing yards per game on 5.9 a pop. Staying healthy was again an issue for the talented game-breaker but standing tall against the best competition wasn't an issue.
Meanwhile, his primary backup, Chip Trayanum, carried it 55 times against top 50 defenses (seven games) generating a modest 3.3 yards per attempt. Nearly 34% of Trayanum's rushing yards against top 50 defenses came in one game as he tallied 61 against Maryland on 3.1 yards per carry.
Essentially, without Henderson's ability to mask some of the offensive line's deficiencies among other concerns, Ohio State's run game was mid-to-bad more often than not against real defenses.
That harsh reality along with a few other fan critiques following the back-to-back losses to end the season had despair hanging over Columbus like a dense fog. But as the program and its fans lamented those Ls, the sun came up and Day started stacking Ws in the form of current players announcing their returns alongside some key additions via the transfer portal, a few of which figure to help get the running game back on track.
Up front, Day welcomed the news left guard Donovan Jackson will return for one final season in Columbus. Jackson's 26 career starts include a 2023 campaign that while probably not as dominant as he'd hoped, still saw the first team All-B1G performer allow just one sack.
Also in trenches, Alabama center Seth McLaughlin, with 25 starts under his belt, joined the Buckeyes via the transfer portal and is expected to compete at center though he or incumbent starter Carson Hinzman presumably could find themselves in the mix at right guard.
The biggest news came behind the offensive line however as Day landed Kansas State quarterback Will Howard and Ole Miss tailback Quinshon Judkins via the transfer portal while also retaining the services of Henderson, giving the Buckeyes what should be the best 1-2 punch at tailback in the country and a QB sans concrete shoes.
Judkins likely came to Columbus for improved NIL opportunity plus a chance to show his skills while preserving his body after logging 545 carries and 37 catches across two seasons in Oxford without missing a game.
The 5-foot-11, 210-pounder is a force, make no mistake, but his yards per carry dropped to 4.3 in 2023 after he boasted a 5.7 mark during his breakout freshman season. Judkins had his owns struggles against top 50 defenses a year ago averaging 77.4 yards per game on 3.5 per carry in five such matchups. As a freshman in 2022, he was much better tallying 110.7 rushing yards per game on 5.4 per try in five contests versus top 50 defenses.
A major upgrade over Trayanum or even a talented guy like Dallan Hayden, Judkins give the Buckeyes not only that legit 1-2 punch, but some insurance knowing Henderson missed five games as a sophomore and three more last season.
Howard's addition is also seen as a modest boost to the run game after Kyle McCord logged -65 yards rushing in 2023. Nobody will mistake Howard for Justin Fields on the move but he's huge (6-foot-5, 240 pounds) and a willing runner. Last year for the Wildcats, Howard ran it 81 times for 351 yards (4.3 per attempt) with nine touchdowns.
Again, he's not going to carry it 10 times a game in Columbus but he gives Day the option to better manage the numbers in the box and could be counted on to help move the ball on the ground in the red zone, a scenario that gave Ohio State trouble a season ago.
Of course talent in the backfield can only do so much without room to run. Improving its ability to control the line of scrimmage is absolutely Job One for the 2024 offensive line.
That means guys like left tackle Josh Simmons, Jackson, McLaughlin, Hinzman and Josh Fryar have to be better. Maybe Tegra Tshabola and/or Luke Montgomery could be poised to make a run at a starting spot. Maybe the Buckeyes can still go after a right tackle in the post-spring portal window.
While those variables are uncertain, what is certain is the status quo up front won't cut it no matter how much skill Ohio State stacks in the backfield and in the receivers room.
The pressure is on Day and offensive line coach Justin Frye to obtain the right talent, plug it into the right spots and achieve greater results up front if the Buckeyes are going to finally get over the Michigan hump and return to the College Football Playoff.
