The run game, the run game, the run game.
Time and time again, it’s been a talking point this season for Ohio State. Many stories have been written about it here. Many stories have been written about it on every site that covers the Buckeyes.
It’s been hot and cold. Yes, then no. In then out; up, then down.
Unlike a Katy Perry hit from 2008, Ohio State’s ground attack didn’t go octuple platinum against No. 1 Indiana. It didn’t even go silver. The Buckeyes rushed for 58 yards at a clip of 2.2 yards per carry. Even removing the season-high five sacks they allowed, OSU averaged 3.66 yards per rush attempt, which would put the team at 111th nationally behind Delaware if it were its season average. A rate of 2.2 would be last in the country, obviously.
“I felt like we were one play, one block, one gap, one inch away from just breaking (a big play) and establishing the run game,” left tackle Austin Siereveld said. “Up front, as an offensive line, it just sucks.”
Ohio State’s running game has had its bright spots this year. Especially with a breakout 1,035-yard season (so far) from freshman running back Bo Jackson. But if the Buckeyes want balance in the College Football Playoff, they need more consistency in their rushing attack.
“We really didn't strike any balance,” Day said on Dec. 7. “I think that's probably one of the things (that cost the Indiana game). I think we called 35 passes and 22 runs and didn't really get the run game going. We had five sacks. And then third down in red zone certainly was not good. So when you're not winning in the situations, you don't have balance, that is a recipe for not a very good day on offense. So I know everybody in the program is looking at it to figure out how they can get better, but we need to have balance, that's for sure.”
There have been highs pounding the rock for the men of Scarlet and Gray. Namely, in the most critical game of every regular season, The Game. Ohio State ground Michigan's top-15 run defense to dust, outrushing the Wolverines 186 to 100 and assembling one of the most memorable drives in the history of the rivalry, a 20-play, nearly-12-minute second-half clock-killer.
But it’s been a mediocre rushing season overall, by Ohio State standards. The Buckeyes are 44th nationally in yards per carry (4.7) and 64th in rushing yards per game (162.8). In addition to their bout with the Hoosiers, they managed less than 4 yards per carry against Texas (2.3) and Wisconsin (3.5).
The theme of being one block, one step away against the Hoosiers permeated the Ohio State postgame locker room, especially from its offensive linemen. Many times, there were unblocked bodies in the backfield. But Jackson was a shoelace away from a big game a time or two.
“Just one play short,” left guard Luke Montgomery said. “At the end of the day, now we gotta go play for a natty. We’ve been here before. It’s unfortunate. But it is what it is, we’ve gotta get back on the film. The issues were always there and they rose to the top today.”
Montgomery added that the issues with Ohio State’s running game have always been there. They simply came to a head in a matchup game. It’s the technical components of moving men on the line of scrimmage that he feels the front isn’t executing consistently enough.
“More of a technique standpoint, stuff like that,” Montgomery said. “I think we can all be better, including me, obviously. So we’ll have to figure that out.”
There were long stretches, too, where it seemed like Ohio State’s offensive line, perimeter blockers and backfield weren’t complementing each other. The tight ends are a factor in this conversation too, given the Buckeyes deployed 12 and 13 personnel at one of their highest rates all season.
“I think it was a mixed bag,” Day said of the problems he identified on the ground. “There's ones I watched where we blocked them up and got it to the unblocked hat, and he got us on the ground at 5 or 6 yards. Then there were times where there was a couple unblocked guys near the line of scrimmage. And so, yeah, there was a combination of both of those things.”
One area those 12 and 13 personnel packages fell short was in the red zone. Ohio State scored just 10 total points on four trips inside the 20-yard line, and none on its two that made that landmark in the fourth quarter. Day listed the lack of rushing success among the main factors that contributed to those failings, alongside game planning and pass game scheme.
When it comes to schematics, offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline will remain the play caller until he leaves for his new head coaching job at South Florida following the CFP. But Day got much more involved in game planning ahead of and during Ohio State’s four-game run to a national championship last season, and that involvement from the offensive savant should yield benefits once more.
“Met on it today, and (Hartline) is going to continue with the same plan,” Day said. “I do think having three, four weeks to prepare for the game will be beneficial, and so we'll still have everybody involved with it. And we're going to work hard to put a game plan together and make sure that we're putting our guys in the best position to be successful.”
The goal will be another CFP offensive line narrative like last year's: A unit that struggled in a loss one game before it made an incredible run of play. But ultimately, Ohio State can't afford to be one block away as the season enters win-or-go-home mode.
“That's how it works, again, in games like that,” Day said. “You can be one play away, one guy away, one block away. That's football. So all that matters is the success that you're having. So one block away ain't going to get it done.”
