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    • Ohio State football faces difficult answers to get the running game going
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    Ohio State football faces difficult answers to get the running game going

    Kathleen William Posted on

    You probably have questions after college football's big-money Jeff Bezos eked out a 21-17 win over Minimum Pay Nebraska in the Shoe on Saturday – a close decision that threatened to end Ohio State coach Ryan Day's 43-game winning streak against unranked teams.

    I also have questions. Luckily, I have answers too.

    I call this section of the show “Someone needs to explain something.”

    Let's get down to business.

    Question: What's wrong with Ohio State's offense?

    Answer: I can't run the ball.

    Question: How can that be?

    Answer: Subpar recruiting, suspect development and lack of influence in the transfer portal to ensure adequate youth depth. Add in a key injury to left tackle Josh Simmons and voila (French for “It's good that OSU has a passing game.”)

    Question: If you are tailbacks TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins and have NFL talent but are running behind a Sun Belt Conference line, what do you think?”

    Answer (diplomatic version:) “Not to be too high, but too low in situations like this,” Judkins explained his emotions after watching the running game. “Just believe in my teammates. I know these guys are going to go out there and execute.”

    Maybe one day that will be true, but Saturday's numbers made that day seem a long way off. Judkins carried 10 times for 29 yards; Henderson was 10 for 25. Quarterback Will Howard made some late drive-extending plays with his legs but still finished with just 14 yards on eight carries. Overall, OSU gained 64 yards for an average of 2.1, its lowest total since slipping to 62 yards last season against Maryland. It was just the third time since 2017 that the Buckeyes failed to gain 65 yards on the ground.

    Answer (no-spin version): Judkins could have accepted the handoff, immediately dropped forward and gained nearly as many yards per carry as he did by dragging himself behind a line that had seven tackles for loss, among them two sacks, allowed. This is a guy who gained 2,725 yards over the last two seasons at Mississippi before transferring to OSU, a guy who was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year in 2022.

    So when Judkins says, “It wasn't our best day for our offensive line,” that's a polite way of saying there was no where to go with the ball. He and Henderson may not be feeling bad right now, but they can't be thrilled.

    Question: What did Day say about the running game?

    A: You know when you messed up as a kid and your dad said, “I'm disappointed in you?” Well, that's what it felt like.

    “We didn’t play the football,” Day said, clearly unhappy with the result. “We only ran 64 yards. …That’s not nearly good enough. Under three yards per carry with Quinshon and TreVeyon, that’s not enough.”

    Question: What happened? Details please.

    Answer #1: Let's face it, this O-line has rarely been great this season. The highlight came against Marshall, when the Buckeyes rushed for 280 yards two weeks after a 273 gain against Western Michigan. The most impressive performance (203 yards) came against a stout Iowa defense, but OSU failed to break the 200-yard mark against Akron (170), Michigan State (185) and Oregon (141).

    Given that we're dealing with a relatively low bar to begin with – the line has been the weak point in this offense from the start – it's no surprise that the running game is all too often stuck in neutral.

    Answer No. 2: Nebraska's defense isn't exactly that of the 1985 Chicago Bears. Last week against Indiana, the Cornhuskers allowed 215 rushing yards, with the Hoosiers averaging 6.5 yards per carry. Something had to have happened for the Buckeyes to buckle so badly up front. And that was fourth-year tackle Zen Michalski, who had a hard time filling in for Simmons. Michalski gave up a sack, got away with a grab that looked like he was trying to tie up a calf rather than block a defender and generally looked lost in his first start.

    Day expressed gratitude for Michalski's performance and explained that his nervousness may have contributed to the mess. Additionally, the tackle was helped off the field after suffering an injury in the fourth quarter. No reason to kick a man when he's down. But Ohio State needs to figure something out quickly with the left side of the line – there's no big issues on the right side either, but the left side is more of an emergency situation – otherwise next week's game at Penn State won't end well .

    Question: What is the solution?

    Answer: That's the $64,000 question, or whatever linemen make with zero money these days. Left guard Donovan Jackson moved to left tackle when Michalski went down, and Luke Montgomery took over at left guard. I'm not sure this is an acceptable long-term solution. Moving Donovan, OSU's best lineman, to another position defies common sense, but what other choice is there? The Buckeyes already have a mix of linemen trying to find the right combination in spring and fall practices. It's probably gotten to the point where all you have to do is train them and hope for the best.

    Question: Is their best good enough?

    Answer: I don't know. And if you're an Ohio State fan, that's the scariest reaction of all.

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    @rollerCD

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    Kathleen William
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