Bo Jackson lines up behind veteran center Carson Hinzman. Hinzman and his offensive line, plus the diverse stable of backs, including Jackson, CJ Donaldson, James Peoples and Isaiah West are staring to establish a run game and at just the right time as “The Game” and the playoffs lurk just over the horizon. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Starting with Saturday’s win over UCLA, more was required for players to earn a champion grade. And the offensive line responded, the running backs responded and the rest of the team played like it always does.
Columbus, OH – Ryan Day likes the businesslike approach, the edgy look in the eye, the don’t-take-any-opponent-lightly mindset of his No. 1 Ohio State football team.
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After beating Texas by a touchdown in the opener, no game has been closer than 18 points. Maybe the opponents haven’t included the other top teams in the Big Ten, but Ohio State’s performance has been dominant like it should be against lesser teams.
Impressive no matter how you dissect it.
Still, Day knows he and his coaching staff must demand more, correct mistakes, break bad habits. Because, to win a second straight national title for the first time in program history, Day knows complacency is the sneakiest and most dangerous opponent.
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Day trusts his players to practice, prepare and play the right way. But like he said Tuesday, “I’m worried about everything.”
To find a new edge, a new motivation, a new accountability, Day announced last week an assessment upgrade. Now, to grade out a champion during game-film review, a player must hit 83% instead of the old standard of 80%.
“Even that 3% can be a big deal if you come down to one play in a matchup game,” Day said.
Saturday at noon against Rutgers is not a matchup game, which, in Ohio State’s lexicon, is a game against an opponent considered to have comparable or equal talent and depth. But the Scarlet Knights are the last non-matchup foe. Michigan follows. Indiana, ranked No. 2, could be next. Then the playoffs. Now is the time to start being great.
The most prominent sign that 83% got the team’s attention was the play of the offensive line in Saturday’s 48-10 win over UCLA. The 3% change surely was directed at the linemen. What other position group, other than maybe the young running backs, needed extra motivation?
The diverse backfield comprised of Jackson, James Peoples, CJ Donaldson and Isaiah West are poised to demonstrate that these Bucks can also hurt you on the ground, not just through the air.
The line responded. The Buckeyes rushed for 222 yards, by far the most other than the Grambling State and Ohio games, which when assessing the Buckeyes, don’t really count.
Yes, the Bruins are 123 among 136 Division I teams trying in vain to stop the run. But that doesn’t mean the Buckeyes’ running game didn’t execute and perform at possibly its highest level of the season against the Bruins.
Day talked more positively about the running game – most specifically the offensive line – on Tuesday than he has all season.
“There was a lot of physicality,” he said.
(You could almost hear a growl from the offensive line meeting room.)
He said there were some 83 percenters on the line, but he wouldn’t say who. However, it’s clear that center Carson Hinzman was one of them.
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Sophomore lineman Ian Moore squares off with a Minnesota defender.
“Carson Hinzman had nine knock downs in the game,” Day said. “I mean, it’s hard to knock a trash can down nine times. That’s a heck of a job.”
Day continued enthusiastically about the line and added a shoutout to the three running backs. Bo Jackson, Isaiah West and James Peoples each averaged over seven yards a carry and combined for four touchdowns.
“Guys were finishing downfield,” Day said. “There’s some clips of guys finishing people out of bounds. Running backs are running through contact. People are finishing. It was a good Sunday to watch effort and physicality and fundamentals because we know that’s going to matter in the end.”
Day placed emphasis on effort, physicality and fundamentals.
To that point, achieving an 83% grade, according to Day, is not as easy of a grading scale as it might sound. That number emphasizes how impossible it is to perfectly execute the fundamentals of every play. Consistency, along with some great plays, determines who plays.
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“There’s nowhere to hide on the offensive line,” Day said. “You’re graded to a high level, and Coach [Tyler] Bowen is very particular and critiques those guys at a high level. There were some guys who graded out, which is not easy to do. Credit to them in their preparation. And now we gotta do it again.”
Other than the inexplicable loss to Michigan last year, the final stretch was when the national championship line came together and helped make the Buckeyes unstoppable in the playoffs.
And this season’s final stretch will be seven days away once the Buckeyes defeat Rutgers to move to 11-0.
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The list of goals is easily recited: beat Michigan, win the Big Ten title and win the national championship. Day’s other moment of enthusiasm Tuesday came when he talked about playing for the Big Ten title in Indianapolis.
“Every week, every Saturday, an opportunity to get to Indianapolis is on the line,” Day said. “There’s nobody on this team that’s been to Indy, and they know it.”
Last year, when many games were closer, Day liked to remind his team to “leave no doubt.” This season, because of a prolific passing attack and a domineering defense, doubt has dissipated well before the fourth quarter except for the 14-7 win over Texas.
Still, coaches worry and doubt whether their teams will be good at controlling what they can control. But Day, more than any coach in the country season, knows what to expect from his team any given Saturday because they haven’t let him down yet.
“You’re always trying to figure out what’s next and try to predict and forecast the best you can,” he said. “But I love our guys. I love the edginess. I love the competitiveness. If you said we’re going to be 10-0 and rocking right now, I’d say, ‘Let’s go play.’”
As long as it’s better than 83%.
These Buckeyes are finding their stride as the end of the regular season approaches. Is the best yet to come?
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