The Buckeyes’ running attack may not have been spectacular, but it was good enough to win on Saturday…and yes, probably those other Saturdays over the past four years.
By Marcus Hartman for Press Pros
Ann Arbor, MI — No Ohio State offensive linemen were available for interviews after the Buckeyes beat Michigan 27-9 on Saturday at Michigan Stadium.
Perhaps they were too tired from pushing the Wolverines all over the field.
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Maybe they overexerted themselves celebrating in the snow when the final seconds ticked off.
No matter the case, the numbers spoke loudly enough: 47 carries for 186 yards. That rounds up to four yards per carry, a solid if unspectacular number.
Veteran columnist Marcus Hartman writes the OHSAA, Ohio State, and sports at large for Press Pros Magazine.com.
This was not pure dominance by the Ohio State ground game, but it was what Ryan Day seemed to hope it could be all year: Adequate.
Reliable.
There when he needed it, a trusty 3-wood for when the driver’s not working or just not the right club for the hole.
“When we talk throughout the year, I know you guys have been in these press conferences when we talk about what we’re trying to get accomplished and I always say, ‘Yeah, this is all great, but how’s it gonna look when it’s snowing sideways the Saturday after Thanksgiving?’” a happy Day said in the postgame interview room. “And that’s exactly what it looked like today. It’s snowing sideways, and that’s the type of game you have to win.”
Although Day has burnished his reputation as a football coach — a rep that was already quite strong — very much over the past 12 months, psychic was not on his resume.
Maybe soon it will be time to add.
The running game was good enough…freshman Bo Jackson broke the hundred yard barrier (117) on 22 carries. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
The coach has been talking all year about his team perfecting its process, and that goes for all phases of the game.
He lamented Bo Jackson reaching the ball out for a touchdown in one of the Buckeyes’ blowout wins earlier this season, and he said more than once there are always issues under the surface that might not be visible to the outside observers but need work, nonetheless.
So in a way, he was able to see into the future all year, displaying a vital tool for any coach who aspires to be great: The ability to see around corners, to envision a problem before it actually pops up and already have a solution prepared.
“If we’re playing this game in an indoor stadium somewhere, it’s different,” Day said. “But that’s what this game takes, and that’s what we did. And we won the line of scrimmage, and it was well done by the guys.”
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The running game has been a season’s-long project.
Those things usually take some time to get established, but this was a particularly drawn-out game the Buckeyes were playing.
Pullers struggled to find who to block when they tried gap plays, and missed assignments were too frequent when they tried use a zone scheme.
The new-look backfield of transfer C.J. Donaldson, sophomore James Peoples and freshmen Jackson and Isaiah West didn’t help matters by struggling to hit holes and break tackles in the first half to the season.
Though they showed improvement collectively over the last month, something or other always seemed to be not quite right from week to week.
And yet it was all part of the plan.
Yes, the “Easy” button was always there to push — just let Julian Sayin throw it out or up or deep or short for Carnell Tate or Jeremiah Smith and good things will follow — but Day wouldn’t let his team mash it too often.
Still there were the runs, effective or not.
Saturday showed why.
The bad angle on a counter?
The defender in the backfield on inside zone?
The extra man in the box making tackle after tackle?
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Yes, those things in prior weeks all brought Ohio State to this point just as much as the bombings Sayin, Tate and Smith put on Big Ten defenses when the receivers were healthy.
It was all part of the bigger picture, and the Buckeyes proved it against Michigan when Day and offensive coordinator Brian Hartline weaved it all together into what will certainly go down as a masterpiece even if it wasn’t always pretty.
The final touch was a 20-play drive to bridge the gap from the end of the third quarter well into the fourth.
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With more than 100,000 looking on in frustration, Donaldson, Jackson and West all touched the ball, and Sayin got in the act with a 3-yard scramble on third-and-3 along with a 2-yard quarterback sneak on an earlier third down.
The backs picked up eight yards here, six yards there. Then three or four. Just enough to keep the machine moving.
Although they ended up settling for a 23-yard field goal by Jayden Fielding when it was all over, the Buckeyes had proven their point.
They could run on the Wolverines when they wanted to.
After four years of getting bullied in the rivalry, things were different now.
Day joked — at least he was sort of joking — the drive didn’t really count because it yielded only three points, but he also acknowledged the practicality of taking the points.
An 18-point lead was going to be insurmountable for that Michigan offense against his Ohio State defense with only eight minutes left in the game — especially one as rested as the Silver Bullets were at that point.
“It’s nice to sit on the sideline watching film, give them the little game bites that we need and just having a great time over there honestly,” senior defensive end Caden Curry said. “Sitting on warm benches.”
Leading up to this game, many commentators and stat geeks worried Day would be hard-headed and try too hard to beat the Wolverines into submission with a callow collection of running backs and an offensive line that has shown some improvement but still was far from dominant.
Show them the numbers from after the game — without the final score — and perhaps they would think their fears were realized.
Nope.
This was modern football to a ’t’: Big plays and big boy drives, thunder and lightning, rushing and passing — with a trip to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship Game next week as a reward.
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