Ryan Day compares rollout of QB run game to what Ohio State did with Justin Fields
Justin Fields hit the ground running at Ohio State. Like, actually.
The Georgia backup-turned-Ohio State star netted 484 rushing yards and scored 10 rushing touchdowns in 2019, his first of two years as the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback.
That dual-threat Heisman Trophy finalist campaign began with 12 carries, 61 rushing yards and a touchdown against Florida Atlantic (although 51 of those yards came on one run, a breakaway touchdown scamper that unfurled out of a zone-read keeper). From the jump, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day didn’t hold back from running Fields.
He and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly — now the play caller — appear to be taking a comparable approach to rolling out the quarterback run game with Ohio State’s new transfer signal caller, Will Howard.
“I think if you remember what we did with Justin Fields, it’s probably similar to that,” Day said Wednesday. “There’s always going to be part of the game that Will — and all of the quarterbacks — can make an impact with their feet. How we design that, we’ll determine that on a week-to-week basis based on our opponent, schematics, situation in the game, where we are, down and distance, red zone — there’ll be a lot of things that come into play.
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“But the quarterback’s going to have an effect with their feet even in the passing game, scrambling and those types of things. There’s a lot that comes with that part of it, but on a week-to-week basis, we’ll tailor it based on the opponent.”
Like Fields, Howard runs with size and speed. Although Howard isn’t the athlete Fields is — few are — the Kansas State graduate transfer stands 6-foot-4, 233 pounds and was clocked in at 22.1 miles per hour this offseason, the fastest of Ohio State’s five scholarship quarterbacks this year.
Howard ripped off eight runs of 15-plus yards last season at Kansas State, the second most among Big 12 quarterbacks in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus. That batch included a 70-yard backbreaker against Oklahoma State. He also posted a 71-yard run against Texas in 2021. And in 2020, his first college season, he logged a 69-yard run against Oklahoma State as well as an 80-yard run in his first career start against TCU.
Kelly’s made it clear that he doesn’t intend to run the quarterback into the ground, or even lean on quarterback power concepts, but the quarterback’s legs will undoubtedly be a factor in the offense.
Regardless how much Howard carries the rock in Saturday’s season opener against Akron, he will be heavily involved in the run game. After all, according to Kelly and Day, Howard is the on-field run game coordinator.
“Say we have a good play called, and we got a pressure coming from the field, and we don’t want to run this play into it, it’s my job to get us in and out of that,” Howard said Tuesday. “Obviously, the coaches can only do so much, but we’re the ones that are out there actually calling the shots, and I’m the one that’s got the chalk last on a lot of that stuff.”
Howard is the conductor at the line of scrimmage, and that’s a responsibility he’s embracing. He discussed how he’s always “clued into something” every play. That’s an advantage because, as Howard pointed out, it’s never good for a quarterback to mentally take plays off.
Howard hammered home the message Kelly preaches: the importance of having a plan every single play, whether that’s calling for a protection or making the right run game decision.
“When you have a run system where you can call a play, and it can go three different ways, and all of them have an answer for everything,” Howard said, “it makes it easier on you as an offense. You don’t have to run plays and waste plays that are good versus something and not something else.”
Day said that it’s rare in this Ohio State offense for the quarterback to simply take the ball, hand it off and move on. Howard’s tasked with making choices in the run game. It’s his job to equate numbers and read linebackers and safeties at the line of scrimmage.
“He’s got to be the best in the country at that,” Day said Tuesday. “Because if he can do that — and, again, not extraordinary, just routine plays, making them — then we’ll have an opportunity to continue to make first downs. We want to have positive runs and get completions. And that’s the focus early on as we get going.”
The quarterback run game hasn’t been a focal point of the Ohio State offense since Fields left for the NFL. Now it’s back. Howard has a lot on his plate — as a passer, runner and on-field coordinator.
Howard will get his chance to hit the ground running Saturday, perhaps similar to how Fields did five years ago.