Scarlet Sunrise: Five games in, Buckeyes still lacking explosive rushing attack

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Five games in, Buckeyes still lacking explosive rushing attack

Nothing looked easy for the Ohio State rushing offense Saturday against Maryland. Even the four-yard touchdown running back Chip Trayanum scored in the third quarter started with a bobbled toss.

With lead back TreVeyon Henderson sidelined, Trayanum was the work horse for the Buckeyes in the 37-17 win over the Terrapins. Trayanum registered a career-high 20 carries for 61 yards and that one score.

The Buckeyes finished with just 62 net rushing yards, their fewest in a game since they posted a mere 35 against Michigan State during their infamous, six-win 2011 season. Ohio State did, however, rush for only 76 yards at Purdue in 2018, only 64 yards at Michigan in 2021 and only 66 yards last year versus Iowa.

It’s also important to note that Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord was sacked three times for a loss of a combined 21 yards — including his 10-yard intentional grounding infraction in the second quarter — because sack yards count against a team’s rushing total in college football.

Still, that raises the question: What is wrong with this Ohio State offensive line? Five games in, and the Buckeyes are still searching for answers up front in the run game.

“Yeah, I gotta watch it one more time and just see where we’re at with what’s going on,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said postgame, when asked about potential changes to the O-Line.

“I know that there’s a lot of guys in the box — they’re gonna stop the run. And that opened up the pass game in the second half. … I think we were just over 85 yards or so rushing [total], and we expect to be higher than that. So, again, I got to figure out what it is — is it the personnel, the scheme, or the coaching of it? I felt like we had a good plan going in. They got a pretty good front, they do a nice job. But we want to be more explosive.”

Maryland came into the weekend ranked seventh in the Big Ten in rushing defense, allowing 116.4 yards per game on the ground. Granted defensive coordinator Brian Williams brought his A-game, but the Buckeyes O-Line did its running backs no favors as well.

Ohio State’s longest run was an 11-yard Miyan Williams scamper when the game was already in hand. The Buckeyes are now dead last in the Big Ten and fourth-to-last nationally in run plays of 10-plus yards.

The Buckeyes’ 12 total rushing plays of 10 or more yards in five games are at least four fewer than every other team in the league this season.

As Day mentioned, teams are stacking the box against Ohio State. Maryland certainly did Saturday.

“If they’re going to put that many guys in the box, then we got to be able to throw the football with what we have,” Day said, still answering the question about his assessment of the Buckeyes’ O-Line. “But, at the same time, when the box looks right, we got to be efficient. I’ll look at that, and when we have our press conference on Tuesday, I’ll probably have a better answer.”

Rewatch notebook: Lessons Learned from Buckeyes win over Maryland

Ohio State’s 20-point win over the Terps was closer than the score suggests. And that’s because the Buckeyes got off to a sluggish start, especially offensively the first two quarters.

“Overall, I was pleased with the second half, but not the first,” Day said postgame.

Ohio State, after all, piled up 27 points in the second half and pulled away for the Homecoming Weekend victory. But Lettermen Row went back and watched the whole game over again, not just those final two quarters.

For notes and takeaways from that rewatch, go here.

RELATED

• Breaking down PFF snap counts from Maryland game

Ohio State climbs rung in Week 7 AP Top 25

Ohio State moved up in the AP Top 25 for the second time in three weeks. The Buckeyes are back to where they started in this year’s poll: No. 3, behind only No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Michigan.

The Bulldogs lead the pack with 50 first-place votes. Then comes Michigan (11), Ohio State (1) and Florida State (1).

The biggest winner this week is Oklahoma, which jumped from No. 12 to No. 5 after its Red River Showdown win over then-No. 3 Texas.

For more details on Ohio State’s placement, and the complete Top 25 as a whole, go here.

Counting down

Buckeyes vs. Purdue: 5 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 47 days

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