Ohio State Buckeye Offense Still Searching

The Buckeye offense was expected to be nothing short of record breaking coming in to this 2015 season. With so much talent returning, and a favorable schedule on tap, it was hard not to imagine the unit putting itself into the conversation with “best ever”. Even with the uncertainty surrounding the quarterback position, the question was more about which one would be chosen to lead the onslaught. Joining the “pick your poison” quarterback would surely be a Heisman front runner in Junior running back Ezekiel Elliott.

Up front, four starters returned from a unit absolutely dominated their way to a national title the previous year. The lone question was the receiving unit, although that unit contained a projected first round pick in Michael Thomas, and was getting a boost from one of the most electrifying players in all of college football, albeit very raw. How could it possibly go wrong?

That receiving corp, already a question, took a major hit just a week before the season opener. Sophomore Noah Brown was lost for the season with a broken leg. Brown had earned a ton of praise through spring ball and camp, and was expected to start opposite Michael Thomas on the outside.

The Labor Day kickoff in Blacksburg did little to temper any of the expectations. Cardale Jones was named the starter and played well. The skill players were on full display as well, silencing that one lingering doubt that some may have had about the offense. Michael Thomas got the better of a future pro in Kendall Fuller on multiple occasions. Ezekiel Elliott, behind only 11 carries, ran for 122 yards. That included an 80 yard home run that seemed like a carry over from the amazing run he went on at the end of the 2014 dream season. Even J.T. Barrett, in his limited time, threw a touchdown pass on his only attempt. And then there was Braxton Miller.

With all of the talk about whether or not Braxton Miller could make the transition to receiver, the two time Big Ten offensive player of the year put on a show, catching three balls for 79 yards and a score. Oh, and he added a score on the ground as well, in a way that was so reminicsent of what all Buckeye fans had become so accustom to when he was leading the offense as a quarterback.

The potential for greatness was on full display Labor Day night, and when all was said and done, some were asking if maybe this unit could be even better than they thought. Who could have ever imagined that that was as good as it was going to get?

Three lackluster wins followed that Virginia Tech game, and the quarterback play was poor enough to generate a full-on controversy over who would start moving forward. A possibility that would have been unfathomable in the preseason, Buckeye Nation wasn’t even sure if they had one quarterback. Let alone two.

Along the way, the offensive line struggled to give consistent time to the quarterbacks. No matter who was taking the snaps, protection was an issue and undoubtedly led to some of the conservative play calling along the way.

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The one constant was the running game. Elliott looked every bit the Heisman candidate he was tabbed as, routinely churning out 100-yard efforts. That included a 274 yard performance at Indiana where every yard was needed in a game where the Buckeye defense was unable to put the game away in the second half. He was the only thing keeping the offense was being a complete disappointment. Corey Smith was lost for the season due to injury, thinning out an already thin receiving unit.

In the days leading up to the Maryland game, week 6 of the season, Urban Meyer announced that J.T Barrett would start taking snaps once the offense was inside the red zone. Through the first five weeks of the season the Buckeye offense was not firing on all cylinders, and red zone efficiency was a major issue. The move to Barrett inside the 20 proved to be a great call. The Buckeyes cashed in on all six trips to the red zone. Even still, the offense sputtered for large chunks of the game behind Cardale Jones.

The following week, a night game in The ‘Shoe against Penn State, saw Barrett take over the starting job in the second half. The Buckeyes would win the game comfortably, but Urban Meyer was non-committal on who would be leading the offense moving forward. The fan base seemed to have chosen their side. Media and fans alike saw how much more smooth the offense ran with Barrett taking the snaps, would Urban make the call?

Indeed. J.T. Barrett was officially named the starter in the days leading up to the trip to Rutgers. A strong performance in Piscataway ensued as the Buckeyes racked up over 500 yards in the rout. Many were ready to write off the early struggles of the offense, suggesting that we were about to see them take off and become what so many had touted them to be at the beginning of the season. Not so fast, my friends.

The bye week that followed brought some very unwelcomed and disappointing news. Barrett was suspended for the upcoming game against Minnesota after a very uncharacteristic lapse of judgement.

Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

Cardale Jones was back in the saddle, and the seemingly never ending conversation about the quarterbacks was back in the forefront. Would J.T. Barrett jump right back in as the starter once his suspension was up? What if Cardale went out and lit up Minnesota?

Another average showing by the offense against Minnesota made that decision all the more easy, from a performance perspective at least. Jones was decent, but it was Elliott who led the way again with 115 yards on the ground. Barrett was reinstated the following week and was starting when the Buckeyes took on Illinois. It was November. Money time. The meat of the schedule was on the horizon and it was past time for the offense to get on a roll.

Again, something just didn’t seem to be right with the offense in Champaign. ‘Zeke was strong again, but the passing game saw plenty more struggles. J.T. saw consistent pressure against the average front seven of Illinois. The play calling was vanilla, the coaching staff seemingly content with bullying their way to another win. Fans were left with only hope that the offense was building towards what had now arrived, that the offense would awake from their slumber just in time for the stretch run. Because with a big one looming, the days of bullying opponents into submission were over.

The horror show that was the offensive performance against Michigan State was shocking, but not so shocking in the sense that it happened. It was shocking because it solidified what was once unthinkable, what every Buckeye fan refused to believe week after week. Not only was the offense nowhere near prolific, it was a hinderance. The creativity that every one of us was sure was coming? It never came. The cohesiveness that would follow some stability at the quarterback position? It just wasn’t there. Quarterback play, offensive line play, play calling, development of the receivers…place the blame where you want to. The bottom line is that, as it is today, the offense is badly one-dimensional. The running game has been as advertised, but when a defense refuses to be beaten by it, and has the talent to prevent it from happening, where can the offense turn?

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Michigan’s defense has allowed only one running back to go over the century mark this season. They are fourth in the nation in rushing yards allowed. No matter how much Ezekiel Elliott is featured today, it is going to be tough sledding. Can the passing game contribute enough to back some of those extra defenders out of the box? Will protection hold up? Can the receivers find space against a secondary that is no slouch either? All are part of the bigger, and biggest, question: will the Buckeye offense hold them back today? again? File that under the most unlikely of questions, had it been asked back in August.

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