Ohio State Football: A look at the Buckeyes’ red zone woes
This year’s Ohio State football team has struggled to score in the red zone. I take a look at why that is the case and what it will take to fix the problem.
There are many questions concerning the Ohio State football team heading into the stretch drive of the season. One big one is, where did the red zone offense go?
The Buckeyes are ranked in the bottom third in the nation in red efficiency. They have been in the red zone 37 times this season and scored 29 times. This means the Buckeyes are only scoring 78% of the time they drive the ball inside the 20 yard line.
The break down for the Buckeyes in the red zone is 10 rushing touchdowns 12 passing touchdowns and 7 field goals. There is no reason why this high-powered offense should be kicking 7 field goals.
Last year Ohio State was ranked in the top 25 in red zone efficiency. What is the difference this year?
The first thing is the run game has struggled. For the last 4-5 weeks, the main concern for the Buckeye offense has been developing the running game. J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber are extreme talents but just can’t seem to get things going in the red zone.
I truly believe this has to do with the read option not being part of the offense. The read option is a difficult offense to guard with a quarterback who can run and pass the ball.
Right now defenses know Ohio State can’t run the ball so defenses are playing the pass. With the extra coverage, it’s been hard to fit the ball into tight windows with wide receivers who haven’t been consistent enough in the red zone.
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With the offensive line struggles the defense is able to get better penetration. The extra pressure and rush in the red zone have forced Dwyane Haskins get rid of the ball quickly and he hasn’t been able to set his feet and make solid throws.
We have seen the offense try to throw the back shoulder fade to Binjimen Victor and it just hasn’t produced. Victor is a big wide receiver but often can’t seem to bring down those throws.
With the offensive line woes and the running game struggling what’s the best way to fix the red zone problems, Tate Martell. He is the perfect fit to run a read option in the red zone.
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We have seen Martell a little this year, and when he comes into the game the read option is a part of the offensive scheme. Urban Meyer and Ryan Day need to take a serious look at putting the young quarterback in the game when the Buckeyes get into the red zone to give defenses something else to think about.