Ohio State Football: Time to switch up the Buckeyes’ play calling
After a gut wrenching overtime victory against Maryland this past weekend the Ohio State football team still has a chance of making the playoff.
On a day where the Buckeyes gave up 535 total yards of offense, with 339 of those yards on the ground, it was not a pretty sight for defensive coordinator Greg Schiano. Ohio State players might have been looking forward to rivalry week with their matchup against Michigan but there are still questions with this team.
In addition to the horrible performance by the Buckeye defense there were questions concerning the offense as well.
Coming into the season there were questions about the back seven of the defense. On the other hand, most expected Dwayne Haskins was going to perform well and the offense would be potent.
Buckeye fans learned very quickly Haskins was as good as advertised but the offense has been inconsistent.
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Last Saturday J.K. Dobbins carried the ball 37 times against Maryland for 203 yards, but why did offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson continue to run Dobbins straight up the middle? It seemed like out of the Dobbins’ 37 carries he must have run up the middle close to 30 times.
There is no problem with that play calling if it is working but Maryland snuffed it out often and Dobbins would only gain 1-3 yards on most of those plays. When Dobbins ran to the outside he would usually gain around 7-8 yards.
And why doesn’t the coaching staff allow Haskins to throw down the field more? Nearly every time Haskins threw downfield it resulted in a completed pass for the Buckeyes or pass interference by Maryland.
If he wasn’t throwing downfield it was dump off passes that weren’t as effective. Haskins has the ability to be accurate on 20+ yard throws but doesn’t throw them very often. In order to break the Buckeye offense open the coaching staff has to allow Haskins to throw the ball downfield.
Looking to the Michigan game, Ohio State is not going to be able to run up the middle on their defensive line. The Buckeyes are going to have to come up with a more creative offensive game plan against the stout Wolverine defense.
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Whether that is running to the outside more often, taking more shots downfield or even bringing in Tate Martell to run the offense to give it a different look. The offensive play calling has to change and there is no better time to do so than during “The Game”.