Ohio State Football must trust ground game vs. Minnesota

The Ohio State football team had one of the best rushing attacks in the country last season. They need to keep that up against Minnesota in the opener.

The Ohio State football team had a prolific rushing attack last season. In fact, they had the fifth-best rushing attack in the country in 2020. They ran for just over 275 yards a game. A large part of that was a big boost that Trey Sermon was able to give them.

Ohio State will keep the running game as the focal part of their offense all throughout the season. It’s the best part of their gameplan. The Buckeyes will need to do the same thing against Minnesota. Minnesota is not a good defense, they are average at best at stopping the run.

The Buckeyes don’t need to do anything special in the running game to beat the Golden Gophers. They just have to be who they are and who they’ve been the last few years. Minnesota shouldn’t have an answer for the massive offensive line that the Buckeyes will be sporting.

Ohio State will need their offense, and in particular, their running game, to be in top shape all year long to help support their defense. The defense should be better than it was in 2020, but still won’t be as good as they have in years past. They still won’t be great.

Ohio State’s rushing game will be great on Thursday night. No one in the Big Ten has a good enough defense to do anything against this rushing attack. Not only can Ohio State strike with big plays in the running game, but they can eat up a lot of time on the clock.

Eating that time on the clock prevents Minnesota from being able to do what they need to win the game. The running game of Ohio State will be the difference in this one from start to finish.