Ohio State football: Short-yardage running needs work

In most games that they play, the Ohio State football team should have the more talented offensive line. That’s to say that their offensive line should beat the opponents’ defensive line the majority of the time. That wasn’t really the case last year though.

There were several times throughout the season that the Buckeyes struggled with running the ball in short-yardage situations. They weren’t able to pick up first downs when they only needed a yard or two. That hurt them in critical spots against TTUN.

It’s the main reason that Justin Frye was brought in to lead the offensive line. This unit needs to get their push back. The only times where the Buckeyes had a long run was when TreVeyon Henderson broke some tackles and was able do things completely on his own.

In order for this Ohio State offense to operate as efficiently as possible, they have to be able to get a tough yard when they need to. They need to be able to impose their will on the other team. Frye is working hard to make sure that they can. 

The opener against Notre Dame will give us a good indication of how well the offensive line has improved in short-yardage scenarios. The Fighting Irish will be a tough team to knock around. If they do, that would be a really good indication of what this team’s ceiling can be on offense because we know they can sling it around already.

Converting short third downs and fourth downs are also a good way to demoralize another team. The Ohio State football team needs to do more of that if they want to be thought of as true contenders.