Is the Ohio State Football team a pass-first team now?

One of the identities of the Ohio State football program over the years has been that they are a run-first team. Woody Hayes was the one who said “three yards and a cloud of dust” was going to be the offense. It’s been Ohio State’s identity for about 100 years.

Since Ryan Day has taken over, he has also said that the running game needs to be strong. He has emphasized that without a good run game, the passing game can’t be as strong as it needs to be. With that being said, is the Ohio State football team a pass-first team now?

I say that because of how potent their passing game is now. C.J. Stroud is one of the best quarterbacks in the country. They have the best receiver room in the country, including a first-round pick next year in Jaxon Smith-Njigba. It’s truly the deadliest attack in the Big Ten and one of the deadliest ones in the country.

Should the Buckeyes focus more on the pass than the run because of all of those weapons? They can certainly gain more yards that way and score points in bunches. That’s how Ohio State has broken games open before in the past. The Buckeyes can’t do that as often with the run game.

In my mind though, I still say Ohio State is a run-first team. They use the run to set up the pass better than a lot of other teams in the country because of how good TreVeyon Henderson is already. He makes the passing game better because of his breakaway speed.

Henderson will only be better this year, and that will make the offense as a whole better. The run game is still king in Columbus, as it should be.