Three improvements Ohio State Football must make after IU game
By Ryan Stano
The Ohio State football team beat Indiana 23-3 in the season-opener on Saturday. It was a game that featured no passing touchdowns for the Buckeyes and just two touchdowns total. Quite frankly, it was a disappointing offensive effort from the Buckeyes.
On a positive note, the defense looked like the real deal. We talked a lot in the offseason about how the defense needed to improve if Ohio State was going to be a national title contender. Specifically, they needed to keep big plays down to a minimum. They did that on Saturday.
Still, there are a lot of things the Ohio State football team needs to improve on after this lackluster effort on offense. There are three big things that come to mind when it comes to that. If they don’t improve these things, Ohio State may not even win the Big Ten.
The first has to deal with the offensive line.
1. Ohio State football needs better blocking from the tackles
Ohio State had to replace both tackle spots on the offensive line. That’s never an easy thing. The inexperience at both tackle spots was evident on Saturday afternoon. Both Josh Simmons and Josh Fryar struggled in spots in both pass-blocking and run-blocking scenarios.
Fryar got beat badly a couple of times for sacks on the right side of the line. He got blown by with speed that he wasn’t able to keep up with. Simmons struggled more in the run game, not being able to get to the second level with his blocks. Both are major concerns.
Cade Stover was the worst blocker when he was in there. The tight end whiffed on multiple blocks in the run game and also got called for a holding call. While he was the leading receiver for the Buckeyes, his blocking continues to be a major liability for this team.
The offensive line is young and inexperienced. I do think they will improve over the next few games. Both tackles should get better with live reps in games. It’s good the Buckeyes play two cupcakes the next two weeks to help with that.
The next thing the Buckeyes have to improve has to deal with the quarterback play.