Ohio State Football: Ryan Day says run-blocking must improve

The Ohio State football team did a better job overall on the offensive side of the ball against Youngstown State on Saturday. This week, they play another team that isn’t known for their defense in Western Kentucky. It’s the final tune-up before the Notre Dame game.

The running game hasn’t exploded like many thought it would. Most of that has to do with a shaky performance from the offensive line so far. We already know there’s a problem at left tackle. Ryan Day doesn’t seem to be pleased with the run-blocking so far either.

When asked if he saw any improvement with the offensive line with the run blocking, Day said “no”. He did mention that he thinks they were pretty good in pass protection, but the run-blocking still needs improvement. Day also says that there are multiple areas on the team that still need improvement.

It’s good that Day recognizes that there’s an issue. It didn’t sound like he was prepared to do anything about it in terms of changing out personnel. He mentioned that Josh Simmons still has the talent to do what they expect out of a left tackle, he just has to show consistency.

Consistency is something he’s preached with every position on the field. It’s why Kyle McCord was named the starting quarterback for the rest of the year today as well. He has shown the consistency that they have been looking for. Simmons has yet to do so.

It’s unclear what else they can do to improve the run-blocking except hope that it just gets better. The depth on the offensive line isn’t there to make substantive changes up front. I just hope Justin Frye can get his guys to play better football because this Ohio State football team needs to be able to run the ball, especially in short-yardage situations.