Ohio State Football: How to turn these concerns into strengths

We are just two and a half weeks into the college football season and we’ve seen the Ohio State football team drop three spots in the polls. Normally, I’d say that’s ridiculous and unwarranted. I can’t say that about this year’s team though. They have some big concerns.

The offensive line is the biggest concern for the Buckeyes at this point. They can’t get to the second level when run-blocking. Any big run is because of what the running back does, not because there’s some massive hole to run through.

Getting pressure on the quarterback is a concern as well. Through two games against inferior competition, the Buckeyes have just three sacks, including just two from the defensive line. What’s worse is that neither J.T. Tuimoloau nor Jack Sawyer have any yet.

So how does the Ohio State football team turn these concerns into strengths? I have a couple of ideas on how to get that done. The Buckeyes were concerned about the quarterback situation until last week when Kyle McCord settled in. Now, that position looks like it could be a strength.

In order to fix the offensive line, Ohio State needs to get more creative with line movement. They typically don’t do a lot of pulling with guards or tackles, but maybe they should start doing so. That will get linemen into better positions to get to the second level and hold their blocks longer.

As for the sack issue, I think that could be solved this weekend. Western Kentucky throws the ball around a lot. That will leave the Buckeyes with plenty of opportunities to tee off on the quarterback and get some sacks, specifically from the defensive line.

If all else fails, Ohio State can start blitzing more to open up some lanes to get sacks. That requires having more trust in the secondary, which has played fairly well for the most part. No matter how they do it, these two things must get fixed before heading to South Bend next weekend.