Week 1 was a litmus test for the Ohio State Buckeyes. They needed to make sure that Arthur Smith's new offense was something they could execute. Early on, they struggled a bit. In fact, they went three-and-out to start the game. Still, they were able to win the game 56-3.
Despite the dominant win, the Buckeyes still have some things they need to work on. They need to work on them fast, with Texas coming up next week in a game that will feature a hostile environment. Ryan Day will want to get these things fixed in practice very quickly.
1. Right tackle is an issue
The offensive line was the biggest issue for the Scarlet and Gray at the end of last season. They had a competition to figure out who was going to start at right guard, thinking that was the biggest problem. Phillip Daniels struggled at the end of last year, too.
Against Ball State, Daniels once again had a poor performance. He allowed a sack early in the first half, and he looked overmatched quite a few other times. Just a couple of drives in, he was subbed out of the game. He did come back in and played the rest of the first half, though.
If Daniels played this poorly against a MAC defensive line, he is going to have massive issues next week against the Longhorns. Tyler Bowen has to find a way to get Daniels to play better. If he continues his poor play, they need to move him out of the starting lineup.
2. The running game needs to be better early on
At the end of the game, the Buckeyes finished with 237 yards rushing. That is an extremely deceiving stat based on what happened in the first half when the starters were in the game. Bo Jackson and the offensive line failed to get anything going, and it was deeply concerning.
While the Buckeyes had nearly 290 yards passing in the first half, they only mustered around 50 rushing yards. That can't happen next week against the Longhorns. They are too good for Ohio State to be one-dimensional and for them to still win on the road against them.
3. Special Teams mistakes have to be cleaned up
All three phases of the game matter when it's two great teams going at it. Ohio State did not have a banner day when it comes to special teams. They only returned two kickoffs, and Legend Bey screwed it up both times. He hesitated, returned the ball, and gave Ohio State poor field position.
On a punt return in the second half, Phillip Bell had a strong return, only for it to be brought back. Multiple players were called for holding penalties, negating the strong effort from Bell. Ohio State has to be sharper when the specialty units are on the field.
These things need to be taken care of not just for the game against Texas, but for multiple games on their schedule. Ohio State plays a top-ten schedule in the country. If they are going to navigate that without picking up a loss, they need to be sharper in executing in these areas.
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