Ohio State started off the season exactly the way that pundits expected them to. They crushed Ball State, winning the game 56-3 in a game that was never close. Arthur Smith showed that the Buckeyes will be able to execute the passing game in his system after Julian Sayin threw for 320 yards.
However, not everything was great when the first-team offense was out there. Some of it could certainly be chalked up to first-game jitters. One thing that can not be chalked up to that was the poor display of running that the Buckeyes put together in the first half.
Ohio State must fix the running game heading into the Texas game
The first half showed that the Ohio State Buckeyes don't quite have the running game figured out. While they did finish with 237 yards rushing by the time the game was over, that was buoyed by two large runs in the second half. It wasn't exactly an inspiring performance by the starters.
Taking away Bo Jackson's 65-yard touchdown run in the second half, he mustered just 18 yards on eight carries against Ball State. That is not going to get it done against an SEC defense. The Longhorns have a much more talented squad of players that will make running the ball much more difficult.
It was tough to discern if the lack of being able to run the ball was because of issues with the new scheme or individual failures. Based on how well they ran it in the second half, it must have been an execution issue with the new blocking scheme. The Buckeyes need to make sure that execution issue doesn't rear its ugly head early in Week 2.
Jackson and Ja'Kobi Jackson both finished with 83 yards rushing, and each of them had a 60+ yard touchdown run. It is encouraging to see that they can at least break off some massive runs to give some explosion to the run game.
There could be some offensive line shuffling vs. Texas
The starting offensive line that showed up against Ball State might not be the one that trots out for the first snap against the Longhorns. Phillip Daniels was taken out of his right tackle spot on the third drive of the game, and they shifted Austin Siereveld to right tackle. Gabe VanSickle was at right guard.
While Phillips did come back, that's not a good sign heading into Week 2. It seems that Daniels will have a short leash for this game, which is warranted after how poorly he played at the end of last season. The entire right side of the offensive line was an issue in the last two games of the year.
Siereveld is clearly the most versatile offensive lineman that the Buckeyes have. They trust him to move all over the place. Still, it would be ideal if he could just stay at one position so that the entire offensive line could have some continuity up front. Keep an eye on that unit this week.
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