The Ohio State Buckeyes need to be better about finding the end zone. Actually, it goes deeper than that. After a 13-10 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers in the Big Ten Championship Game last weekend in Indianapolis, it's clear OSU's entire red zone offense needs an overhaul.
As The Columbus Dispatch's Brian White notes, the Buckeyes need to improve in that area as soon as possible, with a Cotton Bowl Classic matchup potentially looming with the TAMU Aggies and a potential semifinals matchup with the Georgia Bulldogs afterwards.
Mike Elko's chaotic schemes and Kirby Smart's elite trench talent will be unique challenges for an Ohio State squad that hasn't faced many elite defenses besides IU's.
Offensive coordinator Brian Hartline, for the rest of the CFP anyway, tried relying on heavy personnel to little success. Bo Jackson's lack of push forced Julian Sayin to try and make plays he hadn't been accustomed to making against an Indiana defensive front that met the moment and exploited RG Tegra Tshabola's struggles to consistently get in the backfield. Sayin was pressured 11 times and sacked five times. Three of those pressures were against Tshabola, who was benched after 27 snaps.
Ohio State must bench Tegra Tshabola for the College Football Playoff
Whether or not Ryan Day, Hartline, and Tyler Bowen continue to rely on Tshabola is a major question mark moving forward. Cleveland.com's Stephen Means foresaw Tshabola being a problem back in October. Means wanted the injured Joshua Padilla to be ready by now, but luckily, Gabe VanSickle was able to fill in admirably against the Hoosiers.
There shouldn't be any "luckily, this happened" situations moving forward. Ohio State is too good to need to be lucky. The Buckeyes not only spent big, but spent big on the right players to go 12-0 and then lose the conference championship game on a missed field goal.
If a right guard undoes this thing against tough SEC defensive fronts, Day will go back to being questioned in Columbus. He's only bought so much goodwill with a national championship and finally beating TTUN after five years.
Unfortunately, it's just not happening for the former four-star prospect out of Lakota West. At most, it's appropriate he's in a time-share with VanSickle. If Padilla can get healthy enough to be a factor, even better.