The Ohio State football team took down the Akron Zips on Saturday afternoon. It was by an impressive margin too. They won 52-6 and the game wasn’t super close after the first half. That’s when the Buckeyes really turned it up and left Akron behind in the dust.
It was a solid win for the first game of the season. Of course, this game was never in doubt. The Buckeyes weren’t concerned about losing this game at any point. Really, the only question coming into the game was how much Ohio State was going to win by Even so, the Buckeyes can always improve. This is especially true when competing against slightly better teams. Also, the Buckeyes still didn’t do everything correctly against this MAC squad. In fact, there were certain things that were very alarming. There are three issues that Ohio State football supporters should be concerned about following this game. All of these issues are fixable, so there is no need to panic…yet. It only becomes a problem if these issues are not addressed within a reasonable period of time. The first item that concerned me was possibly the most disturbing thing I witnessed on Saturday.
There was no push from the offensive line in the running game.
My main concern heading into the season was the offensive line. They were the poorest unit last year, but Justin Frye was not fired during the offseason. He’s the worst coach left on staff, has shown he can’t recruit, and it’s evident his on-field coaching isn’t any better. Ohio State possesses the nation’s greatest one-two running back combo. However, against a MAC squad, the Buckeyes only averaged 5.2 yards per carry. It was especially troubling in the beginning half. Quinshon Judkins got only 55 yards on 13 carries, averaging 4.2 yards per carry.
The assault line improved slightly in pass protection, but it was still far from ideal. Will Howard had to run away several times. The lack of mobility that the hogs up front were able to generate against a weak club is by far the most concerning aspect of this squad’s performance on Saturday. If they put on a performance like that against a decent team, the Buckeyes may be in trouble. If this team repeats its bad performance at the front against Oregon or Michigan, it will lose. Ohio State must improve on the front lines. Perhaps Chip Kelly can devise a plan to compensate for Frye’s poor coaching.
The second reason to be concerned about after this game is how few receivers participated.
