Inside Slant

The Sports Xchange

October 29, 2018 at 9:01 pm.

Buckeyes ‘clear the air’ during bye

Any time Ohio State loses a game, it throws Buckeyes fans into a tizzy.

A bye week gave them even more time to stew and fret. Meanwhile, the coaching staff spent the off week trying to figure out how to fix the issues that have plagued Ohio State this season and were exposed in a demonstrative manner at Purdue in a stunning 49-20 loss on Oct. 20.

Those problems include the lack of a consistently effective running game, short-yardage struggles and red-zone offense, and the defense giving up chunk yardage plays.

Coach Urban Meyer said Monday that the Buckeyes spent the entire bye week focusing on those issues after a meeting to “clear the air” last Tuesday.

“The No. 1 thing is getting guys in space and we haven’t been able to do that,” he said. “That’s kind of our trademark — get guys to the second level and let them do their thing.”

The first chance to find out whether progress has been made in practice with schematic or personnel adjustments comes Saturday when ninth-ranked Ohio State (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) plays host to Nebraska (2-6, 1-4) in Ohio Stadium.

Given the Cornhuskers’ struggles this year, the Buckeyes should have ample opportunity to fix their problems or find work-arounds as needed.

The lack of a running threat at quarterback has been well documented. While Dwayne Haskins is one of the most prolific passers in college football this year (71.1 completion percentage, 30 touchdowns), he is not the dual threat quarterback that Meyer has featured in his offenses during most of his career.

That has allowed defenses to stack the box and key on the running backs in third-and-short situations. The one-dimensional aspect of Haskins’ game also manifested itself at Purdue in the red zone, where Ohio State had to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns.

“They’re always loading up the box in the run game,” offensive coordinator Ryan Day said. “No matter what level you’re at, what offense you’re in — to stop the run. But when you don’t have as much of a threat (to run) at quarterback, then sometimes the numbers work against you.”

It’s not that the Buckeyes don’t have capable running backs. J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber both have 1,000-yard rushing seasons on their resumes. One theory is that the offensive line has spent so much time in pass pro that it has lost its edge in run blocking.

Ohio State’s athletic communications staff attempted in its pregame notes for this week to show the running woes are a blip under Meyer. Since he arrived in 2012, it was pointed out, the Buckeyes have the best yards-per-carry average among Power 5 teams and No. 2 in rushing yards.

“We talked about how we were one of the most explosive offenses in college football and, statistically, we’re one of the most productive,” Day said. “But we’ve got to figure out how we’re going to win in situational football. Because if we can solve that, we’re really where we want to be.”

One of the proposed solutions is to use backup quarterback Tate Martell in the red zone instead of Haskins because of his running ability.

Meyer also addressed his personal status on Monday during a season of trying on-the-field and off-the-field issues, saying he will be back to coach next year.

“I love Ohio State and I love our players,” he said. “I don’t want people to worry about me. I want to make sure we’re getting some things right around here.”

ALL  |  NFL  |  College Football  |  MLB  |  NBA