The offensive numbers Ohio State is putting up week after week are staggering.
The Buckeyes are rolling for more than 500 yards per game and average 44.5 points each time they take the field. Despite a completely revamped offensive line and a redshirt freshman quarterback replacing the conference’s two-time offensive player of the year, Ohio State is just a couple yards per game below last year’s school record offense and one point per game below last year’s school mark of 45.5 per game.
You don’t do any of that without a good performance by the offensive line. Left tackle Taylor Decker, the lone returning starter from last season, gets his share of the credit, which is understandable. But it is the exponential growth of the interior line from the first few weeks of the season to now that has led to Ohio State’s success.
They took a few games to get the cohesion and communication they needed, but the interior line of center Jacoby Boren and guards Pat Elflein and Billy Price has grown by leaps and bounds since the season opener at Navy. The team managed 194 rushing yards and 226 passing yards in that game, but it was clear that not everything was clicking.
Elflein and his linemates have come a long way.
That became even more obvious in Week 2 against Virginia Tech, in a game that saw the Buckeyes put up a season low 108 rushing yards and 219 through the air. The 327 yards against the Hokies was an opportunity to learn the necessary lessons for the Buckeyes to turn the corner.
Since that game, the total offense numbers went: 628, 710, 533, 585, 293, 545, 568, and 489. The season low at Penn State sticks out, but owes much to J.T. Barrett’s knee injury and an ultra-conservative approach to protect the young quarterback. But even that performance merely pulls the team’s average over the last eight games down to 543.9 yards per game. And Ohio State ran for 219 yards against the Nittany Lions—more than twice the total it had against Virginia Tech.
Even counting the first two games, the Buckeye offense has averaged 509.8 yards per game. The school record is 511.9, set last season with a veteran offensive line considered by many to be one of the best in Ohio State history, and a veteran quarterback with Heisman-like numbers.
Offensive Line Coach Ed Warinner said on Urban Meyer’s radio show Thursday that the offensive line “probably played their best game in East Lansing (last week)…just happy we are where we are.”
The growth of the line has been easy to see, especially in the middle, which is anchored by Boren, a junior out of Pickerington Central. Warinner calls him “the epitome” of the program.
Flanked by Elflein, a sophomore out of Pickerington North, and Price, a redshirt freshman out of Austintown Fitch, Boren has become a leader on the field for the Buckeyes. It didn’t happen overnight for the offensive line, but it was bound to occur just because they won’t see anything in a game that’s as tough as what they face in practice all week.
“Going against Joey Bosa every day in practice helps the offensive line,” said Warinner.
It must. Ohio State allowed eight sacks in the first two games of the year. Since then, Buckeye quarterbacks have been sacked only 12 times. In five of the last eight games the team has allowed one sack or fewer.
And then there’s third down efficiency. Ohio State converted only 6/24 (25%) of its third-down chances the first two weeks of the season, going 2/8 against Navy and 4/16 vs. Virginia Tech. Since then, the team’s worst performance was 7/18 (38.9%) at Penn State, which is the only time in the last eight games the Buckeyes have been sub-.500. The team was 10/14 (71.4%) at Michigan State and nearly as good in the other games. Since Virginia Tech (4/16), Ohio State is 63/106 (59.4%) on third down.
Third downs are getting shorter because of success on first and second down. And the team is better in short yardage with Barrett picking a hole behind his wall of blockers.
Credit Warinner for getting his charges to play like one cohesive unit. But we must also give credit to the guys on the line for grasping the principles Warinner is teaching and for improving in every facet of their game. This extends beyond Boren, Elflein and Price to Decker and senior right tackle Darryl Baldwin.
