Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer was quick and to the point Monday during his weekly press conference. The third-ranked Buckeyes have no intentions to make any changes to their offensive line.
“Jamarco Jones would be the next man in, and he’s getting better and better, but at this point, no,” Meyer responded when asked if Ohio State was considering any personnel moves up front.
Meyer was not pleased with the Buckeyes’ pass protection following their 28-3 win over Illinois last weekend. Ohio State’s offensive line was pretty stellar in the running game — running back Ezekiel Elliott gained 181 yards on the ground and the Buckeyes racked up 283 rushing yards as a team — but it struggled protecting quarterback J.T. Barrett in the passing game. The Illini were able to consistently generate pressure on Barrett when he dropped back to pass and were quite disruptive.
In particular, right tackle Chase Farris struggled in pass protection at times against Illinois. The potential thought was Jones may replace Farris at that spot, but Meyer said, for now, the plan is to stick with the fifth-year senior as he chalked things up to a poor game.
“Last Saturday was not great,” Meyer said when asked to evaluate Farris’ performance. “I think there are games he’s played outstanding and he’s graded a champion a few times. … For the most part, he’s done fine, but he’s got a big week ahead of him because the guys he’s going to be facing are really, really good.”
On deck for Ohio State is 13th-ranked Michigan State and the Buckeyes’ offensive line knows it must improve as it faces what left tackle Taylor Decker describes as the best defensive front Ohio State has seen so far this season.
“Top to bottom, I know I said when we were playing Penn State that was going to be the best D-line we were going to play so far this year, but I think Michigan State — not taking anything away from Penn State — but they’re a step above them,” Decker said. “I think the strength of their defense is their front seven.”
Meyer didn’t pin the pass protection issues from Saturday solely on the offensive line, saying Ohio State’s tight ends “weren’t great” either. But with the Spartans coming to town this weekend, Meyer said his team may be focusing a bit more on its pass protection than it has previously.
“It’s almost like I challenge [offensive line coach Ed] Warinner and our staff,” Meyer said. “Do we spend the same amount of time, focus and energy? Because you watch them come off and run block and it’s maybe the best there is. We’re not there in our pass pro, so we’re going to work at it really hard.”
Michigan State ranks fourth in the Big Ten with 29 sacks on the season. Defensive end Shilique Calhoun leads the way with 8.5 sacks on the year, linebacker Riley Bullough has four and defensive tackle Malik McDowell has 3.5.
Ohio State knows it will be tested, specifically in its pass protection, like it hasn’t been yet this season.
“It’s going to be a rugged Big Ten matchup in The Shoe,” offensive guard Pat Elflein said. “It’s going to be fun. I’m excited for it, it was fun last year and I’m excited for the challenge. I’m excited for our team to have this challenge.”
