Ed Warinner knew exactly when he and Ohio State's offense were going to be able to do pretty much whatever they wanted against Michigan.
"Right when we drove down and scored the first time we felt like, you could see and feel it and we got some rhythm going," Ohio State's offensive line coach and offensive coordinator said after the Buckeyes trounced Michigan, 42-13, Saturday in Ann Arbor.
Warinner's referring to Ohio State's second drive of the game against the Wolverines, when the Buckeye offense capitalized on a roughing the punter penalty to drive 94 yards in seven plays to take a 7-0 lead on quarterback J.T. Barrett's 7-yard touchdown run.
"We did a lot of tempo, all the tight zone and gap scheme plays," left tackle Taylor Decker said, referring to the offense's 482-yard day against Michigan. "It just wears the defense out. Our game plan wasn't very complicated, but it was high execution."
One big change Saturday from the first 11 games was where Warinner was during the game. For the first time since he's been at Ohio State, he coached in the press box.
"That’s where I’ve called all of the games I’ve been an offensive coordinator until this season," Warinner said. "We had some discussions about that earlier in the week and then he reached a final decision on that and we thought that was the best thing moving forward."
Warinner was offensive coordinator at Kansas and Army earlier in his career, but Urban Meyer elected to keep him on the field this season despite his promotion to the same position.
"I went through that thought process," Meyer said this spring. "His value, to pull him away from that group, I don't know if you've noticed but the whole offense has gone to him before they take the field for the last three years. I can't change that right now."
“We talked about it all the time. Just, how to manage five guys and manage an offense from the press box is somewhat hard. We made a decision and realized that we’re going to do something a little different with this one and we did.”– Ed Warinner on his press box move
He did Saturday, however, and it paid off immensely. The Buckeye offense looked the best it had all season against Michigan's second-ranked defense. Its 369 rushing yards were a season high, as Ezekiel Elliott ran for 214 and two touchdowns while Barrett tallied 139 yards and three scores of his own.
"Our plan was 'What do we have to do to win this game and who can help us do that?'" Warinner said. "We thought, once we got some rhythm going in the run game and Zeke has that look in his eye, ready to go. When those two things happen, when the O-line is doing that and Zeke is doing that, good things happen."
Good things happened all afternoon for Ohio State's offense against Michigan, with a big reason being Warinner's voice in the press box alongside quarterbacks coach Tim Beck. He was, however, missed on the sidelines as offensive line coach.
Because of that, Warinner's location during games moving forward remains up in the air.
"About Tuesday I said, 'we're going to do this.' It was difficult, but you can only do that with a veteran offensive line," Meyer said. "You do that with a young offensive line, it's a mess. Because you can't make adjustments and all that. But he did a wonderful job."
Added Warinner: "We talked about (him moving up) all the time. Just, how to manage five guys and manage an offense from the press box is somewhat hard. We made a decision and realized that we’re going to do something a little different with this one and we did."
Ohio State returned four of five starters from the 2014 national title season, and new starter Chase Farris is a fifth-year senior. That's a truckload of experience.
Next season, however, that won't be the case. Decker, Farris and center Jacoby Boren are set to graduate. Pat Elflein could turn pro as a redshirt junior and Billy Price himself is NFL Draft eligible as a redshirt sophomore.
Warinner could even move on and take a head coaching job himself. But, where he coaches during Ohio State's bowl game is unknown.
That's the case despite the offense scored touchdowns on four straight second half possessions at Michigan.
"We’ll talk more about that," Warinner said. "We’re just enjoying the victory right now."
