When Pat Elflein and the Ohio State offense regroups the day following a game for one of the most strenuous portions of practice, he and his cohorts on the offensive line can help but groan.
Begrudgingly, they pick up their feet, breathe heavy and move quickly during the 2-minute drill, an important part to what Urban Meyer's No. 2 Buckeyes do.
“We were all talking about it (this past Sunday), as offensive linemen, 2-minute sucks. It's hard,” Elflein said on Monday. “Especially in practice because practice is always faster than the game goes. It's like conditioning, it's hard.”
Conditioning is hardly fun regardless the sport, particularly the day after a game. Such is why Meyer puts his offense through the ringer and runs it hard during the drill on Sundays. Usually, an uptick in tempo on offense allows for more mental mistakes to creep in. Guys are tired, pressure mounts and the clock becomes a factor while timeouts might not be available.
Teams want to score and not allow their opponent much time to work with on the other side of the kickoff. Ohio State is doing that just before halftime at an alarming rate so far in 2016.
| 2015 | Opponent | 2-Minute Outcome | Score on 1st Drive of 2H? | 2016 | Opponent | 2-Minute Outcome | Score on 1st Drive of 2H? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/7 | Virginia Tech | Ezekiel Elliott fumbled punt 1:30 left | Yes-TD | 9/3 | Bowling Green | Barrett TD run :26 left | Yes-TD |
| 9/12 | Hawa'i | No points in two drives | No | 9/10 | Tulsa | Lattimore pick-six :33 left | Yes-TD |
| 9/19 | Northern Illinois | No points | Yes-FG | 9/17 | Oklahoma | Brown TD catch :06 left | Yes-TD |
| 9/26 | Western Michigan | 11-play, 59-yard drive yields no points | Yes-TD | 10/1 | Rutgers | Samuel TD catch :05 left | Yes-TD |
| 10/3 | Indiana | 9-play, 54-yard drive finishes with FG miss | No | 10/8 | Indiana | ||
| 10/10 | Maryland | 5-play, 27-yard drive yields no points | No | 10/15 | Wisconsin | ||
| 10/17 | Penn State | No points | No | 10/22 | Penn State | ||
| 10/24 | Rutgers | No points | Yes-Touchdown | 10/29 | Northwestern | ||
| 11/7 | Minnesota | Elliott TD run with :54 left | No | 11/5 | Nebraska | ||
| 11/14 | Illinois | Barrett TD run with :50 left | No | 11/12 | Maryland | ||
| 11/21 | Michigan State | 3-and-out with 1:05 left | No | 11/19 | Michigan State | ||
| 11/28 | Michigan | No points | Yes | 11/26 | Michigan | ||
| 1/1 | Notre Dame | Elliott TD run with 1:48 left, ND scores before half | No |
In victories against Bowling Green, Oklahoma and last weekend over Rutgers, Elflein and J.T. Barrett led Ohio State to a touchdown during the first half's final minute. The Buckeyes did that just twice in 13 games last season—against Minnesota and Illinois.
“I think J.T. just (is) managing the ball very well. We are keeping our guys fresh,” Meyer said on Monday. “You know, I think Coach (Zach) Smith has a nice little rotation of receivers. When you're playing guys 25, 30 plays, not 65 and just the wear and tear usually that happens at the end of a half and the end of a game just because you're—just the logistics of the game, the timing of the game.”
Twelve receivers caught a pass on Saturday in Ohio State's 58-0 blowout of Rutgers, more a product of an inferior opponent than anything. But Smith continues to run receivers in and out of the lineup on a rotation. For example, Noah Brown, James Clark and Dontre Wilson came in on the offense's sixth play against the Scarlet Knights, replacing Curtis Samuel, Terry McLaurin and Parris Campbell, who started. The offensive staff feels confident in the bodies they have in that unit, so much they even pulled Binjimen Victor's redshirt against the Scarlet Knights.
Seven wide receivers have at least five catches through four games this season. Not all come during the two-minute drill, obviously, but each wideout is working well enough with Barrett in charge to give the Buckeyes options and an advantage in those situations.
“I think you're seeing fresher legs,” Meyer said. “We look very fast at the end of first half now as opposed to if the guy has played 35 plays and he is kind of blown out right before halftime.”
Three of Ohio State's first four opponents this season—Bowling Green, Tulsa and Rutgers—won't make any noise nationally like the Buckeyes but Ohio State's efficiency before halftime is tangible. In 2015, the Buckeyes had the ball in a position to score before the break in games against Hawa'i, Western Michigan, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan State and Notre Dame.
The offense scored with under a minute to play against the Golden Gophers and Fighting Illini. Ezekiel Elliott also plunged into the end zone with 1:48 left in the first half against Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl but Ohio State missed field goals before the horn against Indiana and Maryland. Nothing worked offensively against Michigan State last year, and the Buckeyes quickly went three-and-out before halftime after starting on their own 35 with 1:05 remaining.
Against Hawai'i, Barrett failed to lead Ohio State to any points after taking over at the Warriors' 44-yard line with 15 seconds left before halftime. Cardale Jones couldn't do it against Western Michigan two weeks later, ending an 11-play, 59-yard drive with a sack and intentional grounding penalty.
So what changed? For one, Ed Warinner is up in the press box to assist Tim Beck with calling the plays quicker so Ohio State can play at the tempo it wants. The Buckeyes are third in the nation in scoring offense at 57.0 points per game and fourth in total offense with 576.3 yards per game.
“You can see where there's surges, where there's speed issues, where the ball is being placed,” Warinner said on Saturday about being up top. “Where things are going on. It's easier to process all the things like where's the ball, the hash, then you have the ability to have some notes in front of you. It's easier to draw things up up there and look at 'OK let's make this adjustment.' Sometimes you have to do that on the sideline and it's really hard.”
Meyer called how he and Beck called plays and managed the clock before the half on Saturday "flawless," as Barrett drove the offense 51 yards in nine plays and 1:18. He capped the drive with a touchdown pass to Samuel, the last of his four on the day.
“I thought Tim Beck and Ed Warinner did a nice job on communication, as far as the clock, as far as the timeout, management of the timeouts,” Meyer said then. “And it's one thing to practice it on Sunday practice, but to do it in the live fire that was very impressive.”
Warinner's move upstairs paid dividends against Michigan and Notre Dame to end the 2015 season, a move that carried over to this year. Is that the only thing that needed to change for the Buckeyes to be successful in the 2-minute drill (or on offense overall)? It definitely helped, but Barrett credits player performance too.
“I think just everybody going out there and knowing this is our opportunity to score and trying to do that whereas last year we didn't execute,” Barrett said. “This year we are.”
It is obvious the offense is running smoother than ever did in 2015, especially with a nod to the disjointed and frustrating drives the group put together as it worked through a quarterback quandary, a new play caller, inserting Braxton Miller and trying to figure out how to properly use a boatload of other weapons. The 2016 group has a surplus of weapons too but Barrett is more comfortable, Warinner and Beck are better alongside one another and the 2-minute drill worked beautifully the first four games.
“I think the plays we have are great plays for whatever coverage it is, kind of progression-type plays instead of reads,” Barrett said. “With that, I think it makes it easier because you're really not looking for defenders, you're just looking at routes and if they're open or not. That was the same thing as last year, but I think this year having that part of our identity that we want to score in the 2-minute drill because it's a great opportunity for us to really execute what we practice on Sunday.”
Ohio State's offense scored a touchdown both before halftime and on the first drive of the second half against Rutgers. It did the same thing in the season opener against Bowling Green as well as at Oklahoma, the only game it has really mattered thus far.
The Buckeyes led the Sooners 28-17 when Barrett took over with 75 yards in front of him and 4:12 on the clock. When Baker Mayfield finally touched the ball at the 10:32 mark of the third quarter—aside from taking a knee with 5 seconds on the clock before half—Ohio State led 42-17. Game over.
“Having the opportunity to go back-to-back touchdowns without the other offense having the ball is something that's definitely big,” Barrett said.
For good measure, Marshon Lattimore's pick-six with 33 seconds left in the first half against Tulsa put Ohio State in a position to record back-to-back scores without the Golden Hurricane's offense having a chance to stop the bleeding. Barrett delivered again on the first drive of the second half with an 11-yard touchdown run to make it 27-3.
Again, game over. Looks like the terrible 2-minute drill workouts the day after games are paying off.
“In a game, we're like, 'Man, thank God we do that all the time because it was pretty easy,'” Elflein said. “All the situations are exactly like we do in practice, which is pretty cool. From spiking the ball, to all the protections, to what they're going to do, we do it every week in practice. And we executed it well.”
