When it comes to identifying explosive playmakers, few would argue who qualifies as Ohio State’s No. 1 option.
Curtis Samuel is the Buckeyes’ most dynamic player.
But there has been plenty of discussion the last few weeks about Samuel’s involvement in the Ohio State offense. That’s because sometimes it has been, well, a lack of involvement.
“Early in the game, I understood we played a bunch of plays before he got it. That shouldn’t happen,” Meyer said Monday. “But they were also forcing us to get out of some plays with some of the things they were doing.”
Meyer, of course, was referencing Samuel’s lack of touches in Saturday’s 24-21 loss to Penn State. The junior running back/wide receiver got his hands on the football just 10 times — eight catches, two carries — and his first touch did not come until early in the second quarter.
For a player that ranks 11th in the country in yards from scrimmage at 142.6 per game, that’s simply not enough.
But it’s part of one of the biggest dilemmas for Meyer, co offensive-coordinators Ed Warinner and Tim Beck and the rest of Ohio State’s offensive coaching staff: What’s the proper number of touches for each of the Buckeyes’ three-headed monster in the backfield.
Samuel needs his touches; running back Mike Weber needs his, too. Quarterback J.T. Barrett is also quite valuable to Ohio State in the run game. There’s only one football, but the Buckeyes need to figure out how to distribute it to everyone.
One week ago, in a 30-23 overtime victory against Wisconsin, Barrett carried the ball 21 times while Samuel had 12 and Weber had 11. It's a good number for Samuel, but Weber probably deserved a few more chances to tote the football.
Against the Nittany Lions, though, Samuel had just two carries. One went for a 3-yard loss; the other was a 74-yard touchdown. Weber had 21 carries for 71 yards — a 3.4-yards per carry average. Barrett carried the ball 17 times for 26 yards — good for 1.5 yards per pop.
If Ohio State is searching for ways to get Samuel involved, handing it off seems like an easy solution. Eight receptions is probably a good number for the Brooklyn native — and maybe even a little high — but two carries isn’t enough.
Meyer says simply handing the ball to Samuel isn’t always as easy as it may seem, though.
“Not to get too complicated,” Meyer said, “but there’s certain pressures or something that some of those plays aren’t good so you check out of it.”
Either way, there needs to be some consistency for Ohio State to operate its offense at maximum capacity. Maybe the Buckeyes find ways to take a few carries from Weber and Barrett and give those to Samuel. Each is plenty effective in their own right, but Samuel is a home run threat every time he touches the ball and he should probably get a few more chances to showcase that ability.
Meyer said last year one of the Buckeyes' biggest offensive problems was the distribution of the playcalling. There were certain players — Barrett, Ezekiel Elliott, Braxton Miller, Michael Thomas, etc. — who needed to touch the ball a specific number of times and Meyer said it sort of disrupted Ohio State's offense at times.
That's not so much the case anymore, but there is one exception.
“I’m kind of moving away from that because that disrupts the flow of a little bit,” Meyer said. I do that. That’s one of my responsibilities. … It just disrupts the flow of the game somtimes.”
“But Curtis is the one guy that I’m trying to make sure touches the ball.”
