Put bluntly, Ohio State's offense put forth one of the best efforts in school history in its season-opening win over Oregon State. The numbers don't lie.
In a 77-31 victory, the Buckeyes racked up 721 yards — the second-most in school history — and allowed zero quarterback sacks, were forced to punt just once and scored 10 offensive touchdowns.
Oh, and sophomore quarterback Dwayne Haskins set school records for passing yards and touchdowns for a signal caller in his first career start — 313 and five.
Not a bad day at the office.
Haskins, running backs J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber and many of Ohio State's wide receivers have received press this week about their dominant performances.
But the offensive line? Not so much.
It's a group that has multiple players at new positions, a duo of new starters and as much success as any unit in the country could ask for to start the year.
They believe they deserve credit, too.
"In my opinion, I think we played great," left tackle Thayer Munford said. "To be honest with you, we're just some dogs. Like, the whole offensive line. We will beat the living crap out of everybody. It doesn't matter who you are."
It was Munford's first career start after he won the starting job in summer camp. Usually, when a player wins a starting job, their parents are notified with a phone call.
Not Munford's mother.
"She didn't know," Munford said. "She didn't know I was about to start. I told Coach not to call my mom, I wanted to surprise her. When we ran out into the tunnel, I actually looked up into the stands and saw her bawl her eyes out. I thought, 'I can't cry right now.' I'm an emotional person. I was like, 'Wow, I'm doing this for her and nobody else.'"
Also making his first career start was fifth-year senior Malcolm Pridgeon at left guard. Junior Michael Jordan, Pridgeon's roommate who was named a first-team All-Big Ten left guard last season, made his first career start at center.
"I think he’s grown more mature mentally in the football game," Jordan said of Pridgeon. "He’s always been physical, he’s always been dominant, that’s never been the problem. But I think he’s grown in that area of the game.”
As for assessing his own play, Jordan gave himself a favorable rating but also acknowledged he has big shoes to fill, following in the footsteps of back-to-back Rimington Award winners in Pat Eflein and Billy Price.
"It motivates me every day to make sure my snaps are good, and make sure that I’m doing my assignments, and make sure I’m organizing the O-line," Jordan said. "It was kind of like a (step-by-step) process."
Alongside Munford, Pridgeon and Jordan, seniors Demetrius Knox and Isaiah Prince fill the right guard and tackle spots, respectively.
Together, they steamrolled Oregon State's defensive line ... and then switched into reverse and repeated the process.
"If you're playing offensive line at Ohio State, your job is to know all five positions," Jordan said. "The goal is to get faster each year. So we're playing a lot faster. It's really about discipline and it's how you practice. We practice tempo a lot. So, even though we went fast last year, in practice we didn't have periods of tempo where we specifically focused on it."
To the naked eye, Ohio State's offensive line — the starters in the group and their backups — looked close to flawless. But there are always things to work on when you take a closer look.
"Finishing. That's the key part. Just finishing blocks, finishing every play and don't let up," Munford said. "The first-game jitters is always ... everybody was just so hyped up."
One factor that has allowed Ohio State's offensive line to start on a high note is competing against its own defensive line in practice: a group that features the likes of Nick Bosa, Chase Young, Robert Landers, Dre'Mont Jones, etc.
"It's really challenging going against our D-line," Jordan said. Our D-line's really good."
This week, they've faced those teammates during practice in over 90-degree temperatures. But that heat is something they're fighting through, and a factor that isn't deterring their attention away from the task at hand.
"It was tough," Munford said of the heat. "But we fought it out. We know (how hot it is) but we have to let that go and focus on plays and focus on beating Rutgers."
