Ohio State’s coaching staff used everything it could during time afforded by the off week to recommit to the ground game after weeks of its decline.
The Buckeyes managed fewer than 100 rushing yards against Minnesota and Purdue in back-to-back weeks, which equaled the amount of sub-100 rushing yard games in the rest of Urban Meyer’s tenure as Ohio State’s head coach. Neither Mike Weber and J.K. Dobbins had rushed for 100-plus yards in a game since Dobbins picked up 121 yards in the third week of the season against TCU.
A greater emphasis on running on Saturday wasn’t surprising to anyone, including Nebraska head coach Scott Frost who said on Tuesday that he thought the Buckeyes would be “a little more committed to the run coming off two weeks and extra time to work.”
It needed to be fixed, and everyone knew.
“We all wanted to silence the criticism of not being able to run the ball,” Isaiah Prince said. “I think we all took that personally.”
After hearing criticism for weeks, Isaiah Prince said he and the running backs gathered together in the locker room prior to his team’s 36-31 win against the Cornhuskers with a simple message: “You run as hard as we can, we'll block as hard as we can and you've got to get something positive out of that.”
Forty rushes later, Ohio State had accrued 229 yards on the ground for an average of 5.7 yards per game. Both are the team’s best totals since the opening week of the season.
“We worked ad nauseam at that. The amount of time that we spent at that was over the top, and I felt the line of scrimmage change,” Meyer said. “And it's difficult to run against that bear defense that Nebraska runs. And I thought the backs worked on pad level.”
Dobbins broke the 100-yard mark for the second time this season, carrying the ball 23 times for 163 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. Weber picked up 91 yards on nine rushes, rattling off runs for 27 and 37 yards in the third quarter.
“We got back to old Buckeye football. Just run at them and show that we're strong.”
Neither Weber nor Prince could remember a single run-pass option being called. Though both said the coaches call the offense, so it’s up to them to pick the best plays, it wasn’t hard to see their excitement when they spoke about being able to simply run the ball up the gut without knowing whether it would actually be a rush or if Haskins would pull the ball to throw.
Prince said that allowed the offensive line to burst off the ball with less uncertainty. Weber said he hoped Saturday’s pound-it-up-the-middle run game would be the one Ohio State uses in the future.
“We came in this week trying to run the ball and we don't care how many guys are in the box,” Weber said. “That was the motto this week.”
So, problem solved, right? As Lee Corso would say, not so fast.
In recent weeks, the Dwayne Haskins-led passing attack hasn’t looked nearly as potent as it did early in the season when the first-year starting quarterback found himself alongside Tua Tagovailoa in the race for the Heisman Trophy. He needed an Ohio State-record 73 pass attempts to throw for a program record 470 yards in the loss to Purdue. On Saturday, he completed a season-low 18 of his 32 passes for 252 yards, the second-fewest this season.
Both Haskins and Meyer said the passing attack was not very “sharp.”
“This week, we had a few drive-killers, a few fumbles, a few drops, and I had a couple bad passes,” Haskins said. “But we're looking forward to the next week and we got a win, so that's all that matters.”
Haskins missed a couple open receivers. Haskins lost a fumble after being sacked, and K.J. Hill also lost a fumble after a 30-yard completion. Hill, and a couple other players, also dropped passes or didn’t get their heads around quick enough to catch passes.
The offense through the air had its moments, like when Johnnie Dixon caught a wide-open 42-yard touchdown, but even one of Haskins’ two touchdown tosses came on a tough pass to Parris Campbell that even the coaches define as runs.
So, while the running game took a major step forward, the aerial attack went backward. Still, after Ohio State struggled to find any semblance of consistency on the ground, it’s a better place to be than before, considering there was a question of whether the rushing offense even had the ability to succeed. There’s no wonder any more.
Now, the Buckeyes have to put it all together, something that has been more challenging than someone would imagine, given the talent at quarterback and running back.
It’s been awhile since the offense has put together a complete game. Prior to Saturday’s game, Ohio State had averaged more than 4.3 yards per carry in just two games – against Oregon State and Rutgers, the first two weeks of the year. Both teams have porous defenses.
But after having the run game produce at a high level and having seen the passing attack flourish early in the year, there's a feeling of optimism on the offense that all the pieces will finally be put together.
“If we do it, then watch out – any defense,” Weber said.
