Ohio State's rushing attack is still a work in progress, and rightfully so after losing a 2,000-yard single-season rusher in J.K. Dobbins.
Master Teague and Trey Sermon, thus far, have split carries in an effort to give the Buckeyes a legit running game, if not one as dynamic as last year thanks to Dobbins' electric play.
To Ryan Day however, the bottom line is winning and with the Buckeyes sitting at 3-0 ahead of what was supposed to be a matchup with Maryland before COVID-19 caused its cancellation, the head coach was quick to defend his running game after a question about whether or not Ohio State could use more run/pass balance and if the running game needed to pick up the slack.
"To run for 200 yards, I don't know how much more we need to rush for than that. 200 yards rushing is a pretty good day."– Ryan Day on Ohio State's ground game
Day makes a fair point in that Ohio State has indeed rushed for at least 200 yards in all three games so far.
| YEAR | YPC | NATL RANK |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 4.82 | 38 |
| 2019 | 5.63 | 6 |
| 2018 | 4.21 | 76 |
| 2017 | 5.78 | 8 |
| 2016 | 5.47 | 17 |
| 2015 | 5.62 | 9 |
| 2014 | 5.75 | 11 |
| 2013 | 6.80 | 1 |
| 2012 | 5.20 | 20 |
That said, the totals of 215 yards versus Nebraska, 208 against Penn State and 203 last weekend against Rutgers aren't exactly road-grading outcomes. Last year's offense ran for 368 against the Cornhuskers, 229 on Penn State and 217 versus Rutgers.
Personally, I'm more interested in yards per carry than total yards per game if we're looking for a singular metric to define a rushing attack.
Through three games, Ohio State is averaging just 4.82 yards per carry with Teague at 4.49 and Sermon at 4.78. Over the first three games last year (Florida Atlantic, Cincinnati, Indiana), Day's running game averaged 5.98 yards a pop.
For another comparison point, the 4.82 yards per carry so far this year, should it hold steady, would mark just the second time in the last nine seasons that an Ohio State offense failed to average at least 5.20 yards per attempt.
"I think he's getting better with each opportunity. It's been a while since he played. We plan on having him for practice this week, but we'll just see as the week goes on."– Ryan Day on Trey's Sermon's impact on the rushing attack
Trey Sermon had a season-high 68 yards rushing against Rutgers on the strength of a season-high three runs of 10 or more yards. Through three games, Sermon has six such explosive carries compared to four for Teague. Ten total from the two leading ball carriers obviously works out to 3.33 per game.
For what it's worth, Dobbins had 51 carries of at least 10 yards across 14 games last year which ranked No. 3 in the country, good for 3.64 such runs per contest.
Sermon's current 4.78 yards per carry edges out Teague's 4.49 but it's still a long way off from the 6.12 he averaged over three seasons (37 games) at Oklahoma. Is that disparity largely influenced by the fact Big 12 defenses are trash or should we expect Sermon could get on a roll at some point? I'm struggling to see 6.1 yards per carry in his Ohio State future.
The hope is he'll have a chance to build on his performance against Rutgers although an injury on his final carry had his status up in the air for Maryland before the game was canceled.
As for the running game's body of work to-date, if you're a bit concerned right now, I don't blame you. However, I do think it's critical to remember Justin Fields has only had six carries in each of the last two games. When the worthiness of the opponent warrants it, the quarterback should offer a running threat that will benefit Teague, Sermon and Ohio State's ground game in a big way.
For now though, it would still be nice to see Teague and Sermon both get their per carry marks into the 5.0-5.5 range.
