With Jim Tressel in attendance, the Buckeyes honored their former head coach and used Tresselball to secure the win over Notre Dame.
There are many ways to portray Tresselball. While there isn't an exact definition of said made-up word by Ohio State fans, one of the many examples of it is running the ball so much that the defense inevitably wears down, securing a touchdown and killing a bunch of the game clock along the way. That's exactly what took place in the fourth quarter during Ohio State's win over then-No. 5 Notre Dame Saturday night.
Leading up to the top-five matchup between Ohio State and Notre Dame, both Ryan Day and Marcus Freeman made it known that winning the running game would be key to coming away with a win to open the season.
“You have to establish the run, it’s very, very important. And that’s something we’ve been working very hard on,” Day said in the Tuesday before the game. “It's a point of emphasis for every game that we play, though. We have spent a lot of time on it, but not any more time than we have in the past. I mean, that's where the games are won and lost is up front.”
His starting left tackle had the same sentiment.
“Everybody in the country knows that we can pass the ball. But I feel like a point of emphasis and what we're gonna take pride in this season is our run game,” Ohio State left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. said last Tuesday, ahead of his first game protecting C.J. Stroud's blind side. “I think we all have the ability and that's why we came here to play, but it's that mental pride of taking pride in the run game.”
That all came to fruition Saturday night, especially when it mattered most: In the fourth quarter when the Buckeyes were clinging to just a one-score lead.
Leading 14-10 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the game, Ohio State leaned on its running game to secure the win. With arguably the best passing attack in the country, it was TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams who stole the show and took advantage of the opportunity to prove they are the best one-two punch at running back in college football. Williams showed why he would be the starting running back at the majority of programs around the country. Yet he gives the Buckeyes a special weapon behind one of the best running backs in college football.
Let's take a look at the 14-play, 95-yard drive that surely made Tressel proud:
- 1st-and-10: Henderson five-yard run
- 2nd-and-5: Henderson seven-yard run
- 1st-and-10: Stroud four-yard pass to Marvin Harrison Jr.
- 2nd-and-6: Henderson three-yard run
- 3rd-and-3: Stroud 12-yard pass to Williams
- 1st-and-10: Williams four-yard run
- 2nd-and-6: Stroud 11-yard pass to Harrison
- 1st-and-15: Williams 11-yard run
- 2nd-and-4: Stroud nine-yard pass to Harrison
- 1st-and-10: Williams five-yard run
- 2nd-and-5: Williams 15-yard run
- 1st-and-10: Williams 12-yard run
- 1st-and-goal: Williams no gain
- 2nd-and-goal: Williams two-yard touchdown run
Once Williams entered the game on the fifth play of the drive, he touched the ball on eight of the next 10 plays. The tough, physical runner took advantage of the opportunity, ran some people over and used the running game to secure the win. Tresselball at its finest.
Miyan Williams, folks.
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) September 4, 2022
Running backs dont usually make catches like this. pic.twitter.com/qcxdr18ZlQ
Alright, but let's go back to Miyan Williams again. pic.twitter.com/QG0Y9i9CJR
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 4, 2022
“To be able to get the run game going in that last quarter, man, that says a lot of our team,” Day said after the game. “Was it perfect? No. But I didn’t expect it to be. First game, things like this kind of happen and we had to kind of recalibrate a little bit and make some adjustments. But we will.
“We have to find ways to win like that. Because there are going to be games certainly in the Big Ten like that. And Notre Dame’s kind of built like some of the Big Ten teams we play,” Day said. “That was something that we spent a lot of time in the offseason saying we have to be able to win ugly on offense.”
In all, Henderson totaled 15 carries for 91 yards while Williams ran for 84 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. But it was how the game-clinching drive to take a 21-10 went that reminded me – and I'm sure many Buckeye fans – that even though Day's offense is known for its air attack (and rightfully so), the running backs can be dominant, too.
After the game, Freeman made it known that he was disappointed with the way his team finished the game.
“We just didn't finish the way we wanted to. We didn't execute late in the game when we had to," Freeman said. “We have to be able to finish and execute in the fourth quarter.”
On a drive Ohio State needed to score on to avoid giving Notre Dame a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter, the Buckeyes compiled 100 yards (thanks to a false start penalty) while taking just over seven minutes off the clock and scoring a touchdown to essentially clinch the win. Day couldn't have drawn it up much better than that.
Throughout the offseason, Day and company reiterated that the Buckeyes must improve on their run game in short-yardage and goal-line situations. It was one of the many reasons they brought in new offensive line coach Justin Frye during the offseason, and it was what they did with the game on the line against the Fighting Irish. Tressel had to be proud.
