Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with the media yesterday and opined on numerous topics after the Buckeyes beat Indiana, 23-3, in Bloomington in a victory that wasn't without its warts.
One of those was a rushing attack that managed only 4.6 yards a pop against an Indiana defense that ranked No. 69 in yards per carry allowed a season ago, before bringing in a gaggle of transfers including nine across the defensive line alone.
Speaking on his offensive line on Tuesday, Day wasn't pleased the group's effort.
I felt like they needed to play better. In the run game I think we were only 50% efficient overall on first and second down running the ball. That's not good enough. – Ryan Day on his offensive line and running game overall versus Indiana
Interestingly, it felt like veteran guards Donovan Jackson and Matt Jones, expected to be the linchpins of the front five, turned in the most disappointing efforts - Jackson in particular.
PFF certainly didn't disagree, giving Jackson a 53.4 grade while Jones recorded a 62.5. New left tackle Josh Simmons didn't light it up either via their methodology as he tallied a 60.6. Meanwhile, right tackle Josh Fryar - the only offensive lineman to grade a champion by Day and company - measured a 69.6. New center Carson Hinzman led the group with a 76.6 PFF rating.
While Day's comments to the specific question were centered on the offensive line and the run game's success on first and second down, his stable of running backs certainly turned in a mixed bag as well.
On first down, Ohio State ball carriers ran it 14 times for 67 yards, good for just 4.8 per carry versus the Hoosiers. Of those 14 runs, only five went for at least five yards and one of those came via wide receiver Emeka Egbuka's 9-yard gain.
Three of the first down runs of 5+ yards came via Chip Trayanum as he churned out carries of 17 yards, 14 and nine yards. The other first down run of at least five yards came on a 7-yard Miyan Williams touchdown immediately after Trayanum's 17-yarder.
TreVeyon Henderson didn't find much running room all game and that was certainly true on first down as he carried it five times for a mere four yards. Williams carried it four times for 14 yards and Trayanum led the squad with four first down carries for 41 yards.
On second down, the Buckeyes fared a little better with 11 carries going for 67 yards, or 6.1 per attempt. Trayanum again led the way with 20 yards on three carries. Henderson was better on second down with 28 yards on five carries and Williams attempted two runs for 11 yards. Seven of the team's 11 second down carries went for at least five yards - two each for Chip, TreVeyon and Miyan, and one for Kyle McCord (8 yards).
On first and second down combined, the run game carried it 25 times for 134 yards, good for 5.4 per try. Not world-beating numbers, particularly against Indiana. Henderson's production was particularly disappointing as he carried it 10 times for 32 yards across first and second downs. Williams turned in a 6-for-25 performance.
That said, Trayanum was a bright spot with seven carries across those two downs for 61 yards with five of those attempts going for at least five yards.
While it'll be hard to draw many conclusions this Saturday considering the opponent, you can bet Day, offensive line coach Justin Frye and running backs coach Tony Alford will be scheming and developing their guys to provide significantly better outcomes in the run game.
