Ohio State’s Offense Fails to Play to Its Strengths in Michigan Loss

It appeared as though Ohio State had finally found an offensive game plan that worked on its final drive of the first half against Michigan.

While Ohio State has consistently huddled in between plays all season, the Buckeyes went to a no-huddle offense out of necessity after getting the ball back with just 2:15 to play before halftime. Needing to move the ball down the field quickly, Ohio State threw the ball on nine out of 10 plays, with Will Howard completing six of those passes for 58 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Smith, while also drawing a 15-yard pass interference penalty on another throw to Smith.

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That touchdown drive tied the game at 10 and gave Ohio State momentum going into the second half of The Game. But that momentum quickly fizzled as the Buckeyes were never able to duplicate the success of that drive.

Ohio State went back to playing slowly on offense in the second half, and the Buckeyes passed the ball only three more times than they ran it in the final two quarters. Despite the fact that Ohio State was supposed to have a distinct advantage over Michigan in the passing game, the Buckeyes threw the ball for only 56 yards in the second half, failing to score another point as they suffered a 13-10 loss for their fourth straight defeat in The Game.

Ohio State’s 10 points were tied for the second-fewest any opponent has had against Michigan this season while its 252 yards of offense were the fourth-fewest any opponent has gained against the Wolverines in 12 games.

Ryan Day had said in the week leading up to The Game that “the team who runs the ball and the team who stops the run is going to win the game,” and that proved true – for the 23rd time in 24 editions of The Game since 2000 – as Michigan ran for more than twice as many yards (172) as Ohio State (77). But on a day when the Buckeyes’ run game clearly wasn’t working behind an offensive line that has lost two of its best players to season-ending injuries, Day’s postgame comments suggested he and Chip Kelly were overly focused on trying to get the run game going rather than playing to Ohio State’s offensive strengths.

“You can't just abandon the run,” Day said. “You have to be able to control the ball, because as we know, when you throw the ball, and it was windy today and we didn't have a ton of time back there in terms of protection. So we try to be smart about that. We had a good plan on the pass game going in, but ultimately it wasn't good enough to execute it.”

While Ohio State ultimately threw the ball seven more times (33) than it ran it (26), the Buckeyes never took any deep shots; per Pro Football Focus, Howard did not attempt a single pass more than 20 yards through the air. And the Buckeyes didn’t do enough to get their biggest offensive star involved as Smith was targeted only twice in the second half, both on back-to-back plays on Ohio State’s opening drive of the third quarter.

Day said the Buckeyes felt they couldn’t force throwing the ball deep with how Michigan was defending them.

“When a defense is playing softer and kind of backing up like they did in this game, you have to be able to take the underneath stuff or run the football. And that's really what happened,” Day said. “And there were times we tried to push the ball into the end zone, but ultimately, you can't just force that. You've got to be smart in what you're doing because they could put a cloud over him like they did, put two guys on him. So there's opportunities to do that. We did that. But also, you've got to execute in other areas. And that's what we always talk about and balance. When you don't have balance and you can't run and throw the ball when you need to, this is what happens.”

Offensive play calling was far from the only reason Ohio State lost to Michigan. Howard had his least efficient game of the season throwing the ball overall, completing just 19 of 33 passing attempts for 175 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions – the first of which set up Michigan’s only touchdown of the game as it gave the Wolverines the ball at Ohio State’s 2-yard line. Jayden Fielding left six points on the board with a pair of missed field goals on a day when special teams ceased to be the winning phase it had been Ohio State in recent weeks.

But Day’s reputation for coaching more conservatively against Michigan than other teams is one that preceded him coming into this year’s game, and the Buckeyes’ horrendous offensive performance on Saturday did nothing to change that.