The Ohio State Buckeyes lit up the Oklahoma Sooners last year on the road, but this year, they got stomped at home. The performance was surprising in light of 2016, but also a shock given that Ohio State was shut out in the College Football Playoff semifinals by Clemson and had a lot of reason to prove that it had improved in the offseason, stung by the memory of what happened on New Year’s Eve at the hands of the reigning national champions of college football. Just what is wrong with the Ohio State offense? Here are four main reasons:
J.T. Barrett Can’t Throw The Long Pass With Any Consistency
The total of 183 passing yards for Barrett against Oklahoma meant that he has thrown for under 200 yards passing in four of his last five games. Ohio State’s passing game was impotent against Michigan and Clemson late last season, so it was hoped that a resurgence would take place this year. The ability to eventually score with regularity in the second half of the opener against Indiana was encouraging, but Oklahoma was always going to be the true test, and Barrett plainly failed. He was able to complete the short passes with regularity, but when he tried to push the ball down the field on passes of over 20 yards, he wasn’t accurate. He could not fit the ball into tight windows. It is true that Barrett did not get a lot of help from teammates, but a quarterback in his fourth season should be able to make several high-level plays. Barrett did not make those plays, and fans are right to be disappointed.
The Tempo Isn’t There
The Buckeyes have fast and well-conditioned players who are more than capable of running a no-huddle or hurry-up offense (or both in combination), and yet the Buckeyes never really moved at a fast pace on Saturday against Oklahoma. A hurry-up offense can get players to think less and naturally react more. When players struggle, getting them to think less is a great way to improve performance. Simplicity of plays is secondary to increased pace. Players can thrive within that framework. However, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson was unable to get Barrett and the offense to play with that consistency. Tempo was a key failure of Ohio State versus Oklahoma.
Very Few Explosive Plays
The Buckeyes managed to come up with only one play longer than 17 yards. Head coach Urban Meyer recruits speed and depends on his offensive players to outrun defenders and break huge plays. Ohio State has fast receivers, but those receivers aren’t good route runners. Ohio State lacks a tight end who can occupy a different part of the field and draw attention away from the wide receivers on the perimeter. Ohio State might have a lot of athletes, but does it have players with a high football IQ? This might be a big reason why the Buckeyes couldn’t break big plays against Oklahoma.
Little Use Of Misdirection
The Buckeyes used a lot of straight dropback passes, directional handoffs, and other plays designed to represent a straight-ahead, direct attack on a defense. When the offensive line does well, those plays are all an offense needs. However, the Ohio State offensive line did not dominate, which meant Ohio State needed more ball fakes, throwback screens, reverses, end-arounds, and other plays which used misdirection to get Oklahoma out of position. Those kinds of plays weren’t often used, as coordinator Kevin Wilson called a poor game and didn’t put his players in position to succeed.
Can’t Handle A Stacked Box
Let’s face it: when the Buckeyes face anyone elite, they consistently face a stacked box. The Buckeyes biggest threat on offense is the ground game and opponents know that. Even though Barrett doesn’t ran as much these days, he’s still a bigger threat as a runner than passer in most cases. So what opponents do is stack the box and force them to throw. They don’t have receivers who often win one-on-one battles and they don’t have an accurate quarterback. They need to find some solutions or they can forget about the CFP.
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