There aren’t many teams that can match the caliber of Ohio State’s offense this season, what with Heisman hopeful Julian Sayin at quarterback and the country’s two best receivers in Jeremiah Smith and Carnell
Tate on the same roster.
But even with its arsenal of talent, the Buckeye offense still has issues to work out, and it’s never been more evident than it was in West Lafayette this past Saturday.
On paper, the outing was solid for Ohio State: Sayin finished 27 of 33, with 303 total yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Tate was out with an injury — merely a precautionary decision, according to Ryan Day—but Smith had things handled just fine on his own, finishing with 137 yards and a touchdown on a season-high 10 catches. On the ground, it was one of OSU’s better outings as well. The Buckeyes went three-for-five in the red zone and won the game handily, 34-10.
Don’t let the stats fool you. No matter how great this offense looks this year, Purdue, who currently rank 102nd in total defense at the time of publication, managed to shed light on some remaining weak spots, particularly with the offensive line.
As the Michigan game starts to loom on the horizon, Ohio State needs to figure out offensive line problems fast — before they face the Wolverines’ top-20 defense (ninth in total defense at home). Otherwise, the offensive line very well might become the Achilles heel that brings this season crashing down with another heartbreaker in Ann Arbor.
Through their first eight games, Ohio State allowed just three sacks total. Against the Boilermakers, Julian Sayin was sacked twice. The first sack, the result of a whiffed block by running back Isaiah West, could be chalked up to the freshman’s inexperience, but inconsistent blocking left Sayin rushed or vulnerable far too often in Saturday’s game.
The second sack in particular was egregious, a play that essentially functioned as a neon sign flashing the words, “We have a problem at right guard.” Starter Tegra Tshabola has struggled all season, but without rotational guard Joshua Padilla, who missed the game with an undisclosed injury, there to split snaps with him, Tshabola’s issues became impossible to ignore.
The sack was perhaps Tshabola’s worst miscue of the game, but it wasn’t the only one: He seemingly got beaten at the line of scrimmage over and over on Saturday, impacting not just Sayin’s ability to throw the ball but also hindering the run game.
In fact, the extent to which Tshabola got outplayed by the Boilermakers was so great, Day felt the need to comment on it in his postgame interviews, saying, “We’re gonna continue to look at it. I agree [the play was inconsistent] because I watched it and saw it, but then there were some other things that were good. But we need to grade out a champion here. That’s for everybody. That’s what the expectation is.”
The challenge with Tshabola is that when he’s good, he’s really good. But when he’s off, it’s a major liability for a team that needs to be at the top of its game heading into Michigan week and a quest to repeat its national title. When Padilla gets healthy, don’t be surprised if Day’s lack of confidence in Tshabola results in a full-time change at right guard.
Tshabola wasn’t the only cause for concern, though. Injuries plagued the offense, and in addition to Padilla, the Buckeyes were without starting right tackle Phillip Daniels. While Ian Moore did a fine job stepping in for Daniels, the Buckeyes simply do not have the depth to lose their starting offensive linemen heading into the home stretch of the season.
Thankfully, Daniels is expected to return against UCLA, while Padilla is set to return either against the Bruins or the following week against Rutgers. With everyone hopefully healthy, it is imperative that OSU stays that way and then uses what should be two gimme games to sort out their issues before they head to Ann Arbor.
Because if sloppy offensive line play didn’t fly against Purdue, it won’t fly against Michigan, and worse, it could cost them the season in the playoffs.
