Cleveland, OH
Ohio State has lost its superpower, but its past provides a way to overcome it
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State has spent the Ryan Day era building up a superpower that has made it a hotbed for skill players, but that appears to have vanished five games into this season.
Even with all the recruiting talent at quarterback, running back and wide receiver, none of that has been good enough to overcome a clear hole on the offensive line that has been staring the program in the face for two years. That problem, which was once an area of concern on the recruiting trail, is now showing up on the field and keeping an offense from living up to the reputation it spent five years building.
Scoring 40 has often come easy to the Buckeyes, so much so that up until a 42-41 loss to Georgia in the Peach Bowl last season, the program was undefeated in the 259 previous games when reaching that total, with Day’s offenses being responsible for 47 of those. It’s become such a norm that being under that number is a foreign concept.
Until now.
In Day’s previous four seasons, OSU has never had more than three games with less than 40 points during the 12-game regular season schedule. It matched that total in a 17-14 win over Notre Dame, then failed to do it again Saturday in a 37-17 win over Maryland.
That’s four times in five games that this offense has failed to score 40 points.
The offense has been the superpower since practically the moment Day stepped on campus as an assistant coach in 2017, and has often carried the team during his time as head coach. That is not the case this season and it’s forcing Ohio State to play in four-quarter games every week.
It’s a clear flaw after five games, but that doesn’t mean this team can’t still win. The Buckeyes can ride this rollercoaster of a path all the way to a national championship just as it did under Jim Tressel in 2002.
That team went 14-0 despite playing in a multitude of four-quarter games. It won by a margin of 16.2 points, which included a 31-24 double overtime win over Miami in the BCS title game. Its 13-game regular-season schedule produced a win margin of 16.9 points. Against the 11 Power Five teams it dropped down to 11.5, which included a six-point win over Penn State, a four-point win over Purdue, a seven-point win over Illinois and a five-point win over Michigan. It only scored points four times in wins over Texas Tech, Kent State, Indiana and San Jose State.
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In three games against Power Five teams this season, the Buckeyes have won by 20 points (Indiana), three points (Notre Dame) and 20 points (Maryland). Though that last win they didn’t start to truly pull away until late in the fourth quarter and were tied at 10 at halftime. Plus the defense was responsible for seven of those points thanks to a pick-six by Josh Proctor.
Tressel’s teams weren’t known for being high-powered offenses capable of consistently putting up points with ease. Day’s teams have been and eventually they are going to have to figure out how to be at least a fraction of that in the moments that matter.
That flashed against the Terrapins on multiple big throws to Marvin Harrison Jr. — including a 37-yard completion on second-and-33 — and a touchdown pass to Cade Stover to give the Buckeyes a two-score lead. But flashes might be all we can ask for from this offense until shown otherwise. In the meantime, you might want to get your head around the idea that the defense may finally be ready to do the heavy lifting for the first time since 2019, and it’s coming at the perfect time.
Through five games, it is apparent that Ohio State has lost its superpower. That doesn’t mean it can’t still win. It will just have to take a more stressful route to make that happen. Just like it did in 2002.
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