Ohio State football mailbag: Is a shakeup of offensive line personnel in store?
Ohio State prevailed in a 37-17 win over Maryland in its return from an idle week last Saturday.
But its rebuilt offensive line, which has left quarterback Kyle McCord under increasing pressure in the pocket and had trouble opening holes for running backs, remains under scrutiny.
A bulk of the questions for this week’s mailbag centered on the Buckeyes’ group up front. The questions, as submitted by The Dispatch’s subscriber text group, are lightly edited for length and clarity.
Where are we with the o-line? Any position changes or new faces getting a chance?
Is it too late to adjust personnel on the OL? I thought after the off week something may be different. Same players, same mistakes.
With issues with the OL still present, why hasn't there been any of the other players playing with the competition for the starting jobs?
No offensive line shakeup is imminent. Coach Ryan Day on Tuesday poured cold water on the idea of elevating their backups at left or right tackle.
It seemed possible following tight preseason competitions that saw Tegra Tshabola pushing Josh Simmons to start at left tackle and Luke Montgomery just behind Josh Fryar at right tackle.
Instead, Day pointed to a gap that remains between the starting linemen and their backups.
“We looked hard at it,” he said. “I just don’t see any of those guys right now pushing.”
Day was not resigned to that separation remaining in place throughout this season. He added, “Feel free to make a push. We want that in practice.”
But options are limited. Montgomery, in particular, is inexperienced. He only enrolled in January, and despite his recruiting pedigree, Ohio State has only twice started a true freshman on the offensive line over the last three decades — Michael Jordan in 2016 and Orlando Pace in 1994.
The Buckeyes are feeling the effects of a recruiting dip seen late in the tenure of former offensive line coach Greg Studrawa, who was let go last year and replaced by Justin Frye.
The 2021 class should be the backbone of the line, a group of linemen in their third seasons in the program. But outside of starting left guard Donovan Jackson, they signed only two other linemen in that cycle, including Ben Christman who transferred to Kentucky in May.
Only four of the Buckeyes’ 16 scholarship offensive linemen are former blue-chip recruits with multiple seasons of experience with the program. There haven’t been a lot of top-tier guys to develop as a result.
It wouldn’t be too late in a season to adjust the line’s personnel, but it would certainly be more complicated, especially if Ohio State sought to do more than turn to a backup.
Jackson, the left guard, has practiced at left tackle in the past. If the Buckeyes were to move him there midseason, that would leave him adjusting to a new position, while they would also be replacing him in the interior.
The upcoming stretch, with Penn State visiting Columbus next week, followed by a trip to Wisconsin, adds to the challenge of taking more drastic steps with the personnel.
More: Offensive line comes under microscope as Ohio State's run game continues to sputter
The offensive line has me worried. They can't seem to hold their blocks consistently. What steps is Justin Frye taking to correct the issues so our running backs have a fighting chance?
Frye has mentioned a desire for his unit to be more violent, a shift in mentality that would allow them to get a better push up front and help with the ground game. He said three weeks ago that the linemen have been in the right position to block defenders, but needed to be better at moving them.
At his news conference this week, Day continued to mention a need to get more movement in the trenches.
“We can do a better job of getting to the second level,” Day said, “and getting the running backs there.”
According to collegefootballdata.com, the Buckeyes rank 120th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in total second level yards, the average yards between 5 and 10 yards from the line of scrimmage.
With a week and a half to go before Penn State, what do the Buckeyes need to do about their offensive line to have a fighting chance against the Nittany Lions? OK, first they need to get past Purdue, which certainly isn't a "gimme," especially considering the Buckeyes' history of playing there.
Penn State has a formidable pass rush. It averages four sacks per game, the fourth most in the FBS. Nearly 12% of opposing quarterbacks’ dropbacks result in a sack, the third-highest percentage. Defensive end Adisa Isaac is among the top pass rushers in the Big Ten.
That could stress Ohio State’s offensive line, which has struggled in recent weeks to protect McCord against tougher competition.
According to Pro Football Focus, McCord was under pressure on only 16.3% of his dropbacks against Indiana, Youngstown State and Western Kentucky, a mark in line with the frequency of duress that his immediate predecessors faced.
But the pressure more than doubled at Notre Dame and against Maryland last week, resulting in McCord being pressured on 34.6% of his snaps. The Terrapins sacked him a season-high three times, as well.
The Buckeyes have had run blocking issues since their opening series at Indiana, but they have at least shown signs of being capable of keeping McCord upright. They’ll need to recapture that by Penn State.
What is our run/pass split on 1st down, seems like very high run.
It was high last Saturday. The Buckeyes’ run/pass split on first down against Maryland was 61% to 39%. Of the 28 plays on first down, 17 of them were rushing attempts, a higher frequency than at any point this season.
Over the four previous games, Ohio State was more often passing on first down (53%) than running (47%).
Remember when Day said they would “let it rip” at Notre Dame? That did lead to them airing it out early in drives. They threw the ball a season-high 64% of the time on first down against the Irish, but McCord completed only six of 16 passes for 44 yards on the opening down and the tendency swung back in the other direction.
They found better success passing on first down against Maryland with McCord going 8 of 11 for 187 yards. Their 17 carries resulted in only 57 yards, an average of 3.4 yards per attempt.
What's the word on TreVeyon Henderson? Is he able to go this weekend? Not that we should rush him back. It seemed odd he was out, and Marvin Harrison Jr. was able to play this past weekend.
The expectation remains that Henderson will be available at Purdue after he was held out last week with an unspecified injury.
The issue appears unrelated to last season’s foot injury, but Day signaled the Buckeyes are exercising more caution as a result of him missing five games last fall due to a broken bone on his left foot that ultimately required surgery. They don’t want Henderson to be nagged by anything. He was never at full strength a year ago, and his performance suffered.
With Harrison, he’s dealing with a sprained right ankle, the same one he injured last season. Through it’s more severe, it was something he has experience playing through and at a high level, giving him some benefit of the doubt as far as the management of the injury.
What are the chances that Big Noon and College GameDay will visit Columbus next weekend? I am sure as long as the Ohio State and TTUN keep winning, they will both be in Ann Arbor.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see both pregame shows in Columbus as the Buckeyes face Penn State on Oct. 21. It’s a potential top-five matchup and both teams are likely to be 6-0 if they take care of business this weekend.
FOX’s “Big Noon Kickoff” is slated to be in attendance with the network televising the game at noon, though ESPN’s “College GameDay” has not confirmed a Week 8 site. Both programs set up outside the Horseshoe last November for OSU-Michigan, so they aren’t strangers to sharing turf.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Follow him on Facebook and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. He can also be contacted at jkaufman@dispatch.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football mailbag on questions around offensive line
