Ohio State-Maryland film review: Both sides of Buckeyes’ ground game remain a concern

Ohio State’s 37-17 win against Maryland on Saturday felt nothing like a 20-point win. The Buckeyes stayed undefeated, but they have to get better defending the run, creating holes in their own run game and more. We’re going to touch on both of those issues below and some positives, as well.

There’s a lot to get to in this re-watch. Let’s dive into it.

Ohio State needs to abandon short-side stretch

Somebody sent in a question for the off-week mailbag about my level of concern regarding the run game. I said I wanted to see it against Maryland before I got worried. I’m officially concerned — like, 8 out of 10 concerned — for a few reasons.

First, Ohio State’s offense is one that needs to stay on schedule. It needs to have success running the ball in order to make things easier for first-year starting quarterback Kyle McCord, who I thought was great in the second half outside of a few underthrows that should’ve been touchdowns. But this offense isn’t going to put points on the board consistently if it can’t run the ball, and its problem on Saturday went beyond merely the absence of TreVeyon Henderson.

Second, and this is where we’ll go first on film: The offensive line showed minimal improvement after the off week. Fans can all agree that Day’s infatuation with short-side zone stretch plays is annoying, but they should work.

In short, zone run plays involve the offensive line stepping in sync to block space instead of a specific person. That allows the running back to almost glide laterally and then find a hole to get upfield, but it is key that once the offensive line double teams somebody and that player is controlled, linemen need to pass him off and get to the second level. Ohio State’s line is incapable of doing that right now.

This is a short-side zone stretch. The line moves well off the ball, but we have a few issues here. There’s nothing ball carrier Chip Trayanum can do.

Josh Simmons and Donovan Jackson are blocking the same person at first, as they should, but neither disengages to get to the second level and block the linebacker who eventually comes in to make the tackle.

Yes, Cade Stover doesn’t hold his block, but Trayanum does a nice job to avoid that tackler and get to the outside. He can’t avoid the linebacker who is supposed to be blocked by the second-level lineman.

Here’s a clip from earlier in the game. This time we’re going to the right side. Short side again, though.

Carson Hinzman never breaks off the block after Jackson takes him. He’s supposed to get to the second level and block the linebacker who comes and makes the tackle on Miyan Williams. He just doesn’t do it until it’s too late.

Ohio State can’t run zone run schemes if the offensive linemen aren’t going to execute. The problem isn’t even a physical one; the Buckeyes’ linemen are athletic enough to make these plays. They just aren’t for some reason.

Maurice Clarett made the point that Ohio State should be using Trayanum and Williams in more of a gap run scheme, which makes sense.

Ohio State is better in a gap scheme. Chip and Mayan are gap scheme runners. TH is a zone scheme guy…. That’s obvious. Not sure how you don’t call towards your personnel … idk
— Maurice Clarett (@ReeseClarett13) October 7, 2023

Gap runs are more about an offensive line blocking down to use leverage and asserting its dominance, often with a pulling guard or tight end. The play is designed with a hole already in mind, which means the running back needs to have patience and then hit it. We’ll see more of that from Maryland later, but Ohio State does some of it. Here’s one example in the red zone.

Ohio State got six yards on this play. Trayanum hit the hole hard, and Stover did a nice job pulling to seal his assigned edge defender. From here, Ohio State went with a jet sweep to Trayanum and then ran a screen that was never blocked correctly. Poor play calling by Day after picking up a big first-down chunk on the ground.

I’ll be curious to see whether Ohio State tries more gap runs on Saturday against Purdue. In the meantime, the Buckeyes need to start running to the field side more. By now it’s on tape how much Day wants to run to the short side. Football coaches love it because it can be an effective concept. But it’s not working, and it’s time to switch it up.

Defending gap runs

Now, to the other side of the ball.

As I wrote on Saturday, I think Ohio State’s secondary is capable of hanging with any receiving corps in the country. Its downfall is going to be its inability to adjust to the run game, specifically gap run schemes.

Notre Dame gashed Ohio State on the ground in the second half, and Maryland did it in spurts on Saturday, as well.

This was the first play of the second half.

Ohio State’s defensive line was great in this game — it doesn’t win without this group — but against gap runs, the linebackers have to make the right reads and be ready to make a tackle. Josh Proctor saved a touchdown here. Steele Chambers and Tommy Eichenberg are bouncing to the wrong gap, and Maryland gets an easy 15 yards.

Here’s another easy eight yards in the first quarter.

Cody Simon is in on this play and he gets blocked, and Eichenberg is pinned behind him. The run defense against gap schemes got better for Ohio State as the game went on. Here’s another gap run that Eichenberg swallows up.

It sounds simple, but when Ohio State stops the run, it has the chance to be one of the best defenses in the country. I don’t think this is an impossible problem to solve, and the talent is there at linebacker and up front. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and his staff are going to have to tweak some things, though.

One-on-ones vs. Maryland receivers

Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa loves to take one-on-one shots with his receivers, and I thought Ohio State played well against them, even though they gave up some plays.

Here’s Tagovailoa going after Sonny Styles in the first half.

Styles got beat off the line here, recovered and put himself in good position to make a play. Sometimes guys just catch the ball. Styles landed out of bounds with his arm lodged between the receiver’s arm and the ball. Not bad coverage for a guy who isn’t a true nickel.

I thought this was terrific coverage by Denzel Burke, especially after getting flagged for pass interference a few plays before this. He kept inside position, put the receiver on his back hip, turned and made a play on the ball. This is textbook.

Overall, Ohio State’s secondary lived up to the challenge against Maryland, holding Tagovailoa to a season-low 51 percent completion rate.

We’re five games into the season, and I can think of maybe one time when a receiver was just running wide open through the Buckeyes’ secondary. That’s growth.

Defensive line shines

Lastly, everybody has been asking for the defensive line to step up. They were terrific on Saturday. Ohio State had a season-high 17 pressures in the game.

Just two highlights here, the first of JT Tuimoloau against the run.

Tuimoloau completely blows up this quarterback power run on fourth down. He swept through the edge untouched, as Maryland designed it, but the Terps’ pulling blocker never got a good hit on Tuimoloau, and he easily ran through the attempted block.

It wasn’t quite the 2022 Penn State game, but put Saturday’s performance up there with one of Tuimoloau’s best in an Ohio State uniform.

Then there’s this from Tyleik Williams.

Man, he’s special. Credit Lathan Ransom for the interception here, but that doesn’t come without the immediate pressure on Tagovailoa from Williams. He’s been nearly unblockable all year.

This defensive line is terrific and getting better every week. That’s a scary sight for opposing offenses.

(Photo: Ben Jackson / Getty Images)