Ohio State: One on One with Buckeye Great Joe Staysniak
By Joe Russo
Sep 7, 2015; Blacksburg, VA, USA; The Ohio State Buckeyes offensive line lines up against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Which Line Is Going To Have To Make The Biggest Improvement?
“I think it’s definitely the offensive line because you have to score. The problem was when we didn’t score, Michigan State wasn’t forced into a passing game. Michigan State could keep running the football. When their big hog mollies took on our guys, they just beat us up and wore us down. They ate up our linebackers.
When you get out in front of people and force them to try to match you on the scoreboard, they get into a game they’re not familiar with and they’re not ready for. There’s no way a backup quarterback should beat you. But that backup quarterback beat you because they handed the ball off. Their big guys beat up our big guys and the linebackers couldn’t handle it.
The line is at its best when they can get after the passer, put pressure on the quarterback, and force turnovers. Last week’s defense wasn’t able to withstand a steady diet of pounding.
It’s imperative for the offensive line to get out there, make holes, and score. The offensive line got it handed to them play after play. Guys not blocking the right guys, not staying on their guy. They just weren’t tough enough. They’ll have to come off the ball because if you come off the ball, Ezekiel Elliott’s getting at least three yards a carry. Then all of a sudden, you’re playing from in front and your defensive line is playing the game they are built for. They don’t have the big guys up front that can stop the run like that consistently.
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They can do it for a short time and they did a decent job in that game, at least in certain stints. Overall they got beat up and couldn’t handle the size, the anger, the passion that Michigan State played with. Ohio State thought the home game and their national ranking would be enough to win versus a team with a backup quarterback starting his first game. They were wrong.”