Jagdaddy
Head Coach
It’s seems to me that running from wider formations would allow the backs to be more decisive as they wouldn’t have to sift through extra bodies to get going. They don’t need to make a defender miss if he isn’t there. The run blocking strength, such as it is, seems to be through the middle three, so let’s give the RBs a chance to bust through the line with speed and have to beat maybe one guy rather than two or three once the break into the second level.
Ohio State’s Run Game Has Produced, But Ryan Day Wants Buckeye Backs to ‘Run Angry’ Against Illinois | The-Ozone
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State’s running game has not exactly been a problem through the first three games. But Ryan Day wants more. A lot more. The Buckeyes have averaged 5.8 yards per carry through three games, with Bo Jackson rushing for 230 yards and two touchdowns on 39 carries and Ja’Kobi...theozone.net
Ohio State’s Run Game Has Produced, But Ryan Day Wants Buckeye Backs to ‘Run Angry’ Against Illinois
Ohio State’s running game has not exactly been a problem through the first three games. But Ryan Day wants more.
A lot more.
The Buckeyes have averaged 5.8 yards per carry through three games, with Bo Jackson rushing for 230 yards and two touchdowns on 39 carries and Ja’Kobi Jackson adding 150 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries. Ja’Kobi Jackson is averaging 7.1 yards per carry, while Bo Jackson is at 5.9.
Those numbers are productive. They are not, however, telling the entire story of what Day saw when he went back and watched Ohio State’s 59-3 win over Kent State.
The Buckeyes ran for 145 yards and four touchdowns against the Golden Flashes, but Day said Tuesday that there were opportunities for much more. There were holes that, in his mind, should have resulted in explosive runs.
“They should have been explosive plays and they weren’t,” Day said.
That is where the “run angry” challenge comes in.
Day said Ja’Kobi Jackson was the Buckeye running back who stood out most to him against Kent State, particularly because of the physicality with which he ran. Bo Jackson and Isaiah West, meanwhile, were “just OK,” in Day’s assessment.
“We all know what Bo [Jackson] and Isaiah [West] both can do, so we need to see those guys really run angry,” Day said.
So what exactly does that mean?
Ja’Kobi Jackson had his own definition.
“Running angry is really just like not being tackled one-on-one, open field, and making the first guy miss,” Jackson said. “You know, not being tackled by the first guy. That’s what I would say running angry would be.”
For Day, that does not simply mean running fast through the hole. It means finishing runs with physicality, making defenders miss and taking advantage when the offensive line creates space.
That has been part of the emphasis for Ohio State’s running backs dating back to the offseason. Day has wanted the group to improve at the second level and turn opportunities into explosive plays.
There were signs of that early in the season.
Bo Jackson opened the year with a 65-yard touchdown run against Ball State, while Ja’Kobi Jackson had a 49-yard touchdown run in the same game. Through three games, Bo Jackson is on pace for another 1,000-yard season after rushing for 1,090 yards as a freshman in 2025.
But against Kent State, neither Jackson produced a run longer than 17 yards. Ja’Kobi Jackson had 47 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries. Bo Jackson had 73 yards on 11 carries. West added 13 yards and a touchdown on six carries. The overall production was enough to help Ohio State cruise to another victory. The standard inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, though, is higher than simply getting the job done against an overmatched opponent. That is especially true with Big Ten play beginning Saturday against Illinois.
Ja’Kobi Jackson echoed the message on Tuesday, emphasizing that the group understands it has to run hard and execute as Ohio State moves into conference play. Ohio State has already shown it can move the ball on the ground. The next step, according to Day, is making the runs that are there count for more.
Against Illinois, he wants to see the Buckeyes hit those holes, get to the second level and finish the runs with the kind of physicality he believes the group is capable of.
In other words, Day wants the run game to look less like a collection of successful carries and more like a source of explosive plays. And he wants his running backs to do it angry.
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