Matt Tamanini
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Ohio State fans are especially concerned about the offensive line play
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
However, the majority think there is plenty of time to make improvements.
Throughout the Ohio State football season, we will be asking and answering questions about the team, college football, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that you would like to ask, you can tweet us @LandGrant33 or if you need more than 280 characters, send an email HERE.
With one week in the books, for this week’s LGHL fan survey, we wanted to dive into how Buckeye fans felt about the wonky Week 1 win over Indiana and what they thought OSU needed to do in order to be at their best when they face Notre Dame on Sept. 23.
Check out DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.
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After nine months of being without Buckeye football, it’s natural to be a little overanxious for — and a bit over-reactionary to — the season opener; I know that I am certainly not immune to that. But if you think back to some of the best seasons in recent Ohio State history, they did not start with a team playing at its peak potential.
Instead, they were teams looking to fill holes, find answers, and identify leaders early in the season. While we don’t yet know if the 2023 edition of the Ohio State football team will follow in those teams’ footsteps or not, there is plenty of time for them to get things figured out.
So, while I was underwhelmed by their play last Saturday, and I do think that there are certainly areas worthy of concern, I think it is more than fair to hold off on hitting the panic button until the new offensive line has an opportunity to gel, Kyle McCord settles into the flow of being the starting quarterback, and the entire team gets a sense of who they are as a unit.
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That being said, this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be able to point out areas that need improvement if the Buckeyes are going to reach their goals this season, starting with when they go on the road to South Bend two weeks from today. Chief among them is the need for the o-line to make dramatic steps forward when it comes to run blocking.
Far too often last week, there were Hoosier defenders left unblocked who came through the offensive line to completely blow up running plays. The pass blocking was markedly better but still showed signs of uncertainty. For what has been the best offense in college football for a number of years, this is a bit of a concern. However, if you know football, you know that offensive lines take the longest to gel when new players are being added into the rotation.
So, there is still time for this reconfigured unit to figure things out, the only problem is that with Youngstown State and Wester Kentucky, it will be hard to know just how much improvement they make between now and their trip to South Bend.
Continue reading...
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
However, the majority think there is plenty of time to make improvements.
Throughout the Ohio State football season, we will be asking and answering questions about the team, college football, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that you would like to ask, you can tweet us @LandGrant33 or if you need more than 280 characters, send an email HERE.
With one week in the books, for this week’s LGHL fan survey, we wanted to dive into how Buckeye fans felt about the wonky Week 1 win over Indiana and what they thought OSU needed to do in order to be at their best when they face Notre Dame on Sept. 23.
Check out DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.
Question 1: What was your biggest takeaway from Saturday’s Indiana game?
After nine months of being without Buckeye football, it’s natural to be a little overanxious for — and a bit over-reactionary to — the season opener; I know that I am certainly not immune to that. But if you think back to some of the best seasons in recent Ohio State history, they did not start with a team playing at its peak potential.
Instead, they were teams looking to fill holes, find answers, and identify leaders early in the season. While we don’t yet know if the 2023 edition of the Ohio State football team will follow in those teams’ footsteps or not, there is plenty of time for them to get things figured out.
So, while I was underwhelmed by their play last Saturday, and I do think that there are certainly areas worthy of concern, I think it is more than fair to hold off on hitting the panic button until the new offensive line has an opportunity to gel, Kyle McCord settles into the flow of being the starting quarterback, and the entire team gets a sense of who they are as a unit.
Question 2: What is the one thing that most needs to be improved before Notre Dame?
That being said, this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be able to point out areas that need improvement if the Buckeyes are going to reach their goals this season, starting with when they go on the road to South Bend two weeks from today. Chief among them is the need for the o-line to make dramatic steps forward when it comes to run blocking.
Far too often last week, there were Hoosier defenders left unblocked who came through the offensive line to completely blow up running plays. The pass blocking was markedly better but still showed signs of uncertainty. For what has been the best offense in college football for a number of years, this is a bit of a concern. However, if you know football, you know that offensive lines take the longest to gel when new players are being added into the rotation.
So, there is still time for this reconfigured unit to figure things out, the only problem is that with Youngstown State and Wester Kentucky, it will be hard to know just how much improvement they make between now and their trip to South Bend.
Continue reading...