The Ohio State offensive line preps before the snap during the Ohio State-Northwestern game Big Ten championship on Dec. 19. Ohio State won 22-10. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
Although the Ohio State offensive line had a fruitful regular season leading the Buckeyes to the top-ranked offense in the Big Ten, they will have their hands full Friday.
Coming off of a Big Ten Championship performance in which the Buckeyes amassed 399 yards on the ground — 331 of which came from graduate running back Trey Sermon — Ohio State’s offensive line is looking ahead to a difficult task against an aggressive Clemson defensive attack.
Redshirt junior guard Wyatt Davis said the Buckeyes rushing performance against Northwestern was an indication of a new identity for the Buckeye offense: a more physical and grinding offense.
“I feel like we have all the tools to be that and I feel like we displayed that this last game and these last couple of games,” Davis said Monday. “I feel like that really showed what our true identity is and I feel like we showed the world what we’ve known this entire time and that’s when we have the opportunity to run the ball, we can get it done.”
Ohio State’s experienced offensive line played a key role in Sermon’s breakout performance in which he broke the record for most rushing yards in a conference championship game and Ohio State’s single-game rushing record.
However, the Buckeye front has turned their attention to the Sugar Bowl and the vaunted Clemson defense, which is led into battle by defensive coordinator Brent Venables.
“He’s one of the best defensive coordinators in college football,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said. “He does a great job calling the game, seems to always know exactly what the other team is doing in terms of the plays that they’re running, each play, and seems to call the right defense into that play a lot.”
Seeking revenge for the 29-23 loss to Clemson in the 2019 Fiesta Bowl, redshirt junior center Josh Myers said this is exactly where the Buckeyes wanted to be at this point in the season.
“It’s no secret that we wanted to win that game really badly last year and it was extremely rough the way that we left that field,” Myers said. “It’s definitely good to be back in this position and this where we wanted to be and thank God we’re here after the crazy year we’ve had and I think we’re just excited to just get another shot at them.”
This season, Venables and the Tiger defense have shut down opponents, holding them to an average of 17.5 points per game — the 11th best mark in the country. In terms of yardage, the Tigers are one of six teams in the country that holds opponents to less than 300 yards a game, as Clemson allows just 298.5 yards per game.
The Tigers also hold opposing running backs to just 99.82 yards per contest, which is the lowest total that the Buckeyes have faced to this point.
As the Clemson defense provides a challenge for the Ohio State running attack, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said he’s looking forward to seeing the offensive line compete with Clemson’s front seven.
“Those are some tremendous one-on-one matchups,” Wilson said. “It’s gonna be exciting watching Wyatt and our inside guys against those great linebackers that Brent has.”
Ohio State’s semi-final matchup with Clemson will be just their seventh game this season — the Tigers have played 11.
The Buckeyes have also not played in consecutive weeks since Week 3, creating issues in terms of getting into a rhythm in their play.
“There hasn’t been any rhythm to anything we’ve done this season, we’ve been taking hits, one right after the other,” Myers said. “It’s just been a really weird year, no doubt about it, and I think that plays a big part in it.”
However, as the Buckeyes season roars towards a conclusion, Davis said the offensive line unit is reaching their peak at just the right moment.
“Those first couple games, I felt like as a unit and a whole, we weren’t really able to really get our rhythm going until we played a couple more,” Davis said. “I feel like it’s heading on an uphill route, especially with this last game. I think we definitely showed all the doubters that we had in the beginning of the season with running the ball that we definitely can run.”
