Buckeyes offensive line 'not consistent enough' in rare struggle up front

COLUMBUS — Ohio State isn’t looking for excuses on any part of its roster.

But if the Buckeyes wanted to find one for the struggles along the offensive line at times, they could.

The unit up front on offense is one of the most talented on the current roster. Two former five-star players. A four-year starter playing left guard. A physical monster playing right tackle.

But in the loss to Oregon, an Ohio State offensive line that is among the favorites to win the Joe Moore Award this fall wasn’t entirely realizing its road-grating, dominant potential. While other parts of the Buckeyes roster will take schematic tweaks and swapping out personnel, don’t expect that from the offensive line. It’s only going to get better with time.

“While they are very talented, but they don’t have a ton of game experience,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “When some of those defensive techniques are a little bit different than what they’ve seen every day in practice, it can cause a little bit of confusion. That’s just something that we’ve got to work through and get them more experience on that, give them all the tools they need to adjust in game. Because each team we’re going to play here on out, they’re very, very different.”

Ohio State used its offensive line, which averages 6-foot-5 and 322 pounds per starter, to amass more than 600 total yards. In pass protection, the Buckeyes gave up two sacks late on nearly 60 drop-backs by quarterback C.J. Stroud. But in the running game, something seemed off.

The team that prides itself on creating massive paths for talented running backs struggled with Oregon’s front seven. Simply put, the Buckeyes weren’t good enough up front. And they certainly didn’t reach their ceiling as an offensive line.

“It was nothing that we haven’t seen before,” starting guard and captain Thayer Munford said after the game Saturday. “They basically did the same thing Clemson did. They were blitzing every time, running the linebackers through. They just came in the gaps hard — harder than we expected. But at the same time, we know that we need to work on it. This week and the weeks right now, for everybody, we all know we need to get better.

“Put it past us and go to the next game.”

Moving on may not be easy. Ohio State rarely loses regular-season games, especially at home. The Buckeyes are seldom beaten up front on the offensive line. They are hardly ever called for as many penalties as they were against Oregon.

But it all happened Saturday. And it can’t again if Ohio State wants its offense to work at a maximum capacity.

The largely young, inexperienced offensive line unit features three starters who are two games into their career. True tackles are playing both guard spots. And the center wasn’t expected to be the starter until the week of the first game.

It’ll get better as the season goes on, a scary proposition considering the Buckeyes haven’t been bad up front. They just haven’t been great, either.

“We just never got into a rhythm,” Day said. “I think sometimes when you go against your own defense for 30 some-odd practices, you get into a rhythm with a little bit of the style that you’re going up against. They were a little bit different, a little bit more two-gapping and a different style. We didn’t quite get into a rhythm there. So looking at our tracks and how combinations are and how the running backs are hitting those things are all things that we got to clean up.

“There were still some good hits in there, but not consistent enough.”

The inexperienced offensive line is still gaining chemistry and reps. Five talented starters can only get better together — with time to do so.

And Ohio State won’t make excuses for it along the way.