COLUMBUS — Last week, Kent State told us almost nothing. This week, Illinois provided more clarity. Hopefully, at least.
Ohio State’s 42-19 victory Saturday did not erase every concern that surfaced against Texas — or late last season — but it did provide evidence that some of the issues Ryan Day had been pushing his offense to fix are actually improving.
Three areas stood out: Julian Sayin’s willingness to use his legs, the offensive line’s performance in short-yardage situations, and the physicality of the running backs.
Sayin’s final passing numbers were excellent. He completed 27 of 36 passes for 367 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions, with Jeremiah Smith accounting for all four scores. But for purposes of evaluating Sayin’s development, the most important number may be 29.
As in 29 yards on seven carries.
Nobody is asking Sayin to become Lamar Jackson. Ohio State does not need its quarterback carrying the football 15 times per game. But he can model his ground game after the player he already models every other part of his game: Joe Burrow.
Ohio State needs Sayin to recognize when the defense has given him free yardage and take it, just as Burrow does. Against Illinois, he did that far more consistently, although there were still two or three plays where he could have taken off and did not.
Still, improvement is improvement, so long as he keeps, well, improving.
The offensive line answered some questions of its own with a better performance in short-yardage situations. Like Sayin’s running, there were still a few plays Ohio State would like back, but the Buckeyes created enough movement to keep drives alive and looked far more effective when they needed a yard or two.
It is no secret that short-yardage issues have become one of the more frustrating parts of the offense. Too often, Ohio State has found itself needing one yard with a talented backfield and a massive offensive line, only to get stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage. Against Illinois, those situations looked far less like an adventure.
The running backs, however, produced mixed results.
Day had been especially direct after Kent State, saying Ja’Kobi Jackson had run harder than Bo Jackson and Isaiah West, and challenging Bo and West to “run angry.” Bo responded with more physicality against Illinois and finished runs better than he had the previous week, but there were still several one-on-one opportunities where he left yards on the field.
That is the next step for him. The blocking can get a back to the second level, but eventually somebody has to make a defender miss, run through him, or turn a five-yard gain into 15.
Ja’Kobi again provided the stronger finish. With Ohio State trying to put the game away, he converted a third-and-4 with a 15-yard run to the Illinois 2 before scoring on the next play. He continues to look like the more naturally physical runner when Ohio State needs difficult yards.
None of this means every offensive question has been answered. Sayin can still be more decisive when a running lane opens. Bo can still create more after contact. The offensive line can still become more consistent in situations where everybody in the stadium knows what is coming.
Kent State was too overmatched to tell us much about whether Ohio State had actually corrected or improved upon anything. Illinois was good enough to make the Buckeyes work, and in several areas that had been under scrutiny, Ohio State looked better. Indeed, in some respects, they looked better against Illinois than they did against Kent State.
The answers were not always perfect, but they were answers.
Now we wait to see whether those answers become lasting solutions — the kind that can help Ohio State bring home some hardware, not to mention a dub against that team up north.
