COLUMBUS: Former Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman seemed just a cog in the Buckeyes’ well-oiled machine last season. Now we know just how vital a cog.
After Saturday’s 17-14 upset loss to No. 9 Michigan State in soggy Ohio Stadium, No. 3 Ohio State’s hope of repeating as national champion is all but gone. Playing in the Big Ten Championship is a long shot.
And coach Urban Meyer and his offensive staff deserve much of the blame.
Even though the Buckeyes still have next week’s game at Michigan and at least a bowl appearance ahead, junior running back Ezekiel Elliott declared for the 2015 NFL Draft and took shots at the play-calling on the way out. The Heisman Trophy candidate who had amassed 3,303 rushing yards the past two seasons carried the ball just 12 times, twice in the second half, and finished with 33 yards. He saw his streak of 15 consecutive 100-yard games snapped.
Elliott confided afterward that he spent Monday through Wednesday hospitalized with an infected cyst in his leg. But he was mystified that the plays the Buckeyes ran in the first half that “gashed” the Spartans were never called again.
“I was lobbying all game,” Elliott said, adding that his pleas were directed at Meyer. “It’s been something we’ve seen all season honestly. We’ll have some momentum, we’ll call some plays that work and then we’ll try to get away from it, try to get cute and run some other stuff.
“I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed in the play calling. I’m disappointed in the situations we were put in. I wish it all played out differently.”
Ohio State finished with 132 total yards, the Buckeyes’ fewest since 2004. It was also the fewest by a Meyer-coached team, according to ESPN Stats and Info.
But we should have seen this coming.
We should have seen it coming after Herman departed after last year’s championship game to become coach at the University of Houston. After Herman spent three seasons in Columbus, also serving as quarterbacks coach, the Cougars snapped up the charismatic and creative member of Mensa a week after he won the Broyles Award given to the nation’s top assistant. Now Houston is raising Herman’s salary to $3 million per year in an effort to keep him.
We should have seen it coming on Sept. 19, when Ohio State defeated Northern Illinois by seven points and Meyer called the offense “discombobulated.” That day the Buckeyes converted 2-of-13 third downs, committed five turnovers and Elliott declared, “Right now, we’re not the No. 1 team in the country.”
We should have seen it coming when Meyer starting tinkering with the play-calling duties. He started out with offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Ed Warinner calling plays from the sideline. Warinner didn’t want to go upstairs because he would lose touch with his linemen, so co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Tim Beck, stationed in the press box, took over. Meyer called the process a collaborative effort that included him.
The system blew up in the driving rain and wind against Michigan State’s tough front seven. Meyer said he was not content with the conservative play calling against the Spartans.
“I call a lot of plays, anyways,” he said. “So finger will be pointed right here. And I have to do better. We didn’t ... very conservative.”
Even while the Buckeyes opened the season 10-0, fans wondered when they would regain their mojo from last season. Every victory left a ‘Maybe next week’ feeling that never came. The Meyer-Beck-Warinner collaboration failed.
“It hasn’t been a smooth run, really, most of the year,” Meyer admitted. “We have to get those things fixed.”
That’s a “Maybe next year” proposition.
Considering the struggles, Ohio State’s chance at back-to-back titles may have been slim even before the loss to Michigan State. The talent never meshed, quarterbacks J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones were shells of their 2014 selves. The offensive line took a step back, the receiving corps was wracked by injuries.
Earlier this month, former Ohio State coach John Cooper was named the 2016 recipient of the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award for outstanding service in advancing the best interests of college football. Barring a miraculous turn of events in the Big Ten, this Buckeye season will end up lumped with many of Cooper’s.
A team loaded with NFL talent that never came together, that failed in November.
We should have seen it coming.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.