Buckeyes still figuring out what they want to be on offense

The most interesting thing I heard after Ohio State beat Ohio 37-9 was Ryan Day acknowledge the Buckeyes need to figure out what they do best on offense.

Narrowing down the attack was one of the things I jotted down in my notebook before the game ended, so I was excited to learn I was on the right track.

From a football nerd standpoint, this has been an interesting start to the season for sure.

The Buckeyes have leaned much more heavily on multiple-tight end sets, including even going with a heavy package that has three tight ends and a fullback with the usual tailback in short-yardage situations.

They have also done a lot of different things with the running game, including seeming to want to major in gap plays like counter and power after years as a team that leaned more on zone.

The funny thing about that is while I would think their personnel is more suited to gap plays, which create angles for blocks and require less raw physical ability, they seem to have more success with zone (plus “Duo,” which is a bit of a combination of both).

Of course the sample size isn’t huge, and they are going to need to have all those tools in the toolbox depending on the week and the opposing defensive style, so while there is a need to pare that down some, they don’t want that part of the playbook to get too skinny.

The running game looked better on paper than it felt like it did watching the game, but a 64-yard run by Bo Jackson inflated the 7.3-yard average a bit. (We’ll break down the running back battle another time, and I’ll need to rewatch the game to get a better feel for how the offensive line performed.)

Whatever Day and his staff (including, let’s not forget, new offensive coordinator Brian Hartline) want to be their fastball, it’s still the passing game — not that there’s anything wrong with that.

That’s why they signed all those five-star receivers and quarterbacks.

While Julian Sayin made a couple of mistakes — he actually admitted in the postgame interview room he saw the spy on his first interception but thought he could get it over him — he also had some absolutely eye-popping throws.

This guy might not have the velocity of a John Elway, but his accuracy on those deep balls to Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith was unreal Saturday night.

As was the case last week, it is no doubt good for the redshirt freshman to err in games like this and learn than against tougher foes later in the season.

Now they have a week off to study themselves and rethink what’s working, what’s not, and what they need to perfect before starting Big Ten play at Washington.

What college football coaches are looking for in lopsided games

If you want to see more of what Day had to say after the game (plus Jeremiah Smith and Julian Sayin), check out my YouTube channel. I’m building up a library there with not only press conference highlights but also any chalk talk we get and whatever else I find interesting.