What’s It Gonna Take For Ohio State To Get A Holding Call?

The last time Jack Sawyer drew a holding call from an opposing offensive lineman was the third game of his Buckeye career.

That was FIFTY games ago.

Now that I have your attention, we can begin.

The Ohio State defensive line has drawn just one holding penalty this season. It happened at the end of the first quarter of the second game of the season. Junior Caden Curry was held by Western Michigan right tackle Jack Sherwin.

Which means the next time an offensive lineman gets flagged for holding a starting Ohio State defensive lineman will be the first.

According to the schools’ respective published box scores, Ohio State’s opponents have been flagged for holding just three times this season. Including the one above, there was also a hold by Marshall center Logan Osburn on a blitz by linebacker Sonny Styles, as well as a hold by Michigan State running back Kay’ron Lynch-Adams on a blitz by safety Caleb Downs.

It’s pretty amazing that there’s seemingly been no need for opponents to resort to holding while playing against the nation’s best defense in total yardage (242.2 yards per game) and yards per play allowed (4.06). You’d think playing a defense like that would be difficult and lead to some holding calls, but you’d be wrong.

And this isn’t just a defensive problem. No team’s opponents have been penalized less than Ohio State’s.

The Buckeyes are 134th nationally in opponent penalties — just 3.7 penalties per game, and 134th nationally in opponent penalty yards per game (28.5). And that’s with the benefit of playing Tennessee last week. The Vols were the sixth-most penalized team this year, but they still only committed six penalties against Ohio State — down from their average of nine per game against Power 4 opponents.

And this isn’t just an Ohio State problem — it’s also a Big Ten problem. The five teams whose opponents have been penalized the least this season (in terms of yardage) are all Big Ten teams.

134. Ohio State
133. Penn State
132. Michigan
131. Northwestern
130. Michigan State

That is simply too big of a coincidence. UCLA is ranked No. 121 and Washington is No. 120. Iowa is No. 117, Indiana is No. 108, and Wisconsin is No. 99. That’s 10 Big Ten teams in the bottom 36 of opponent penalties.

Purdue and USC are at Nos. 94 and 93, respectively. Oregon comes in at No. 86, followed by Minnesota at No. 77, Illinois at No. 75, Maryland at No. 65, and Rutgers at No. 64.

That’s 17 Big Ten teams basically in the bottom half of opponent penalties nationally.

Then there’s Nebraska, way up high, sitting pretty at No. 14 nationally. Clearly, they are the outlier — or the Big Ten just didn’t include them in a theoretical memo to the conference officials instructing them to call fewer penalties this season because there was a tight schedule to maintain with three television partners to feed all in succession.

That’s an admittedly unfair and probably incorrect conspiracy theory, but the numbers are the numbers.

But getting back to the Buckeyes…

Ohio State is one of just three programs to be ranked outside of the top 100 in opponent penalties in each of the past four years. They are joined by TCU and Texas.

So why so few penalties? Some would say that when opponents play Ohio State, they have to be at their best. They have to mind their P’s and Q’s (their penalties and quarterbacks), which leads to them operating at a higher level because they know they must.

It’s not an outrageous theory. Any coach at Ohio State or places like Ohio State will tell you that opponents often play their best games against them because if they don’t, bad things can happen.

And while that’s a nice theory, anybody who has watched Ohio State play this year has been able to point out some very blatant holding calls that go unwhistled.

Are we really supposed to believe that JT Tuimoloau hasn’t been held this season? Tyleik Williams hasn’t been held? Jack Sawyer?

Did you know that Ohio State players have been flagged for holding four times on punt returns this season. In 71 punt attempts, the Buckeyes have been flagged for holding four times.

Meanwhile, in about 800 snaps on defense, the Buckeyes have drawn just three holding calls.

One holding call against each line of the Ohio State defense this season. That’s all this defense could muster.

We can make this just about the Buckeye defensive line, but are we supposed to believe not a single defensive back has been held by a run-blocking receiver?

For a penalty that so many will tell you “can be called on every play,” it has grown so conspicuous by its absence that now it can’t even be called on any given play.

Don’t believe me?

The last time a starting Ohio State defensive lineman drew a holding penalty that was enforced was November 4.

Of 2023.

While that one soaks in, let’s get back to Jack Sawyer.

In just his third game as a Buckeye, Sawyer drew two holding penalties. The first was against Tulsa tight end Ethan Hall. The other was was against right tackle Dillon Wade. The second came on the last play of the game.

Since that holding penalty on Wade, Jack Sawyer has taken part in 1,619 snaps without drawing another holding penalty from an offensive lineman.

One thousand, six hundred, and nineteen.

Now, to be fair, he has drawn three holding penalties from tight ends in that time — if you even want to consider that “being fair.”

So, in now 52 games as a Buckeye, Sawyer has drawn four total holding penalties. Three of which came as a true freshman. The fourth came in 2023 against Purdue tight end Garrett Miller.

Coaches will tell you that they just want consistency from the officials. Well, the Buckeyes have certainly gotten that, but probably not in the areas the coaches would prefer.

Nobody wants to see a “ref show,” but when you actively choose not to do something, don’t be surprised when it stands out for how effectively you’ve neglected to do it.

The games should be decided by the players — but they also must be permitted to decide them.

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