In Order To Win: Offense

We have run this series over the past two College Football Playoff games and there is no reason to stop now.

We know that Las Vegas has the Buckeyes just shy of a touchdown favorite. We know that the national pundits seem to like the Buckeyes in the Cotton Bowl against Texas, regardless of an obvious home crowd advantage that is coming. We also know that ESPN’s FPI has this game as a coinflip, with Texas holding a slight edge of less than a percentage point.

But what do the Buckeyes need to do to turn a slight deficit into a major advantage and then by executing most/all the goals, leave no doubt?

I have been looking closely at each game and identifying a few (well, let’s call it five) things that the Buckeyes need to do to put themselves in the best position possible to leave the game with the ‘Dub’ and advance to the next level.

We are talking Texas and let’s start with what Ohio State needs to do on Offense.

Rush for at least two touchdowns

The Longhorns have given up 13 touchdowns on the ground through 15 games, so they have been quite stingy when it comes to giving up that last yard on the football field.

But in Texas’ two losses (both to Georgia) the Horns have given up a combined total of five touchdowns.

Anyone who has paid attention to me this year knows how little I think of the Georgia rushing offense (a look at the stats will back me up, UGA is No. 102 in rushing offense).

Yet, the Bulldogs were able to run against these guys. The other top 20 rushing offenses that Texas faced were able to as well, with Texas A&M and Arizona State totaling for three touchdowns.

So, eight of the 13 touchdowns allowed happened in those four games.

Ohio State is No. 52 in rushing offense over the course of the year, but the past two games have said otherwise.

Running for a pair of touchdowns (or more) would go a long way.

Stay true to who you are in the passing game

Texas has made a lot of passing offenses look bad this year. There is a reason why the Longhorns are No. 3 in passing yards allowed and No. 2 in pass efficiency defense.

We can debate if it is a case of the Horns not really facing any great quarterbacks or that the Horns just took care of all comers.

Ohio State cannot really change what it is to work against Texas.

Now, that doesn’t mean that you can’t alter things and do the things that Texas may not be as good at.

But you aren’t going to change the engine of a jet at 35,000 feet, and you aren’t going to rework your offense in just nine days between the Rose and Cotton Bowls.

You are going to have to see a lot of the same elements, but again, you may have to plan on throwing more underneath, because that is what is available.

I will say this though, looking at some of the top passing offenses on Texas’ schedule, seeing that UTSA, Arkansas and even Georgia all made the list, well, it is mind-blowing.

Inconsistencies with the Georgia offense in general made the Dawgs a hard team to get a read on. And as for the other two teams? How exactly did that happen?

And finally, for as vaunted as the pass defense is, the team has given up a good amount of yardage in the past two games, about 316 yards per game. Clemson got away with three scores while Arizona State only had the one. But this is not the team that allowed fewer than 180 passing yards from Mississippi State all the way through Arkansas.

Score at least 30 points

But Kevin, Texas is scoring more than 34 points per game, why only 30?

Because Texas is only scoring 28.6 points per game in league play. The number goes down if I threw in the SEC Championship Game. The number would move back up a little bit if we threw in the two rounds of the CFP.

But what is it? Were Clemson and Arizona State worthy of being in the field? Were they really a challenger on par with the Buckeyes? Who had the more difficult schedule? Texas or Ohio State with Tennessee and Oregon?

That last question will make for great sports radio conversation and is not something that I want to try and figure out right now.

They say that defense wins championships but in the four-team playoff era, offense won games, at least in the championship game. The average score for the winner of the CFP Championship was 41.8 PPG.

Both teams are capable of breaking out for that kind of number, but most people see Ohio State winning a high-scoring affair more often than Texas.

Don’t forget about Carnell Tate

When you have a tandem like Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka, three can be the loneliest number.

It is not as if Tate has not been on the field, but it has been slow going in terms of pass-catching action.

Tate has been targeted four times (Tenn: 1, Ore: 3) with two receptions (one in each game) for 28 yards.

There were a lot of questions about the Tennessee secondary and Ohio State ate it up. There were not as many questions about the Oregon secondary, and Ohio State went back up and had seconds.

There are even fewer questions about the Texas secondary, and you would think that the Horns would have the personnel to at least make it challenging for Smith and Egbuka to run wide open.

Enter Carnell Tate, Ohio State’s third No. 1 receiver. This could be a big game for Tate. I am not saying he will outpace the other two receivers, but I expect a couple of drive extending catches and maybe even a touchdown.

Hold (but don’t hold) the line

See what I did there?

Ohio State can’t get the benefit of an offensive holding call, but don’t give the opponent anything (I still don’t know exactly what Will Kacmarek was called for0.

Texas has 45 sacks, good for No. 4 in the nation in sack total. They can get you from all three levels, they can get you with a four-man rush, they just can get you.

We have heard how good the fronts for both Tennessee and Oregon were and how the Ducks were going to be even better in getting Jordan Burch back.

Neither team had much success against the Ohio State front and Will Howard was largely unbothered.

I think Texas presents a different type of challenge and of the three remaining teams not named Ohio State, has the most chaotic defensive front.

The Buckeyes just need more of the same from the offensive line. I know that is a simple statement. That doesn’t make it any less true.

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