There isn't enough evidence to suggest a need for a change in the Buckeyes' running game, but seeing more of Jordan Hall and Jaamal Berry today would be intriguing. Just don't get too caught up in it.
View full sizeOhio State running back Jaamal Berry could see plenty of action today against Eastern Michigan, but Buckeyes fans shouldn't get carried away if he puts up some big numbers.1. Backup running backs
More Jaamal Berry! Ohio State's No. 4 running back, in the pecking order clearly explained by the coaches, continues to be one of the most asked about Buckeyes, with many fans wanting the freshman to get more carries.
Ohio State's top tandem, Brandon Saine and Dan Herron, hasn't put up huge numbers. Yet, it's difficult to believe that on the No. 2 team in the country, which is averaging 41 points per game, taking carries away from two fourth-year players -- one of whom [Saine] is a captain -- to give more carries to two second-year players, one of whom [Berry] missed last season with repeated hamstring injuries, is the way to go.
This isn't to criticize Jordan Hall, the No. 3 back, or Berry, both of whom have shown good moves and a nice burst during practices, scrimmages and at the ends of blowouts. And it's not to say that either Saine or Herron are on the level of former OSU stars Beanie Wells or Maurice Clarett. Saine is a good-sized back with great speed in the open field and when he has a clear hole. But he doesn't break a lot of tackles or grind out tough yards. Herron runs hard and has shown better, but not great, vision this season. But he isn't a big breakaway threat.
However, it seems too many people are swayed by Berry averaging 11.4 yards per carry on seven late runs in the blowout against Marshall and some effective kick and punt returns from both Hall and Berry.
There's more to being a running back than a little wiggle, and it's clear right now the coaches trust their veterans most when it comes to taking care of the ball and taking care of the quarterback by blocking for Terrelle Pryor on pass plays. The best way for Ohio State to get knocked out of the national title race is for someone to whiff on a block and have Pryor get injured on a hit he doesn't see coming. That part of the game is more critical than an extra juke between the tackles.
"They are not going to turn it over," OSU running backs coach Dick Tressel said of his top two backs. "You're going to have to mug them to get the football away from them. That would be the No. 1 thing. They also understand that you do what the team needs. That's not an issue for them. That really takes them to the top, and then throw in talent and they're hard to beat out."
It can be frustrating for fans to see running backs not hit a hole hard or get brought down by the first tackler. That's happening at times with the Buckeyes, but teams also are ganging up to stop Ohio State's running game. Hall and Berry could get extra carries today in a blowout, but remember to judge them in context. Try to watch what Hall and Berry do in protection whenever the Buckeyes pass the ball.
Remember this -- when Ohio State leaned on the run game last November against Penn State, Iowa and Michigan as Pryor was nursing a knee injury, Saine and Herron combined for 506 yards on 110 carries in those three games, a 4.6-yard average. They weren't All-Americans, but they were enough to win.
There isn't enough evidence to suggest a need for a change, but seeing more of Hall and Berry today would be intriguing. Just don't get too caught up in it.
2. Ohio State's punt formation
Last season, the Buckeyes began using the punt formation in which the players on the line spread several steps apart from each other rather than bunch in a typical offensive line. No one noticed much until last week, when Ohio blocked a punt. Three OSU players -- defensive linemen Adam Bellamy and Garrett Goebel and linebacker Jordan Whiting -- are left to defend the punter, and they were overwhelmed when five Ohio players shot through the line and went for the block.
Coach Jim Tressel said this week the scheme, adopted by many teams, allows the Buckeyes to get downfield quicker to cover the punts. However, you can understand how it might be more vulnerable to blocks. He said the players hadn't seen that type of pressure, designed that way, in practice, so they didn't deal with it properly. Take note today, because the Buckeyes won't be changing what they do.
"You get better coverage. Last year we went probably 90 percent to it. We've just seen from a statistical standpoint that we've done a better job with our net punt," Tressel said. "Does it scare you when someone doesn't block the B gap? Absolutely. But we've had that happen in the tighter punt where someone didn't block when they were supposed to."
3. Tressel's tough luck with Eastern Michigan
In a broadcast that will have plenty of time to fill, this certainly will be pointed out: Tressel's career record against the Eagles is 1-4. All the games were played when Tressel was the head coach at Youngstown State, and he was actually 0-4 before winning, 24-14, in 1990.
"In 1986, we were up, 14-3, with four minutes to go and they threw the same route like seven times and we kept covering the tight end and they kept hitting the dig and they beat us, 17-14, at the buzzer," Tressel said. "Then they ran a fake punt in '89 and beat us."
4. Ron English's knowledge of the Buckeyes
The second-year coach of Eastern Michigan hasn't won a game yet, his tenure off to an 0-15 start. But he knows Ohio State. English was Michigan's secondary coach for three seasons, then the Wolverines' defensive coordinator in 2006 and 2007, when they ranked in the top 25 in the nation both years in fewest points and fewest yards allowed. Michigan hasn't ranked in the top 65 in either category since.