Ohio State PFF grades confirm Ryan Day hit home run with one key change
The Ohio State Buckeyes' resounding win over the Tennessee Volunteers included several marquee moves that defined Ryan Day's tenure-saving performance. With the heat on the back of the entire program, changes had to be made on both sides of the ball. Finally, losing to Michigan for a fourth time seemed to spur the adjustments fans […]
The Ohio State Buckeyes' resounding win over the Tennessee Volunteers included several marquee moves that defined Ryan Day's tenure-saving performance. With the heat on the back of the entire program, changes had to be made on both sides of the ball.
Finally, losing to Michigan for a fourth time seemed to spur the adjustments fans have asked about for years. Ohio State played faster, more aggressively, and was sharper with playcalling.
But Day's biggest personnel change was a resounding hit. Inserting Luke Montgomery into the guard spot and allowing him to play both sides throughout the evening may have changed the future of a beleaguered line. The Ohio State PFF grades confirmed the eye test.
While PFF grains are far from a biblical reference, they're a good baseline to check what we've seen. Montgomery played 31 of his 108 season snaps against the Volunteers, sticking at left guard. His overall grade of 70.4 was his second-best outing of the year.
Montgomery received his highest mark of the season as a run blocker, getting a 74.2. Controversially, his pass block grade was easily the worst of the season. He scored just a 49.4 in pass pro, allowing two pressures on 17 snaps.
Our team felt Montgomery was even more impactful on the Buckeyes' efforts than PFF. This was the most snaps he's played in a single game throughout his career, besting his outing against Western Michigan by four snaps. The trouble for Will Howard and Ohio State's backs lessened as the Buckeyes wore down the Volunteers in the second half.
He was the highest overall blocker graded, followed closely by Donovan Jackson, Tegra Tshabola, Josh Fryar, and Austin Sierveld. That should be the Buckeyes' rotation throughout their next game against Oregon, though Siereveld ought to be the first man out.
The lone poor pass-blocking grades handed out were to Montgomery and Tshabola. Tshabola received a putrid 22.3 mark in 18 pass-blocking snaps at right guard, but only allowed one pressure. Giving up only eight hurries, zero hits, and zero sacks on Howard, it's a little confusing why Ohio State's line struggled to grade higher.
It rarely felt as though Howard was overly rushed or under duress.
This was a massive victory for the Buckeyes, not only as a final score, but to make adjustments and see tangible results from personnel decisions. We can now question why it took this long to see Montgomery on the field, but it's better to have figured it out now compared to never.
