Ohio State’s Big Ten win over Wisconsin shows glaring issue the Buckeyes must fix to reach where they want to go
It wasn’t all good news for the Buckeyes coming out of their win over Wisconsin.
The Ohio State Buckeyes dominated from start to finish in their Week 8 win over the Wisconsin Badgers on the road.
Ohio State cruised to a 34-0 victory, and the game probably wasn’t even as close as the score suggests. The Buckeyes stifled the Badgers’ offense as many expected, giving up only 144 total yards while finding most of their offensive success through the air to lead them to 492 total yards. While Ohio State has to be smiling at a 7-0 record, there’s still one key area that needs improvement.
Ohio State’s run game has to take a big step forward
The Buckeyes simply didn’t have much of a run game against Wisconsin, totaling just 97 rushing yards. True freshman Bo Jackson once again got the start, but he was limited to 26 rushing yards on 10 carries. Ohio State entered the season expecting James Peoples to be the feature back with CJ Donaldson as his backup, but Jackson has taken over that role since Week 2 against Grambling State.
Coming into the game against Wisconsin, the Buckeyes were averaging 160.7 rushing yards per game, ranking No. 62 in the country. They were far more explosive out of the backfield last season with TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, and those two would always be difficult to replace. While it was unrealistic to expect the same level of production, Ohio State still needs to run the ball better than it has been. The Buckeyes’ leading rusher had just 47 yards against Illinois and 63 yards against Minnesota.
Ohio State hasn’t had a 100-yard rusher since Jackson ran for 109 yards in Week 3 against the Ohio Bobcats. True freshman Isaiah West had his best game of the season with 54 yards on the ground. The Buckeyes’ offense ran through quarterback Julian Sayin, who was outstanding with 394 yards on 36-of-42 passing with four touchdowns. Jackson still found ways to contribute, adding five receptions for 57 yards out of the backfield despite the struggles in the run game.
After back-to-back road games against Wisconsin and Illinois, the Buckeyes will have a bye next weekend before hosting the Penn State Nittany Lions on Nov. 1. Ohio State again looked like the top team in the country against Wisconsin, but there’s still room for improvement — and that’s not a bad thing at this point in the year.
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