As Urban Meyer sat in the cramped visiting team interview room in the southwest corner of Ross-Ade Stadium, he may have had a momentary case of deja vu.
Many of the reporters and fans listening to him certainly did.
For the fourth straight week, the Buckeyes’ offense failed to crack 3.3 yards per rush.
For a school that has built its powerhouse reputation on a tradition of power running, it’s almost unthinkable that they could be this bad on the ground.
The worst game on the ground for the 2017 team was the Cotton Bowl against USC, in which the Buckeyes averaged 4.3 yards per carry. That’s a full yard better than they did in any game in the last month.
Through the Tulane game this season, Urban Meyer’s teams had rushed for 3.3 yards per play or fewer in only two games, the 2015 loss to Michigan State (3.0) and the 2014 loss to Virginia Tech (2.7). That’s twice in 85 games.
The last four weeks, they’ve been at or below 3.2 yards per carry in all four games.
A level of performance on the ground that used to be synonymous with the most embarrassing losses of the Meyer era is now a weekly occurrence.
Coaches, players, reporters, and fans have all offered theories on why the offense is struggling on the ground.
Is it the offensive line? The running backs? The lack of a running quarterback? The play calling?
After the Purdue game, Urban Meyer promised, “We’re going to work hard to get it fixed.”
Of course, Buckeye fans have heard it all before. Here’s what Meyer has had to say about the struggles in the run game after each of those four weeks.
After the Penn State game: 3.2 yards per rush
Q. Why not mix in some quarterback sneaks for certain situations?
COACH MEYER: A lot of different reasons. You see teams a lot, that’s operating 99.999 out of the shotgun, and they go to center and they drop the ball, just because you don’t do it. We’ve had those conversations over and over again. Jones, 14, I think, those are questions — I’m just answering your question.
Q. Why not just practice it more? Seems like such an effective play?
COACH MEYER: Duly noted (laughter.) Thank you.
After the Indiana game: 3.2 yards per rush
Had a lot of yards, still not doing what we need to do in the run game. And that’s something that’s alarming. So we’ve just got to continue to work on that.
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And we practiced very hard this week after getting in at 3:30 in the morning. We were worried about that a little bit. The heat was there again all week.
But you get out of those things and you go work on, fix some issues that’s what the game’s all about.
After the Minnesota game: 2.9 yards per rush
Short yardage is not a strength. Red zone is not a strength, and running the ball is not a strength. That’s something we’ve got to get figured out.
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Somebody told me at one time we’ve rushed for more yards than any school in the country for the last six, seven years. It’s discouraging a little bit, but once again, 7-0, and looking down we’re throwing for 412. It is what it is. I just know the game of football, I’ve been around. At some point, you’ve got to line up and do what you do.
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As of today and last week, no, but there certainly are signs. We’ve got two good backs, and we’ve just got it get it worked out.
After the Purdue game: 3.0 yards per rush
The red zone offense. To go down there three times and have two field goals and one missed field goal. You have to score points. We’ve never had this issue. So we’re going to have a real thorough evaluation of that.
I look up at the board and see the rushing yardage again. You have to get something going. You can’t just throw for 400 yards. That’s worked a few times, but down the stretch we’re going to need a running game.
If (fixing the running game) was that easy or I could give you a one sentence answer, I would give it to you. We’re going to work hard to get it fixed.
Q: Why is this staff capable of getting things fixed when it’s been seven games and it doesn’t seem like any progress has been made?
That’s a good question. We’re 7-1 and our objective is to get to 8-1 and try to find a way to get these things fixed. We have to get some guys healthy. We’re running on fumes in the back end of our defense right now.