Ohio St. must find running game

It's hardly pretty, it's definitely not very entertaining, but the end result for 19 games now has been a "W" and at the end of the day. Isn't that what really counts?
The Buckeyes look downright awful at times -- the running game, despite the 200-plus-yard performance against Bowling Green a week ago, has to be a real concern in the Scarlet and Gray locker room.
Tight end Ben Hartsock admitted after Saturday's victory over Northwestern that the team misses Maurice Clarett's combination of breakaway speed and overpowering strength.
Well, who wouldn't? Opposing defenses knew what was coming and Clarett still succeeded.
One of the reasons Minnesota beat Penn State was a fourth quarter possession that lasted 11 plays and consumed over six minutes, resulting in a field goal that put the Golden Gophers ahead by six points. Every one of the 11 plays was a rush.
The Nittany Lions knew what was coming, but seemed powerless to stop it because Minnesota's offensive line played with almost perfect execution.
Fourth quarter misery
In their last three games, that's a quality Ohio State hasn't been able to match. The Buckeyes gave away all of a 17-point lead against North Carolina State, and almost duplicated it against Bowling Green because they couldn't run the ball, couldn't move the first down chains and couldn't consume time off the clock in the fourth quarter.
And that's not a good trend, not with a road date at Wisconsin looming in a couple of weeks. Big Ten championship teams can run the ball, especially with the lead in the fourth quarter, on the road, when the defense knows it's coming.
What Clarett possessed, and what his replacements, Maurice Hall and Lydell Ross, lack, is the ability to hit the hole quickly and then avoid tackles in the open field.
Too many times Hall and Ross don't appear to run with their heads up going into the line of scrimmage, although Ross did a superb job on his touchdown run against Northwestern Saturday, backing out of a pileup and out-racing the backside defenders to the goal.
Also, Hall and Ross don't seem to have the strength to break out of tackles. Clarett could always turn bad plays into good plays, and good plays into great plays.
Coach Jim Tressel, in his post-game press conference, came as close as ever to admitting the running game is a problem.
He'll never come right out and admit it, of course, but it wasn't difficult to read between the lines when he said in the post-game that "we have seen a little bit of improvement, but not nearly as much as I think we need to have ..."
Tressel's recipe for success
We also heard Tressel's oft-repeated mantra: a dominating defense, special teams that make big plays and an offense that doesn't make mistakes.
Tressel said one of his goals for the game was to have no turnovers. They fell short of that when quarterback Scott McMullen threw an ill-advised pass over the middle late in the first half.
But, like Craig Krenzel, McMullen maintained his poise and directed Ohio State to a couple of scoring drives in each half.
Still, it's pretty obvious the Buckeyes are missing something on offense. You wonder if it's simply a case of Clarett and his ability to make something out of nothing, or something big out of the ordinary.
Or, is it really a situation where the offensive line is simply not strong enough or cohesive enough to create the holes?
Last season, the Buckeyes weren't considered much of an offensive juggernaut, but they still averaged 191 yards rushing and 29 points per game.
Before Saturday, those figures were 28 points and 127.8 yards rushing per game. That latter figure ranked last in the Big Ten.
The return of injured center Alex Stepanovich and Krenzel for the Wisconsin game will help.
At this point, almost nothing would hurt.
XRob Todor is sports editor of The Vindicator. Write to him at todor@vindy.com.