BIG TEN OSU's offense ranks near bottom

Offensive tackle Tony Olivea doesn't know why the Buckeyes are struggling.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Shane Olivea has no answers -- and he's really getting fed up with the questions.
After yet another subpar performance by No. 8 Ohio State's offense in a 19-10 win over No. 9 Iowa on Saturday, the Buckeyes rank 114th of the 117 Division I-A schools in total offense.
Olivea, Ohio State's starting right tackle, is as bewildered as anybody by the lack of production. The Buckeyes are on track for their worst rushing season since the school's sports information office began logging statistics in 1945.
"It's been one thing after another. It's definitely frustrating," he said Tuesday. "When you have a three-and-out, you've got to put your defense back on the field. They look at you like, 'Man, help us out a little bit.' "
Rating the offense
Olivea was asked what the offense does well.
"According to you guys, not much," he said with a half-smile, half-sneer.
Ohio State is averaging 2.89 yards a carry (a 33 percent drop-off from last year's 4.3). The Buckeyes' 108.7 yards rushing per game ranks them 97th in I-A. The worst rushing Ohio State team in the last half century was the 1966 squad -- and it averaged 15 yards more per game than this one.
"We know we're a lot better than our numbers show," Olivea said with a shrug, then later conceded, "We're not as productive as last year. Look at the numbers. The numbers don't lie."
Coach Jim Tressel said it wasn't easy to find what has gone wrong on offense.
"You're on that eternal search for one reason for every situation and I don't think there is one reason," Tressel said.
Offensive line erratic
The offensive line has been erratic, blocking well on one play and barely slowing down charging defenders on the next. Many think quarterback Craig Krenzel, the golden boy of Ohio State's national championship season a year ago, is pressing too much or has yet to recover from a hyper-extended elbow on his throwing arm.
Tailbacks Maurice Hall, Lydell Ross and Ira Guilford have combined for 590 yards and six touchdowns through seven games. Through his first seven games last season, Maurice Clarett had 980 yards and 13 touchdowns by himself.
"[Clarett] made a big difference," Olivea said. "He could run over people as much as make people miss. We definitely miss his production this year. It's unfortunate he's not here. But we've got to go with the guys we have."
They will also have to do it against some of the best teams in the conference.
The schedule
The Buckeyes (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) play at Indiana (1-6, 0-3) on Saturday. After that, they travel to Penn State, play host to No. 11 Michigan State and No. 10 Purdue and close at No. 13 Michigan.
"We can't rely on our defense to not let anybody score for the rest of the season," Olivea said.
Linebacker Fred Pagac Jr. said the Buckeyes remain unified, that they have not reached the stage where the defense is pointing fingers at the ineffective offense.
"If the offense is doing bad, we're going to do everything we can to stop the opposing offense, just to give our offense a chance to get back and score some points," he said. "So I'm positive guys aren't frustrated."
Lost only road game
As if that stretch run weren't difficult enough, consider that the Buckeyes lost their only previous road game this season, 17-10 at Wisconsin two weeks ago.
"The most glaring thing that we have to make sure we understand is that we're 6-0 at home, and we're 0-1 on the road," Tressel said. "When you're at Ohio State, you're going to get their best shot times two. We need to understand what it takes to win on the road. And obviously our defense needs to continue to play the way that it's playing and continue to control the tempo of football games."