OSU linemen rip feminine sides

The Buckeyes worked on their many troublesome areas.

COLUMBUS (AP) — In coffee shops, on city buses, at the kitchen table and around the water cooler, Ohio State fans are becoming increasingly familiar with the guys on the offensive line.

This is not a good thing. What is being said about the usually anonymous guys on the front wall isn’t fit for young ears.

Sure, the Buckeyes are No. 12 in the nation and share the Big Ten lead with marks of 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the conference. But that offensive line stinks!

Or so everyone says.

The linemen had a summit meeting Sunday night — and, amazingly, they agree with that assessment.

“[Tight end] Rory Nicol was the person who stepped up and said it,” tackle Alex Boone said this week during preparations for Saturday’s showdown with No. 20 Michigan State. “[He said] you guys look like a bunch of girls out there. That’s the truth.”

The numbers show that the biggest blockers aren’t doing a very good job. Ohio State failed to score an offensive touchdown last week in a 16-3 victory over Purdue, which came in ranked near the bottom of the conference in defense.

To date, Ohio State’s quarterbacks have been sacked 19 times — matching the total from all 13 games last season. Of the 118 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the Buckeyes rank 94th in total offense, 108th in passing, 70th in scoring and 106th in sacks allowed.

“Certainly, things have not gone as smoothly on occasion as we would like,” said line coach and offensive coordinator Jim Bollman. “We’re not going to say this or that or make excuses. We’re going to keep pounding and working on it.”

There are several good reasons for the ongoing problems both in run blocking and pass protection:

• Missing people.

Tailback Chris “Beanie” Wells was hurt in the opener and missed the next three games. His backups weren’t nearly as effective, so the stats are down even though he’s gained at least 90 yards each of his three games since returning from a foot injury.

• New linemates. Jim Cordle moved from starting center to guard a few weeks ago after Steve Rehring missed the Big Ten opener with a foot injury. Rehring also was ill throughout his first game back at Wisconsin. True freshman Mike Brewster came in to replace Cordle at center and has apparently played well. But there still have been some problems with communication because of the position changes and fresh faces.

• Rookie quarterback. Not only do the Buckeyes have a true freshman at center, but also one at quarterback. Terrelle Pryor replaced Todd Boeckman after a 35-3 beatdown at then-No. 1 Southern California.

Pryor is not your conventional signal-caller; he loves to freelance when a play breaks down. Some of the linemen have groused that he has taken sacks because he holds onto the ball too long instead of throwing it away, or gets into deeper trouble when the defense is on top of him. It’s been a difficult transition for everyone.

“That’s part of the reason why the numbers may not show how good their offensive line is at protecting because he moves around a lot and that makes a bigger opportunity for him to get sacked,” said Michigan State defensive tackle Justin Kershaw. “They have a good offensive line and we’re going to have to get to him to win this game.”

Ohio State has worked on the troublesome areas this week. The problem is that there are so many of them.