OSU’s rushing attack grounded

COLUMBUS (AP) — This would be enough to make Woody Hayes rip up some sideline markers. Maybe even the guys holding them.

Ohio State, long a bastion of power running and ball-control offense, ranks 81st among the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in rushing. The 11th-ranked Buckeyes (1-1) are producing a less-than-robust 120 yards on the ground per game heading into Saturday’s contest with in-state challenger Toledo.

Air Force leads the country at 368 yards a game. Hawaii, alma mater of renowned passers Colt Brennan and Timmy Chang, is rushing for more than the Buckeyes.

“Ohio State is known for running the ball and getting the offense going,” said the Buckeyes’ leading rusher, Dan “Boom” Herron, who is averaging all of 58 yards a game. “It helps the offense out by running the ball out there and being able to open it up. It is a backbone for the offense.”

Right now, that backbone has a slipped disc. Opponents are outrushing the Buckeyes by more than 30 yards a game. At his current rate, Herron will finish the season with 696 yards, which would be the second-lowest season total by the lead back in Columbus in the last 21 years.

The Buckeyes have played just two games, so it’s not time for fans to panic just yet. Still, projected over a 12-game season, the Buckeyes would rush for 1,000 yards less than they did a year ago — an alarming drop.

The late Hayes, of course, described his macho, bowl-’em-over, straight-ahead running attack as “three yards and a cloud of dust.” And that was back when three yards was a busted play.

His 1973 team averaged 356 yards a game — 50 percent more in four quarters than the current Buckeyes have in eight.

The volatile Hayes, who more than once tore up sideline markers and chucked them on the field in anger, preached ball control and felt the forward pass was an entertaining but almost unessential part of the game.

Three decades after Hayes left the sideline, the Buckeyes are averaging just 3.5 yards a carry. They have gone under 3.5 for a season only once since 1966.

The ground game was almost nonexistent in Saturday night’s 18-15 loss to No. 3 Southern California. The Buckeyes mustered 88 yards on 30 attempts. Leading for much of the second half, try as they might they could not keep their defense off the field and could not string together any lengthy drives, finishing with just 10 first downs.

The rushing game sustained another hit on Thursday when right tackle Jim Cordle — a three-year starter and the most experienced player up front — was sidelined for three to four weeks with an ankle injury.

Coach Jim Tressel has been the focus of many fans’ anger. They say his conservative play-calling and lack of imagination on offense has made his team predictable and plodding.

For his part, Tressel said he is constantly questioning his offensive philosophy of avoiding turnovers, playing for field position and waiting for the other team to make a mistake.

But he also said he had no intention of altering that philosophy.

“I don’t know that we would make a wholesale [change],” he said earlier this week.