PUSKAS: Plenty of playmakers, but no plays

November 22, 2015 at 12:07a.m.

Ohio State has two offensive coordinators — Ed Warinner and Tim Beck — and an offensive-minded head coach in Urban Meyer and still couldn’t come up with a plan that worked against Michigan State.

Maybe that was the problem. Too many cooks, as the saying goes.

Whatever the problem was, the Buckeyes choked down a foul broth with just 132 yards of offense in the rain and wind at Ohio Stadium as their hopes of defending their national championhsip washed away in the gloom.

Last year’s Ohio State team was a defensive coordinator’s nightmare, even after Braxton Miller was lost just before the season started and J.T. Barrett went down in the second half of the Michigan game.

Why?

The Buckeyes had to turn to Cardale Jones in the Big Ten title game and the College Football Playoff, but still had playmakers like Ezekiel Elliott in the backfield and Devin Smith on the outside. And — just as important — they had then-offensive coordinator Tom Herman calling the plays.

Herman got the most out of his third-string quarterback and the Buckeyes rode Jones’ hot hand and Elliott’s legs to a national championship. Even after Smith graduated and Herman took the Houston job, Ohio State returned Miller, Barrett, Jones, Elliott and most of its linemen, so it was almost assumed the Buckeyes would be diversified and just as difficult to defend.

Not so fast.

Elliott remained consistent, with his 100-yard game streak reaching 15 before being snapped by the Spartans, but Jones clearly wasn’t playing as well as he did down the stretch last season. Eventually, Barrett took the job back only to get suspended for a game after a drunk-driving citation.

Musical QBs didn’t seem to help Ohio State, but until Saturday, the offense did seem better with Barrett running it. Still, something was missing. The downfield passes that worked so well against Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon at the end of last season were few and far between. They were completely non-existent against Michigan State.

Was it a lack of playmakers or the lack of Herman? Contributing to the problem was that the offensive line also seemed to regress at times.

All of those factors came together Saturday as the Spartans simply shut down the one-dimensional Buckeyes.

The clincher, however, was Ohio State’s refusal to put the ball in Elliott’s belly as the second half progressed. The Buckeyes’ Heisman Trophy-caliber running back carried just four times — twice in the second half — after getting eight touches on Ohio State’s first scoring drive.

Elliott ran for just 33 yards on 12 carries against MSU, then ripped the coaching staff and said there was no chance he’d return in 2016.

It was stunning development — even more shocking than the loss itself.

The Buckeyes clearly underachieved all season, even considering they didn’t lose until Saturday.

That game — and the season itself — are examples of how fleeting and tenuous college football supremacy can be.

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.