COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio State football offensive line’s quest for supremacy within its own room resulted in a rough sequence for Michigan linebacker Jordan Glasgow last Saturday.
On one particular play, right guard Wyatt Davis quickly advanced to the second level and hit Glasgow, knocking him back on his heels. When Glasgow charged again, Davis put him on the ground.
“I had to let him know where I was from, man,” Davis said, before revealing another motivation.
“And you know, playing with Jonah (Jackson), any slight chance of getting a knockdown, best believe I’m taking advantage, because I know he’ll have like 30 by the end of the game or something. Maybe we need to fact check that — slight shade.”
The entire episode encapsulates the offensive line’s identity. Technically excellent, physically punishing, but also bonded by a belief in each other and a mission to prove themselves beyond question.
Increasingly that presence builds from the inside out, with the three relative newcomers on the inside all asserting themselves over the course of the season. Head coach Ryan Day said recently he believes his three interior linemen — Davis, Myers and left guard Jackson — are the best such group in the country.
“Just turn on the tape you see how they play — not only just play but how they communicate, how they understand the game,” senior right tackle Branden Bowen said. “It’s something that I haven’t seen before.
You turn on the Team Up North game and Jonah and Wyatt and Josh — I mean they’re just throwing dudes. I really haven’t seen that before."
Left tackle Thayer Munford was the only member of this group who started against Michigan a year earlier. Bowen was hurt. Jackson was playing for Rutgers. Davis and Myers were redshirt freshmen in reserve roles.
Ohio State lit Michigan up through the air in 2018, as it did most opponents. Not only did the Buckeyes’ 2019 line need to come together as individuals, they needed to do so while transitioning back to a more balanced offense thriving first on the run.
How well did they accomplish that mission? Their 280.58 yards per game rank fourth nationally. The 5.83 yards per carry rank fifth. The Buckeyes have rushed for 200 or more yards in every game, topped 300 or more on four occasions and propelled junior running back J.K. Dobbins into the fringes of the Heisman Trophy conversation.
Dobbins rushed for 211 yards and four touchdowns against the Wolverines. Jackson said after the game the Buckeyes were “hungry ... to dominate up front.” That hunger has not waned since the preseason.
“First off, their approach to the game is off the charts,” Day said. "They understand stuff. They communicate. They’re tough. They’re good in the run game, pass game. They finish guys.
“If you follow them around during the game, it’s just amazing the stuff that they do — the finishes and the knock-downs they get during the game. They’re the tip of the spear on our offense. Everything goes through those guys.”
Myer said all five of the linemen have grown close, partially through a concerted effort to spend time together fine-tuning their performance. Yet he believes they also share some physical traits, especially their ability to pull out and lead the rushing attack. Some of the Buckeye backfield’s biggest breakaways featured one of those three inside blockers leveling an opponent downfield.
“It really helps how well the three of us are able to run,” Myers said. “How mobile we are helps us open up our offense and our run game as well.”
For the second time this season, Ohio State prepares to face Wisconsin’s tough defensive front. Wisconsin features a pair of All-Big Ten linebackers — first-teamer Zach Baun and second-teamer Chris Orr. The Badgers have started using more 4-3 alignments in with their usual 3-4, as well as mixing more players into their rotation up font.
The Badgers rank seventh nationally in rushing yards allowed per game, and 16th in opponents’ yards per carry (3.33). Take away the 264 yards on 50 carries the Buckeyes put up in the teams’ first meeting and that average drops to 3.0. Nebraska remains the only other opponent to rush for for more than 97 yards against Wisconsin.
Looking back on OSU’s 38-7 win over Oct. 26, Orr did not discuss the Buckeyes’ scheme or their strength. What stood out to him was how cohesive the group seemed to be.
“They seemed to be on one accord, passing stuff off, working combo blocks and getting up to second level,” Orr said. “They work really well together.”
Bowen said that dynamic begins inside with Myers, a first-year starter at center who has impressed his teammates with his football IQ and the nasty streak he brings to his blocking efforts. Bowen said he and Myers watch film together each week. More importantly, the entire offensive line has grown to trust Myers’ calls when they walk up to the line of scrimmage.
The messages then pass to either side down through the guards to the tackles, like a non-secretive and especially accurate version of the telephone game.
“Sometimes you have players who don’t release, say things, echo calls or even just call up blitzes or make the right calls, and they have no problem with any of that kind of stuff,” Bowen said.
Davis said the competition is real to beat Jackson for the knockdowns total on any given Saturday. The graduate transfer from Rutgers is the leader for the season.
Offensive linemen don’t have many individual statistics on which to brag. That one — which recognizes not only winning a block but completely taking an opponent out of the play — has extra value.
Davis, jokingly, remains skeptical of Jackson’s accumulation.
“He gets like eight knockdowns a game,” Davis said. “He might be paying the guy that does it. I’ve seen him do it."
The bad news for Ohio State opponents is Davis is probably wrong, but he and the other four linemen are going to try to overtake Jackson anyway.
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