Ohio State football’s offensive line must draw on lessons of the past against Clemson

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona -- Over the Ohio State football team’s first 13 games, center Josh Myers believes he has seen almost everything an opposing defense can throw at the Buckeyes.

They may see many of those options from one opponent in Saturday’s Fiesta Bowl matchup with Clemson. The Tigers will come at Ohio State with multiple formations, changing from odd to even fronts, varying the source of their blitzes and disguising their coverages.

All of which could make it more difficult to protect Justin Fields and a left knee that remains, according to the quarterback’s own words on Tuesday, at least somewhat compromised.

Clemson’s 2.92 sacks per game are exactly one fewer than nation-leading Ohio State. Yet that still ranks 15th overall nationally, a testament to the Tigers’ ability to sustain pressure after losing three defensive linemen to the first round of last year’s NFL Draft.

The Buckeyes rank in the bottom 30 percent of FBS, allowing 2.39 per game. With Fields’ mobility improving but potentially not back to 100 percent for Saturday, OSU’s offensive line must be on its toes to identify attacks and extinguish them.

“Just being able to identify, pick up things on the fly, being able to predetermine what they’re going to bring,” left guard Jonah Jackson said of how OSU can prepare for Clemson’s pressure. "Just studying up on film, studying up on their tendencies and then being able to pick it up from there.”

Ohio State saw something it had not yet seen from its last opponent. In the Big Ten championship game, Wisconsin blitzed in greater numbers and with greater frequency than the Buckeyes had seen. Five different Badgers recorded sacks that night, continually knocking OSU off schedule in the first half and harassing Fields.

Myers, who as the center is responsible for calling out protections pre-snap, added that experience to his pile of knowledge. He also took note of the way through the storm in the second half, when J.K. Dobbins started piling up yards and Ohio State’s offense found a punishing rhythm.

“It’s tough to to pick certain blitzes up when when teams are bringing that many blitzes and that many people,” Myers said. "It’s just kind of gritting our teeth and being able to run the ball there, especially in the fourth quarter. We had a like a six-minute drive that was huge.

“Being able to just kind of grit our teeth and get those first downs one right after another and run the ball was huge, and it kind of slows defenses down when they’re blitzing like that.”

Isaiah Simmons’ seven sacks lead Clemson, but four other players have recorded three or more. The challenge may not be quite as urgent as it would have been a year ago, when the Tigers led the nation in sacks behind that first-round trio. That doesn’t mean it won’t be significant.

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In particular, Clemson likes to attack the center-guard gap, in effect going right after Myers.

“It’s something that I’ll go into extremely, extremely great detail watching and making sure that I’m prepared for it, because that’ll definitely be a big part of the game,” Myers said.

Ohio State’s linemen receive plenty of compliments on their physical prowess. Their mental skills may be equally critical against Clemson.

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