‘A level of anxiety’: OSU’S Day uneasy with new clock rule
Ohio State coach Ryan Day spent a great deal of time in his postgame press conference voicing frustration over how little time his team had the ball during a 35-7 win over Youngstown State.
“It does create a level of anxiety,” he said. “We’re used to getting about 15 possessions a game and scoring 60 and 70 points, but we had nine possessions. We’re not used to having nine possessions. That’s 60 plays. There’s a lot of guys that we’re trying to get out on the field and get touches to and play. And, boy, when you only have 60 plays, every single rep, I mean, you’ve got to be on point.”
Last season, Ohio State averaged more than 67 offensive plays per game. That was before the NCAA adopted the NFL’S rule of allowing the game clock to run after first downs, with an exception in the last two minutes of each half.
Ohio State’s two opponents, Indiana and Youngstown State, both sought to shrink the Buckeyes’ time of possession even further.
“I thought that would be their game plan,” Day said after beating the Penguins. “I didn’t know that they would huddle and milk it all the way down to inside of 10 seconds and then try to run it on third down just to keep the clock going, but they did and that’s smart on their end.”
Then he shared what, for him, must be a discomforting thought: It’s a smart enough strategy for other teams to try to copy.
“Maybe some teams are going to do that more and more,” he said.
With their leisurely offense, Youngstown State dominated time of possession, 34 minutes to OSU’S 26 minutes. Ohio State’s players noticed.
“The halves are flying by,” wide receiver Emeka Egbuka said. “Especially the
second half of this game, I didn’t feel like there was a second half.”
The Buckeyes effectually had three drives after halftime Saturday. A fourth possession lasted 25 seconds and ended with the final whistle.
Perhaps nobody has been more affected than quarterback Devin Brown, who wants to make up ground in a quarterback battle now heavily tilted in Kyle Mccord’s favor (at the least) but has had few snaps to do so.
He did get 13 pass attempts off against the Penguins, completing seven, compared to the week prior when he was 1 for 3 passing. Still, Brown noted, “We lost a lot of series with this new clock rule.”
A quick-strike offense is perhaps harder to execute with inexperienced signal callers, but that is one way to give Ohio State some of its missing series back. According to Egbuka, that is what the team has tried to do.
“An emphasis this week was execution and effort,” he said, “and we also had a big emphasis on tempo and getting plays out there quickly because we know the rules with the clock now.”
Egbuka pointed out that not all the knockoff effects of the new rule are bad. It did cause Ohio State, for instance, to take the opening kickoff after winning the coin toss Saturday – much to Egbuka’s delight.
“We felt like we wanted to get off to a hot start,” he said. “That’s one of my favorite things ... because I want to get out there on the field, score, and give our defense a little juice to rally behind.”
Cornerback Denzel Burke has observed another advantage.
“I honestly feel fresher after the game,” he said. “Games are going by a lot quick. It’s kind of crazy, honestly.”
But the bottom line is with Notre Dame looming Sept. 23, a huge road test is coming up quickly, and now, almost more than ever, Ohio State doesn’t have time to waste.