Ryan Day Says Buckeyes OL Weren't 'Flat-Out Beat' Against Hoosiers
The Ohio State Buckeyes' offensive line was arguably the biggest question mark coming into this season.
Ohio State had incumbent season-long starters Donovan Jackson and Matt Jones at left and right guard, respectively, but rolled out Josh Simmons at left tackle, Carson Hinzman at center and Josh Fryar at right tackle. Only Fryar graded out as a Champion, meaning he was successful on at least 80 percent of his snaps, as the offensive line questions have yet to be answered.
"I don't see anything on the film that isn't correctable, like guys just getting flat-out beat or not good enough, so that is the most encouraging thing," head coach Ryan Day said. "I would have loved to see better execution but the things that we've seen there are all correctable."
Jones and Fryar had the two highest pass-block grades of the Buckeyes offensive linemen at 86.7 and 85.3, respectively, according to Pro Football Focus. Neither allowed a pressure against the Indiana Hoosiers Saturday.
Hinzman showed promise and recorded a 69.4 pass-block grade, according to PFF, allowing just one pressure. Hinzman was the best run-blocker on the line with a grade of 69.3, according to PFF.
Day said he thought Hinzman was "not bad" in his debut and hopes he can build off his first game.
"I was encouraged overall," Day said. "For the first road game at center with everything going on, I thought he called a decent game. There was a couple things that were a little funky in there, but overall was OK."
However, Simmons was the worst of the five offensive linemen Saturday. Despite not giving up a sack, Simmons gave up a team-high three pressures and the only hit on a quarterback of any offensive lineman, according to PFF.
Day said he needs to see Simmons, who was donning the scarlet and gray for the first time since his transfer from San Diego State, play with more consistency.
"He did some good things. You can see it," Day said. "You can see the athleticism, but just not consistent enough with what we need."
Hinzman, Fryar and Jones were the only three offensive linemen to receive a PFF run-blocking grade above 64, but Simmons and Jackson measured in at 50.6 and 48.6, respectively.
Day said he wants the offense to "establish running downhill" moving forward, and the unit will have to improve its run-blocking game after averaging 4.6 yards per carry.
