Copyright cleveland.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The College Football Playoff is on the horizon, and the nation’s top-ranked team is considering deploying an unconventional strategy that helped it win a national title last season. Ohio State is aware of its struggles at right guard and, as was the case during last year’s postseason run, the Buckeyes are planning to rotate at the position because starter Tegra Tshabola has been inconsistent “Where we stand right now, we’re going to kind of split the duty up there,” coach Ryan Day said ahead of Saturday’s game vs. UCLA. “But who knows. That might change later today.” Latest Ohio State Buckeyes news Who are the announcers for Ohio State vs. UCLA on Saturday? What Legend Bey’s commitment means for Ohio State football Ryan Day made another Michigan-driven decision about Ohio State’s standard Ryan Day believes a former 5-star prospect is starting to ‘play his best football’ for Ohio State Injuries affected Ohio State’s offensive line last season, and in the CFP, the Buckeyes relied on a trio of guards to rotate between the two spots. Luke Montgomery played left guard exclusively — a position he starts at now — while Tshabola played right guard and Austin Siereveld moved between the two. The strategy worked, with OSU keeping quarterback Will Howard upright while Tshabola seemingly played some of his best football with a smaller workload. The Buckeyes might get similar results if Ethan Onianwa or Josh Padilla share snaps with Tshabola. “We feel like splitting the reps can help them, all those guys, become more efficient,” Day said. “We’re going to keep evaluating, keep pushing on it and see where we go.” Padilla’s health is a key component to Ohio State’s equation. He serves as the team’s backup center, but in an Oct. 4 win against Minnesota, he earned some snaps at right guard with the starting offensive line on the field. In a win at Wisconsin two weeks later, Padilla played 26 snaps at right guard while Tshabola played 44. The competition went into the bye week, and Padilla again earned early reps at guard when OSU faced Penn State on Nov. 1. However, he was injured in the contest and missed last week’s game at Purdue. Day said he expects a full week of work from Padilla heading into Saturday’s penultimate home game. Onianwa signed with Ohio State as a transfer from Rice in the offseason, and many projected him to be the team’s starting left tackle. Instead, he was beat at both tackle spots and played right guard exclusively until last week when he helped alleviate Phillip Daniels’s absence at right tackle. Ohio State cross-trains its offensive linemen, so a healthy Daniels could move inside to right guard if the best combination features him there with Onianwa at right tackle. Or, Onianwa will continue to be part of a three-man battle at right guard. Regardless, a new storyline is following Ohio State into Saturday’s game. The Buckeyes are 32.5-point favorites, but they can learn plenty against the Bruins.
