COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — After 15 years coaching in the NFL, Arthur Smith was hired to fix an Ohio State offense that was efficient but not explosive last season.
The Buckeyes averaged 33.4 points per game last season, but faltered in their final two games, scoring just 10 points in a loss to Indiana in the Big 10 title game and 14 in a quarterfinal loss to Miami (Fla.) in the College Football Playoff.
That was under offensive coordinator Brian Hartline, who was named head coach at the University of South Florida just days before the Big Ten championship.
Hartline’s first season as the play caller saw the Buckeyes finish second in the nation in passing efficiency and 21st in passing yards per game (268.2) while sliding to 72nd in rushing (154.4 yards per game).
Most of Smith’s NFL offenses — which include two seasons each as offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers and three seasons as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons — have run the ball well, so he’s been welcomed by the Ohio State offensive linemen and running backs.
For sophomore Isaiah West, who is looking to share carries with returning 1,000-yard back Bo Jackson this fall, that means more than just putting a greater emphasis on the rushing attack.
It’s a matter of attacking defenses with a purpose.
“Arthur Smith has a structured plan for the offense,” West said. “We don’t have a thousand different plays. We have a few that we’re really good at. Arthur Smith is real big on being brilliant in the basics.”
As an example, West offered the way Smith is teaching them to read blocks on basic running plays.
“The way that we read wide zone, the way that we read tight zone, he’s real big on just making everything simple, making sure that we just get it down,” West said.
The tight ends are also excited to be part of what Smith is doing in Columbus.
That makes sense because Smith has deployed two- and three-tight end sets frequently at previous coaching stops, though he was careful not to tip his hand about schemes when he met with reporters earlier this month.
Bennett Christian, a fifth-year senior tight end looking to earn a role on the offense, also steered clear of scheme talk, but offered a little more insight that jibed with West’s observation.
“I just think the plays he’s running are different than last year,” Christian said. “I think there’s just plays off plays off plays. We’ll set you up one way and then come back the other way. It looks the same, but it’s a different play.”
The idea is not to outsmart defenses as much as simply prevent them from getting a read on what the Buckeyes are doing.
Christian said that effort is paying off so far in practice, at least according to middle linebacker Payton Pierce.
Pierce gets to see first-hand every day what the Buckeyes are trying to do on offense in practice.
According to Christian, “(Pierce) said, ‘It’s just confusing. It’s like, man, I don’t know how defenses are gonna stop it,’ is what he said. It’s really exciting to know that one of our middle linebackers sees it and says that, so I think it’ll be really good.”
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