Ohio State's offense got off to a decent start on Saturday, but each position group has at least one thing to focus on against Grambling.

The Ohio State Buckeyes got their season off to a great start in Week 1 by defeating the No. 1-ranked Texas Longhorns on Saturday in Columbus. The game turned into a defensive slugfest that the Buckeyes escaped with a 14-7 victory. 

The goal all week was just to score more points than the Longhorns, nothing more and nothing less, and the Buckeyes did just that.

If the box score was the measuring stick for the game, the Longhorns dominated it. They outgained Ohio State 336 yards to 203, rushing for 4.5 yards per carry compared to Ohio State’s 2.3 yards per carry, and threw for nearly 50 yards more than the Buckeyes. Almost every stat went Texas’ way, except that final score.

Ohio State executed its situational football, specifically on defense, and it was enough to get the job done. 

Now, as they turn the page to their first FCS opponent since 2023, they have a huge challenge in front of them: play to the Buckeye standard. This week is not an evaluation against the scoreboard, it is an evaluation against every player’s personal standards. 

INSIDE THE FILM ROOM: How The Bucks Outlasted The No. 1 Texas Longhorns on Saturday The Ohio State Buckeyes got the job done on Saturday against the top-ranked Texas Longhorns. It was not a perfect game but the Buckeyes did exactly what thei...

Each position group on offense has something to improve on this week. Here is what I will have my eyes on for the Ohio State offense.

Offensive Line

The Buckeyes' up front showed some good and some bad on Saturday. It is very easy to forget that Texas has one of the best defensive lines in the country, so the battle the Buckeyes were in was understandable. The positive is that they didn’t give up a sack, the negative is that they rushed for only 77 yards on 34 carries. 

Those rushing yards per carry simply is not going to cut it. The focus for the Ohio State offensive line is on executing their scheme and doing it with violent intentions. 

Tight Ends

There were two glaring mistakes made by the Buckeyes’ tight end group on Saturday, and both were in the passing game. 

On fourth and one on the first drive of the game, Max Klare had a chance to make a huge play to convert a first down, and he dropped a perfect Julian Sayin pass. The next was late in the second quarter, Klare again was the target of a Sayin pass, and this time, he had no idea it was coming. It was a clear miscommunication. Klare was on one page when Sayin was on another. 

These two mistakes stood out and the attention to detail for Klare and this group is the focus against Gambling.

Wide Receivers

This one is simple, catch the football. Jeremiah Smith had two drops and Brandon Inniss had another drop himself. Carnell Tate made up for both of those with a spectacular catch for a touchdown, but the drops have to be a one-week issue only. 

Running Backs

The running back room was a bigger issue to me than many are talking about. Ohio State featured CJ Donaldson as the main back with James Peoples as the backup. This appeared to be a very far cry from the group the Buckeyes had last year and they need to improve and improve quickly. Having 77 yards on 34 carries is not going to cut it. They need to use this week to get some confidence in their run game.

Quarterbacks

Julian Sayin was steady for the Buckeyes on Saturday. He did what he was supposed to do and just kept the team moving forward. He wasn’t perfect, but he was very good. For Sayin, I believe that he needs to trust himself and unleash the vertical passing game a little bit more in Week 2. He has the confidence of his teammates and his coaches, and now he needs to loosen it up and trust himself. 

All in all, Ohio State is improving after a victory, which is better than the alternative. It is critical that they don’t take this week off and they use it as an opportunity to improve, which I’m confident that they will.