Improvement in red zone key for Ohio State ahead of Sugar Bowl

The top scoring offenses of the Big Ten and ACC will meet in Friday’s Sugar Bowl with a trip to the College Football Playoff National Championship game on the line.

One of the more frequent trips No. 3 Ohio State takes is to the red zone.

Once within the 20-yard line, however, the Buckeyes have scored on just 76.5% of their appearances. That number ranks outside the top-100 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

“We got to make sure that we’re scoring touchdowns when we get down in there,” head coach Ryan Day said Monday.

The Buckeyes weren’t too efficient against Clemson in the red zone during the Fiesta Bowl a season ago. Despite scoring on all three trips, those scores came by way of field goals.

The trend began on the game’s first drive. The Buckeyes quickly converted three first downs on six plays to get the ball to the Tigers’ 5-yard line. An incomplete pass to Chris Olave on third and goal was followed with a 21-yard field goal by Blake Haubeil.

Ohio State began the second quarter of the Fiesta Bowl at Clemson’s 8-yard line thanks to a 64-yard run by J.K. Dobbins. Two incomplete passes - one of which came on an overturned call that showed the football hitting the ground as Dobbins leapt to the right to get into the end zone - forced a 22-yard field goal. At this point, the Buckeyes were up 13-0.

The third time the Buckeyes played within the red zone came on their next drive. Quarterback Justin Fields threw for 30 yards, ran for 27 more and running back Master Teague III added seven yards. A false start and three incompletions later, Haubeil kicked a 33-yard field goal and the Buckeyes only scored one touchdown thereafter.

“It’s nice that we moved the ball last year, but the key thing is not moving the ball: it’s getting points,” offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. “In this day and age of college football, you’re not going to win championships kicking field goals, you’re not going to win championships scoring 17, 21 points. You got to get in the end zone.

“We had some success, but we got to find more success because it was not good enough last year.”

Ohio State made seven passing and three rushing plays inside the Clemson 20-yard line during its red zone appearances in the Fiesta Bowl. Three of those seven targets were to Dobbins, and two of the three rushes were also given to the running back.

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Ohio State tight ends Luke Farrell and Jeremy Ruckert both caught one pass during last year's game, and their roles this year have largely been in 12-personnel packages. As the Buckeyes take a 42.5 points-per game average into the Sugar Bowl, which is the nation’s seventh-best mark, Farrell said red zone scoring has “always” been an emphasis this season.

“We understand how important that is,” Farrell said. “Ending a drive with a field goal is never what we want. Definitely a huge emphasis, and I think we just need better execution in that area.”

Protection up front will be critical, especially with the potential the Buckeyes have flashed this season behind 375.7 rushing yards per game, fifth-best in the country.

The Buckeyes, however, rushed for a season’s second-lowest 196 rushing yards in the Fiesta Bowl. This year, No. 2 Clemson has recorded the second-most sacks in college football with 40.

Center Josh Myers said opposing defenses get “intensified” knowing they're pinned against the end zone, leaving little room for error.

“There’s like an extra defender there with the back of the end zone,” Myers said. “Defenses definitely can buckle down and make stops in that situation. Our protection could’ve been better. There’s all kinds of things that happen down there that may seem extremely little, but in the long run, it’s the difference between field goals and touchdowns.”

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Myers emphasized that tightening the little things will be key in better red zone efficiency this go-round.

Day echoed similar sentiment, noting that the team must “do a great job in firming up protection.”

“It comes down to preparation. They know us very well; they always have really good schemes,” Day said. “We’ll have to continue to do a great job preparing so that when we get out there on Friday night, we’re anticipating as opposed to reacting.”

From the quarterback’s perspective, Fields said executing the little things from each important unit will be critical.

“It comes down to executing on all cylinders from the O-line to the receivers to me to the running back,” Fields said. “I think if everybody executes on our side of the ball then we’ll be fine punching the ball in the end zone.”

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Day has talked about how important the Sugar Bowl means to Ohio State in terms of having to show for the team's sacrifices. The Buckeyes offense has been dominant in putting numbers up on the scoreboard, and doesn’t necessarily have to do so by getting inside the red zone.

Should the Buckeyes find themselves on the doorstep of the end zone, they're going to knock vigorously, but with wisdom from last year's experience.

“In games like this, we also got to be smart,” Day said. “If our defense is playing well and kicking a field goal is something you’ve got to do at that time, you got to do that. You can’t just be reckless, either.

“We’re always going to be aggressive but at the same time you can’t be reckless.”