Ohio State’s challenge: Can a battered offensive line hold up vs. Tennessee?

Donovan Jackson, the left guard-cum-left tackle for Ohio State, had begun to answer a question about the shuffling parts along the Buckeyes’ offensive line when he stopped himself and decided that chronology would reinforce the point he was trying to make. “We’ll start at the beginning,” Jackson said in a news conference earlier this week. And from there, he embarked on a lengthy recounting of the messages he shared with each new lineman thrust into the lineup amid a season of injuries and inconsistency in the trenches.

First came Austin Siereveld, the sophomore from Ohio who never played last season but started the first two games of 2024 at left guard as Jackson himself recovered from a hamstring injury suffered in fall camp. Then came Zen Michalski, an inexperienced senior from Indiana who started at left tackle against Nebraska after the team’s best lineman, former San Diego State transfer Josh Simmons, tore his ACL in the loss to Oregon. But Michalski allowed four pressures and two sacks to the Cornhuskers before leaving with an injury of his own. That’s when Jackson moved from left guard to left tackle, the position he’s occupied ever since.

Then came Carson Hinzman, the starting center from 2023 who lost an open competition with Alabama transfer Seth McLaughlin in fall camp. Hinzman entered the fray at left guard when Jackson kicked outside to tackle, but then he made a more permanent move to center after McLaughlin ruptured his Achilles tendon during a late-November practice. It was at that point when Siereveld re-entered the starting lineup at left guard for the final two weeks of the regular season, a stretch that included the Buckeyes’ stunning loss to Michigan. So ineffective was Ohio State’s offensive line in surrendering 13 quarterback pressures and four tackles for loss against the Wolverines, who limited tailbacks Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson to 67 yards on 22 carries, that head coach Ryan Day and his staff are planning another reshuffling ahead of Saturday’s date with ninth-seeded Tennessee in the College Football Playoff. (8 p.m. ET)

“I’ve gotten really good at giving motivational speeches this year,” Jackson said through a hint of a smile, later adding, “The message changes, varying per position. Everyone takes messages different ways. But the end goal is always the same, which is to play your absolute hardest and worry about the result later.”

But Ohio State’s fans are doing plenty of worrying as a season that began with sky-high hopes of winning the program’s first national championship since 2014 — a dream fueled, in large part, by the star-studded roster that cost approximately $20 million in NIL backing to assemble, according to first-year athletic director Ross Bjork — now hinges on what has been the team’s weakest position group two years running, if not longer, and one that will be fiercely tested by Tennessee’s biggest strength. Fueled by a handful of future pros along the defensive line, including edge rusher James Pearce Jr., a potential top-five pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Volunteers amassed more tackles for loss (93) than any Big Ten opponent the Buckeyes have faced and rank among the top five nationally in total defense (278.3 yards per game), scoring defense (13.9 points per game) and third-down conversion rate (29.5%).

It’s not a stretch to think that this defensive front might pose the most difficult first-round matchup Ohio State could have drawn in this year’s playoffs — especially when considering the Buckeyes’ profound lack of depth and proven talent along the offensive line, both of which reflect poorly on third-year offensive line coach Justin Frye, an increasingly maligned figure on Day’s staff.

“Now we’ve gotta take a step back and be like, ‘OK, where can we attack to put our guys in the right position?'” Jackson said, “because what we could do before is not what we can do now [after the injuries]. We’ve got new guys stepping up, they’re playing at a competitive level, but we’ve got to put guys in the right position to succeed for the games coming forward. We didn’t execute nearly as well as we wanted to last game [against Michigan], but it’s the beautiful thing about football, it’s the beautiful thing about the playoffs, is we have another opportunity to go out there and play.”

All signs are pointing toward yet another reconfiguration of Ohio State’s offensive line this weekend, with Day hinting during both of his news conferences that sophomore Luke Montgomery could earn the first start of his career at left guard. That Day also hinted at a potential rotation between Siereveld and embattled right guard Tegra Tshabola, who is the team’s lowest-graded starting lineman in both run blocking and pass blocking by Pro Football Focus, underscores the depth of the coaching staff’s concerns along the interior.

By the time kickoff arrives on Saturday night, it’s possible that right tackle Josh Fryar will be the only starter to occupy the same position against both Tennessee in the College Football Playoff and Akron in the season opener. The projected starting five includes Jackson at left tackle, Montgomery at left guard, Hinzmann at center, Tshabola or Siereveld at right guard and Fryar at right tackle.

“I’ve got all the faith in the world in those guys, man,” quarterback Will Howard said earlier this week when asked about impending changes along the offensive line. “And no matter who it is, I don’t care. They’re all here for a reason, and they have to remember that. They’re Buckeyes at the end of the day. It doesn’t matter who’s out there, who’s playing.”

Though the injuries to key players were out of Frye’s control, the program’s recent ineffectiveness on the recruiting trail and subpar development of prospects Ohio State succeeded in signing are largely his crosses to bear. Since his arrival in Columbus ahead of the 2022 season — following four years at UCLA working under Chip Kelly, the current Buckeye offensive coordinator — Frye has only secured one offensive lineman rated among the top-100 players nationally from the last three cycles combined. That was Montgomery, the No. 92 prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, who is expected to enter the starting lineup at left guard this weekend. Frye’s next-best signee, Tshabola, who finished No. 104 overall in the 2022 cycle, was the Buckeyes’ weakest starter all season. The average ranking among the four linemen Frye added for the 2024 class is 320.5, according to the 247Sports Composite, which is a far cry from the star-studded lineups his colleagues are bringing in at quarterback, wide receiver and defensive back.

And while Frye certainly deserves credit for helping former Ohio State standouts Paris Johnson, Dawand Jones and Luke Wypler develop into draft picks — all of whom were selected in 2023 — it’s worth noting that he didn’t recruit them. Just as it’s worth noting the two best linemen on this year’s team, Simmons and McLaughlin, were both transfers. The fact that Day already changed his offensive coordinator entering the 2024 season means Frye’s job could be in jeopardy if the offensive line flops in the playoff.

“I think everybody that’s involved in this playoff right now understands that for us to win it all, we’ve got to play four more games, you know?” Kelly said earlier this week. “To think that no one else is going to get injured in those next four games is — you’re burying your head in the sand. So we’ve got to be prepared for it, and we’ve got to be ready to go. I think the team that can handle the attrition part of this the best may end up being the team that wins the whole thing.”

Which might require a few more speeches from Jackson. 

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.

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