Boone Admits to Lack of Urgency

Over the past few weeks, one thing that we have all noticed when watching the last four Ohio State contests is that the offensive line has been borderline atrocious.  Todd Boeckman is likely still sore from the game against USC, and to be losing at any point against the Ohio Bobcats is simply unacceptable.

While we have the front office of the Cleveland Browns making excuses for the current play of the offensive line, ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg went straight to the source and managed to catch up with senior offensive lineman Alex Boone.  After touching on the Boeckman/Terrell Pryor situation, Rittenberg went right at Boone with the vast underperformance of the line as a whole.

Boone gave no attempt at dodging the question, or making excuses, and flat out gave the performance an “F.”  He admits that much of the underachievement thus far has been their fault, and I’m sure he would not be alone in this assessment.  Especially in the USC game, there was zero time for routes to develop, thus leading to turnovers and broken plays.  But one thing caught my eye that may speak a bit more to the coaching.  When asked for an explanation as to what the issues have been, Boone responded with:

“It would probably be sometimes our technique is off or sometimes we’re not off the ball right away. A lot of times it’s just being lazy. And that’s so terrible to say because it’s a football game and you should always be up for it, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen like that. So I think we really need to get a fire under our rear and kick it into high gear and start blocking.”

Given the position of the Ohio State Buckeyes in the grand scope of NCAA football, to hear a team leader say that the entire offensive line has had a bout with laziness is pretty shocking.  In a world where one loss essentially knocks you out of contention, this team can ill afford any player that is lazy, let alone an entire group; one as vital as the offensive line.

You could see an inkling of this behavior against the Bobcats.  It was almost as the entire team did not start playing until midway through the third quarter.  Resting on laurels?  Perhaps.  Playing down to the competition?  Undoubtedly the result, at least through this point in the season.

With the successes that the Buckeyes have had – especially the seniors on the team – it can sometimes be difficult to not have a feeling of comfort against certain opponents.  I get that.  Given that they arejust kids, it can be easy to coast at certain points.  But to me, this is where the coaching needs to step in.  Most of these guys will be playing at the next level, and coasting at any point in the season will not properly prepare for that step.  Heck, it won’t even prepare for games against Wisconsin, Penn State or Illinois.

Having Chris Wells (who Boone says appears to be 100 percent) back will undoubtedly help matters a bit.  However, this team needs to be full-go from this point forward as one more slip-up will end hope for a Big Ten title, let alone one of a national stature.

Checking in with … Alex Boone [ESPN]