Ohio State Football: Is the 2011 Buckeyes Offense Broken Beyond Repair?

Ohio State as a whole has never been at a worse level since the turn of the new century.

The program is in shambles, Gene Smith is still in charge despite all logic which should say otherwise, and the football team looks like it may not make a bowl game even if not banned by the NCAA.

One OSU reporter said after doing some research that among the 63 plays run in the 10-7 loss to Michigan State, 31 went for zero or negative yards.

The Ohio State offense is that bad.

Quite simply, considering the talent at Ohio State, even in an obvious down year, it's simply baffling.

Much of the blame, rightfully so, falls on the offensive coaching staff which has now been exposed since Jim Tressel's departure as head coach.

They look inept and stubborn, as they seemed to continue to run the same sequence of plays against the Spartan defense: off tackle run, draw play, deep play action pass, all of which came against a defense that blitzed every play.

Did they call for short slant patterns once? No.

Screen passes? No.

Misdirection runs? No.

Are those types of plays in the playbook? If you listen to Jordan Hall and Carlos Hyde, yes.

That leaves the question as to why you don't call those plays in the first place.

Young QBs need confidence in the beginning of football games. 

They need to get short, quick routes to get the defense to back off a little bit, otherwise they will get sacked nine times in a game like Braxton Miller and Joe Bauserman did.

So why not do something that seems so obvious to do in the first place?

Is it stubbornness? Lack of faith?

It would seem more likely to want to be more conservative and throw shorter passes in an offense where three of the top five receivers on the depth chart, with DeVier Posey's extended suspension and Verlon Reed's torn ACL, are in just their first year of playing time.

So why always send receivers deep leaving a weak offensive line and inexperienced pair of QBs out to dry hoping for a miracle?

The answer is simple.

You don't.

If screen passes and slant patterns are in the offense, call them. If you practice those plays every day, use them.

This has been the problem with Jim Bollman for 10 years, and now in Ohio State's worst season in 10 years, the offense has never looked worse.

Ohio State's offense is, at best, archaic. It's time for a change because even if the talent isn't there, coaching can still bring out just a little more in the young players.

Bollman and his offensive staff seem incapable of it, and Saturday was a prime example of it.

It very well can get worse, so they need to try something else.

If not, they can set back the careers of a lot of young players which would hurt the team just as much as the NCAA can.

Either way, the offensive coaches should just wear hard hats to practices and games because they clearly have a lot of construction to do.

Follow me on Twitter @bielik_tim for more college football updates.