The beauty of Buckeye Grove; why the Ohio State offense making a change in the starting lineup isn't easy: Doug Rants

Ten thoughts on the Buckeyes entering Week 10

Ten thoughts on Ohio State football as the Buckeyes prepare to host Penn State at noon on Saturday.

1. Benching a starter isn’t easy. But Ryan Day’s answer this week that it’s a black and white process should give Ohio State fans hope that the Buckeyes will make the change at right guard that is needed if things continue at this rate.

   I was trying to slip a question in the side door Wednesday evening to get Day talking about the decision at right guard between current starter Tegra Tshabola and emerging backup Josh Padilla without actually asking him about the players. What’s any process like for making a change in the starting lineup? How much do you lean on the position coach? But Day, not surprisingly, saw right through me — as most everyone does.

2. “Like you said, we’ve gotta do what’s best for the team,” Day said. “We go off of what we see. That’s why we grade. We try to make it that way — as black and white as possible. But it becomes sort of a body of work over time when you make these decisions.”

   Good. By PFF numbers (Ohio State wouldn’t care about those, but would use its own in-house statistical analysis) Tshabola has given up eight pressures in 169 pass-blocking snaps. Padilla has allowed none in 35 pass-blocking snaps.

   Run-blocking grades by PFF: Tshabola 59.0, Padilla 85.0.