COLUMBUS - The patient walks into the examination room, but before the doctor puts on his stethoscope or checks reflexes, he wants some background - a little history on what has ailed this individual in the past.

As the Ohio State football team moves into its only off week of the season, its checkup will reveal an irregular heart rate. Sometimes the Buckeyes function at a robust and brisk pace, while other times, they are listless and sluggish.

These periods of lethargy have been accompanied by similar symptoms - an inability to run the ball, an outbreak of turnovers, with no touchdowns detected. There are also infrequent leg twitches, which result in three-point blips on the scoreboard - not the desired result.

In its two losses this season, Ohio State (7-2) has scored a total of nine points, with no touchdowns. In its seven victories, Ohio State has 212 points -

better than 30 per game - with 24 touchdowns.

There have been 11 Ohio State turnovers in those nine games, but five of them have come in just two games - the losses.

In those two defeats at Southern California (35-3) and Saturday night at home against Penn State (13-6), the Buckeyes have 132 total rushing yards - 66 per game. In the seven wins, the Buckeyes have 1,386 yards rushing - a hair under 200 per game.

The diagnosis is easy - too little forward motion from the running game, too few points and self-inflicted damage with turnovers. The prognosis is not encouraging. If this condition persists, more pain ahead is virtually guaranteed.

"There's no question we struggled," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said in the moments after the loss to Penn State knocked the Buckeyes out of a tie for first place in the Big Ten and put their hopes of a fourth straight conference championship in peril.

"We did not run the ball nearly as well as we needed to, to score a lot more points than we did."

Junior offensive lineman Jim Cordle was more direct in his analysis but uncertain about the course of treatment necessary to correct the problem before Ohio State's final three games of the season in November against Northwestern, Illinois and Michigan.

"We couldn't run the ball, and that's why we lost the game," Cordle said after Penn State held the Buckeyes to 61 yards on 31 running plays. "We just couldn't run the ball effectively or with any consistency. I'll have to watch the film to see why. I don't know exactly why."

While the running game was slogging along, the Buckeyes did pass for 226 yards against Penn State, with a career-best performance by Central Catholic grad Dane Sanzenbacher providing a big chunk of that. The sophomore wide receiver had six catches for 82 yards, including a 53-yarder in the second quarter that got the Buckeyes out of a deep hole.

Ohio State's two field goals were almost enough against the Nittany Lions, and the Buckeyes led 6-3 until midway through the final quarter Saturday night.

When asked following the game if he was tempted to sit on that lead a bit and just rely on his defense to close the deal, in a long answer Tressel used one phrase that essentially summed up both Ohio State's offensive approach and its dilemma in the pair of losses in the season's most important games.

"You can't score enough points," Tressel said.

Against Penn State and USC, the Buckeyes clearly did not. Ohio State wide receiver and senior captain Brian Robiskie said even though the Buckeyes no longer control their own destiny in the Big Ten race, they have to approach the remainder of the season as contenders and solve their offensive problems.

"We have three games left, and anything can happen," Robiskie said. "We have to take it upon ourselves to get back and finish the season strong."

Contact Matt Markey at:

mmarkey@theblade.com

or 419-724-6510.