Austin Siereveld points to snap count to fix errors on Ohio State O-line

Ohio State's Austin Siereveld said that keeping the snap count simple with new starting quarterback Luke Fahey will fix the football team's communication issues on the offensive line.

"We were in between with cadences and on the silent, so we've just got to focus on one, and [there was] just a lot of stuff going on in the huddle," Siereveld told reporters Nov. 3.

During Ohio State's 30-12 loss to USC, the Buckeyes were called for 11 penalties, a team high this season. Three of those penalties were false starts. The first came on fourth down in the first quarter, with the official stating that not all 11 players were set. The other two instances came when tight end Nate Roberts moved early at the goal line in the second quarter, and Siereveld flinched in the fourth quarter.

The Buckeyes switched up the snap cadence several times.

Fahey started the game with a verbal call for the snap, then began using a clap signal in the shotgun formation with 2:20 remaining in the first quarter. That change came on a second-down play.

Halfway through the second quarter on a second-and-25-yard situation, Fahey appeared to lift his knee to signal the snap using a silent cadence. He went back to clapping until Ohio State's third-and-goal situation in the second quarter, which came two plays after Roberts' false start penalty.

Fahey once again used a silent cadence, with the play resulting in an incompletion. Ohio State kicked a field goal shortly after.

Fahey went back to the clap for the entire third quarter until a second-down play in the fourth quarter with less than 13 minutes remaining in the game. At that point, he appeared to switch to a silent count. He did not clap for the remainder of the contest and used his original verbal cadence on Ohio State's last offensive drive.

Said Siereveld: "We got to the point where we just got to go on one or the other, and it starts with Carson [Hinzman], whatever Carson wants to do because he's the one that's snapping the football and we got to just follow him," Siereveld said.

Fahey completed 21 of 38 passes for 260 yards and a touchdown.

False starts were hardly the end of OSU's issues with discipline. Offensive lineman Carson Hinzman and Gabe VanSickle were each called for holding penalties, and offensive tackle Phillip Daniels was flagged for a holding penalty with 55 seconds remaining in the game, but USC declined the penalty.

The offensive line also struggled with protection. Fahey was sacked twice and pressured 18 times by the Trojans, according to Pro Football Focus.

"It was rough watching in the meetings," said Siereveld. "We just know that we can't make those mistakes again, and we know that we've got to protect the quarterback. All those hits, all the pressures on him, and it was just rough watching that film."

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Austin Siereveld points to snap count to fix errors on Ohio State O-line