OSU-NW (09/27/2003)

[sblsw]

You guys know Krenzel ain't startin this Saturday against Northwestern but he will be available to play like it matters were gonna crush em!!!!!!!!!!!!
go Bucks!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gamebreaker]

Thought I would share my pictures of the game, sat in sec 26AA.

Go Here:
OSU Northwestern pictures

[MililaniBuckeye]

GB: I said thanks for the photos in another thread, but may as well say it here, too. I always think it's cool when members take the time to share their game experiences with others who can't make it. Thanks again.

[Gamebreaker]

Hey MililaniBuckeye, thanks for the good word about the pics. I'm glad to hear that people do enjoy my pictures, there are a few posters over at Bucknuts who like to give me a hard time about the pics, like asking for upskirt cheerleader shots and boobie pics at Hineygate. Classy.

[asdodge]

Okay, lots of theories on the offensive problems and blaming the O-line... here's a look at the first couple of series of how to and how not to co-ordinate an offense.

Northwestern ran a, depending on where you live it's called a, "stop-gap" defense. Sometimes 4-4, sometimes 4-3. The linebackers line up 4 yards off the ball and READ the blocking schemes, then plug the gaps to slow the play down and stop the run.

1st Series
1st Play: 1st and 15 (following false start) on 36
-formation standard I, strong side to left tackle
- defense in 4-4 looking for run.
-- handoff to FB. OL gets a 4-yard push on DL by time Ross gets ball; Schnittker gets beat on block. Hole for FB is on LG. Ross hits hole right away, gains 8 yrds, gets tripped up or has huge space to run. (Tripped up by man who beat Schnittker). OL blocked perfectly.

2nd Play: 2nd and 7 on 44.
-formation: single set back, double TE (inside slot), split outs are wide on left, close on strong side right.
-defense- 5 man front, 3 LB's 3 yards off, tight on strong side CB- looking at run.
--Poor PA, but LB's bite and freeze on Ross. Great pocket. WS safety also caught looking run. McMullen has great time, perfect pass to Jenkins down the middle. TE had run an underneath clear, leaving the deep middle open. Great play.

3rd Play: 1st and 10, N41
-formation: same as previous play.
-defense: 5 man front, but 2 LB's with SS and SCB 6 yards off the ball. Defense now is looking both pass or run, but SS is showing blitz and comes on snap.
More PA, SS freezes- telling me it was a run blitz and tries to retreat. outside TE blocks down, Hamby crosses underneath on single coverage. 5 yard pass. McMullen read blitz, threw to hot receiver underneath. Well blocked and executed.

4th Play: 2nd and 5, N36
-formation: I-Form, strong left, double flankers to weak
defense: 5 man front, 2 LBs. 3 DB's are within 6 yards of ball, 1 Safety back 9 yards. Looking run.
OSU runs draw play. Center and gurads open HUGE hole, get a 2-3 yard push. However, since NW was looking run, LB's read hole, and by time Ross gets ball, there is a safety and an LB to meet him. Still, thanks to OL push, Ross nabs 4 yards. Poor play call. A draw is run when the defense is looking PASS and you sell a pass, then run. This defense was looking run and Ross had no chance. Still, good push netted yards.

5th Play: 3rd and 1 on N32
Formation: balanced I, single flanker wide right
defense: 5 man front, 3 LBs tight 1 safety 4 yards off LOS to wide side of play who blitzes inside. 1 safety deep middle 8 yards back.
SM does 270-degree handoff to Schnittker. Left line gets great push, right side of OL holds LOS. Schnittker has to duck right to take handoff. Huge hole to left, but can't get there because of awkward hand-off design. Maybe the play was designed to go right, but opened left. LB or safety reading play, shoots gap, 1 yard gain.
This is the quoted problem... LONG or slow handoffs giving read defenses time to react, and this was to the upback. If a straight hand-off is used, Schnittker hits the hole and gains 5-10 yards, maybe more. Defense sold-out inside and still, a hole was opened. If OSU fakes to Schnittker and pitches to Ross- Ross is gone for a TD.

6th Play: 1st and 10 N30
formation- single setback, double TE right, split flankers
defense: 5 man front, 2LB's, 1 SS inside- looking run, WS in a 1-deep coverage. CB's 6 yards off flankers.
McMullen stumbles on draw play. Again, OSU calls a draw play when the defense is looking run. NOT SMART.
OL gets a 3 yard push on 8 man front, SS blitzes gap after blockers commit, loss of 9 on the fumble. The holes are open in three places, but teams blitz from the blind side of QB- no hope of play going anywhere. You can not fault the OL here. Great push, holes to run through, but play does not respect defense adjustment. Even if SM doesn't stumble, play is dead at hand-off. 6 guys can not block 8 at point of attack. Dumb call.

7th Play: 2nd and 19 N39
Formation: that double TE, inside slot with tight flanker on strong side, wide on weak side
defense: 5 man front, 2 LBs split, cover 2 safeties tight on flankers with CBs. Looking short pass, but respecting deep.
McMullen fakes pitch to Hall on strong side which freezes LB's and CB on strong side (Carter) and to weak side, leaves Jenkins open on slant on weak side. Good call, good execution. Quick release in case of blitz (but LB's were frozen of fake pitch).

8th Play: 3rd and 9 N29
formation: shotgun, 4 wides, 2 on either side
defense: 3 man front. 3 deep (dime coverage), all wideouts are fronted with double up on Jenkins to far left, 1 safety showing blitz from Offense's right.
Quick snap & throw, Carter does a duck and under slant, great pass by SM. Jenkins cleared the area out, Carter comes under coverage. Play was designed to get a few yards, not much more. It got enough. Hopefully, SM had option to read the defense at snap and go long if double team stayed under.

9th Play: 1st and 10 N19
Formation- double TE right, single back, split flankers
defense: 5 man front, 2 LB's, SS in run support, CB's show man, 1 deep. Defense is looking run.
A delayed hand-off (not quite a draw) going off-tackle to strong side. Mangold and Guard pull quickly. Hall gets to line fairly quick, but long hand off tips defense that way, but LB's dove inside. O-line gets a 2-3 yard push on DL. Hall shows patience, follows Mangold's block. When Safety tries to string outside, Mangold blocks him that way, Hall goes inside (as he should). Huge hole, WS makes shoestring tackle. 7 yard gain. A sprinter like Griffin or moose like Clarett hit that hole and are gone, but Hall read it very well, just not fast enough. OL blocked perfectly, Mangold and RG pulled perfectly.

10th Play: 2nd and 3 N12.
formation: balanced I, flanker wide left.
defense: 5 man front, 2lb's, 1 CB inside, safeties stacked in middle, 1 is 7 yards deep, other 12. Man on flanker. defense is looking run, guarding deep pass.
At snap, OL gets a 3 yard surge, defense sells out to middle at snap. Run is to go inside but no room. Ross bounces outside left and scores easy.
Play was designed inside and might have gotten 3 yards and 1st down. However, it was obvious that the defense was looking there. Kudos to OLine for handling defense inside, but there was just no room with the LBs and safeties trying to plug the gaps inside. If OSU had a philosophy of going outside to start with, this looks like a brilliant play. Instead, Ross had to alter the play on his own when the play, as designed, had no chance to gain more than a couple of yards.

1st drive analysis. This is what some of us have been looking for. A nice mix of pass and run, multiple options from the same formations. The O-line blocked excellently. The only problem on this drive were the two draw plays. Someone needs to explain to Bollman and Tressel that a draw is designed for when the defense is thinking pass and you cross them. The key is the read- if the QB sees the defense is looking run, he has to be allowed to change it. Boillman/Tressel call these plays based on what they think the defense will do ON THE SIDELINES- not what the defense shows at the LOS. This was a great drive, but shows some of the flaws that explode later in the game, as well as other games. I will break down some more drives like this in the post. I try not to use all the football terminology, and may sometimes mistake an LB for a safety.

My goal is to show all those criticizing the O-line and the RBs that it isn't always them. On every play of this drive, the O-line got a great push, but defenses now read and react- they wait for the O-line to commit to their blocks, then flood the gaps. OSU has to adjust and keep them off balance. In this first drive, NW put 7-8 (in 4-3 or 4-4's) in the box, got burned, then changed their defense to a 5-2 or 5-3 even. They kept their LB's and safeties tight, until OSU hit a couple of passes, then backed them off a little, leaving room for the RBs.

[asdodge]

2nd Drive following fumble recovery

1st Play: 1st and 10 N46
formation: double TE right, split flankers
defense:5 man front, 2 lb's in middle, cover 2. CB's are off flankers by almost 10 yards.
Looks like a sweep, Mangold pulls right. Inside TE misses seal block on LB. Clarke is 4 yards downfiled on othe LB. Mangold hits hole inside 2nd TE, Hall follows perfectly, but gets caught by DE who is falling from block. Tough chance. PLay was well blocked, could Hall have avoided the DE's arm??? 2-3 yard gain, and the hole was THERE. Hall just got tripped up.

2nd Play: 2nd and 7 N43
formation: balanced, single set, split flankers, but Jenkins goes in motion right to left.
defense: 5-man front, 2 lbs tight. Still looks like a cover 2, but safeties are creeping in. CB on Jenkins does not follow motion, but Safety moves in even tighter to weak side showing blitz.
SM PA to Hall, who picks up one blitz, RTE does not block outside rush well, but SM is looking to that side and releases early on throw. Great blocking by O-line. RTE didn't do well and SM was forced to throw from back foot. LTE blocks and runs clearing route underneath (left to right) The pass is on the money, Jenkins makes a 1-handed effort and pass falls incomplete. Jenkins is usually sure-handed, don't know why he went for a one handed grab there. Blitz was picked up well outside of TE block, but SM was still able to get pass off. Should have been a completion.

3rd Play 3rd and 7 N43
Form: single set I, strong left, double Fl right, 1 left
defense: 4 man front (1 up showing blitz inside), 2 LBs showing inside blitz. 1 deep coverage with each flanker covered 5-7 yards off ball.
Straight drop, TE releases and runs clearing route underneath. 2 flankers right run a cross-up. O-line does not pivk up triple-inside blitz well, but delay it enough for SM to roll outside right. FB is running a release route to the left, so is not inside to pick up the blitzers. Hall ran an out and curl, comes back to open spot for pass. Good play, though many do not like a QB rolling one way and throwing back inside, but blitz had left this area empty. Good reaction by Hall to get to open spot.
This is either the first play where the O-line failed, or the play design did not allow for the blitz. With the FB going left and the blitz obviously ccoming up the middle, an adjustment needed to be called somewhere. Either a re-alignment to a better blocking scheme (keep the FB inside) or to a play outside and the NW defense gets caught big time.

4th Play: 1st and 10 N35
form: Balanced I, LTE slotted, flanker to left
Def: 5 man front unbalanced to right, 2 LBs flanked by 2 safeties within 4 yards of LOS. Cover 1, with CB tight on flanker. Defense is looking run.
On snap, 1 LB blitzes inside, other LB and safeties read play. SM runs PA, catching LB and safeties flat-footed. 7-step drop and O-line blocks beautifully. Hatsock (LTE) runs an out and up, SM hits him with decent pass, Hatsock makes great catch. Great play, PA is weak, but enough to freeze NW LB and safeties.

5th Play: 1st and 10 N18
Form: I form, strong left, Dbl Flanker right
Defense: 5 man front, 3 LBs inside. 1 deep safety, 1 10 yards off ball , CBs are man on flankers. Defense looking run inside.
SURPRISE... it's the draw play!!! Yet, the O-line is opening huge holes, the problem is, by the time Ross gets the delayed handoff, the safeties and LBs have committed to the gaps and are closing the big holes quickly. The defense waits for for O-line to commit to blocks, then free men react to play. Ross makes nice cut and gets what he can on quickly sealing holes.
Again, great blocking, but a stupid call that can't be changed because there are only 8 seconds when SM gets to LOS.

6th Play: 2nd and 7 N15
Form: shotgun, double TE left, 3 flankers right
Def: 5 man front, 2 lbs inside looking blitz 3, SSCB comes up, shows blitz from LT. DBs on flankers 1 deep who comes up showing blitz.
At snap 1 DE (a LB) drops back into coverage inside on CB blitz. Flankers Hall (outside) and Carter (inside) run clearing posts. Jenkins (middle) runs soft slant- wide-open. SM's pass is behind- badly thrown or tipped? Sm says tipped. Nice play, well blocked. OL picks up blitz nicely. Should have gotten close to 1st down. Bad throw.

7th Play 3rd and 7 N15
Form: balanced singled set I, split flankers, LE in motion to right.
Def: 5 man front, 2 lbs, Cover 2 with CBs 5 yards off flankers. LB's showing zone pass coverage. Defensive right end (an LB) goes in motion with LTE.
At snap. LLB moves in on man coverage of FB (Ross), great O-line blocking. With single coverage, Jenkins runs an out and up, Double posts on right side pulls safeties to them. Jenkins beats man, SM overthrows open Jenkins. Overall a good call, but I always personally have a problem with going to the endzone on 3rd and long. Get the first down! But, it was a well-executed play, SM missed it. This would have been a better call on 2nd and 7, though.

FG- Nugent.

Analysis of this drive: A good drive, no plays that I would consider stupid, outside the draw play, which once again, was run on a run-defense. Again, the draw play is designed to run against defenses looking pass. In all three cases in the first two drives, OSU runs it against 8 men in the box. It is a CREDIT to the O-line and RBs that any yards at all were gained.

So far, only one play out of 17 showed any flaw on the O-line, and even on that one, I am not sure the play didn't lead to a break-down. Maybe Mangold missed his blitz reads, but the QB needs to be given the time to call a change if he sees the defense looking run up the middle and the play is a run up the middle- especially a slow draw play.

[asdodge]

3rd Drive- the Golden Boy gets a shot

I won't argue whether he should or shouldn't have come in here- let's look at this drive.

1st Play: 1st and 10 O41
Form: I from, strong right, double Flanker left.
Defense: 5-man front, 2 LBs, 1 safety spread to weak side 4 yards off ball. CB's on Flankers about 7 yards off. other safety in run support to strong side.
Let's face it, everyone knows this will be a wasted play. A simple snap and hand off to get the kid into the game.
Straight hand-off (fairly quick, too). O-line opens hole to left, FB runs right, again to the hand-off side of QB. HB misses block which causes hole to seal quickly. No gain.
Blame this on the predictable run play AND a poor read by the FB. Still, O line gave a hole, but the hand-off and poor read by RB kill the play.

2nd Play: 2nd and 10 O41.
Form: Balanced single-set I. flankers split.
Def: 5 man front, 2 lbs tight inside. Cover Two. Defense is playing pass and looking for draw play.
Straight 7-step drop (long developing play when defense is looking pass to begin with), but blocking is perfect. Deep routes are covered, Hall slips out of backfield, Zwick hits him for nice little pick-up. Good execution and better job of looking off deep routes to open up short pass. Would have been better on 1st down.

3rd Play: 3rd and 6 O46
Form: identical to previous play
Defense: Identical, but 1 safety has crept up to LB row pn left side of offense to cover LTE on pass.
At snap, 7-step drop, great blocking, Both TE's go out on routes, Ross ambles left to Qb's vision side for dump-off if needed. Carter (Right Flanker) runs a 15 yard curl vs. man CB. Zwick locks on on Carter (cluing CB) and fires a bullett. It appears the DB hits Carter before the ball arrives (not appears, he DOES hit Carter before ball)- no call. INcompletion. Zwick had shown on his first pass the ability to look off a receiver and go to a second receiver. He had Ross open on a dump-off that would have netted the 1st down, but maybe he felt he could hit Carter, who had the inside position on the DB. It was interference, but coverage was there. Go to open man.

Punt.

Not a bad series- perhaps a poor read by a RB on the hole or maybe he was just going where the play was designed. However, it is the second time that the hand-off, following a 270-degree spin by the QB forces the RB away from the hole for big yardage gains. Maybe the left side of the OL is that much better- either way, the holes are there and the plays seem more to be the problem than the execution or blocking.

If the PI is called on third-down, maybe this doesn't look like such a poor drive. Each play was well designed and executed, but sometimes it seems to be called in the wrong order? On 2nd and 3rd-and-long plays, OSU runs long developing plays against a defense that is already looking for a pass. THIS is where that damn draw play MIGHT come in handy.

[asdodge]

4th Drive- following an 8-minute NW drive and missed field goal

1st Play 1st and 10 O20
Form: Standard I, strong side right, split flankers
Def: 5 man front, 4 across on LB line (safeties pinching in), man coverage on flankers. Defense looking run.
On snap, LT or LG (78-Bishop) pulls. O-line gets 3-5 yard push on sweep right, Ross gains 4 as safeties again wait for blocking assignments, then shoots gap. Bishop gets a pancake block. Good play, considering defense was looking for the run wide and attacked the head. If play were run to long side of field, maybe it gets more because sideline causes blocking to bunch up so there is less room to maneuver.

2nd Play: 2nd and 6 O24
Form: naked I (no TEs), 2 receivers left, 1 right
Def: 4 man front (nickel), 2 lbs, 1 safety showing blitz left, cover 2, but deep safeties are only 10 yards off LOS. Looking run or short pass.
Guess what! Another draw play against the run defense. Inside blitz and left side blitz get picked up decently, but against only 5 blockers and HB, Ross has no real chance. O-line gives a lane and gets a 2-3 yard push, Ross gains 3. Another wasted effort. Good blocking, a lane, but more defenders than offensive guys at point of attack. Even Custer knows that is not a good strategy.

3rd Play: 3rd and 3 O27
Form: shotgun, No TE, 2 rec left, 3 right (short side)
Def: 4 man front (1 lining up on rec. inside right), 2 LBs showing inside blitz, 4 DB's showing man coverage on other Recs. 1 deep.
On snap, I LB blitzes, 2nd falls to coverage, All receivers run short hooks or curls, McMullen throws left to covered Childress or Carter, but ball gets batted away.
Pass coverage was good, but stunting lineman held back and waited to jump on pass before getting blocked.
Hard to say anything about the execution on this play, as everything seemed to go right except the stunting DL got a hand on the ball. The tackle was dropping to pocket block and the guy looped and jumped before contact could be made. With all receivers running short routes and the defense lining up in man, then dropping 2 covers in zones, it was congested. Perhaps a clearing route as used earlier in the game???
I didn't like this play selection, but can not give more concrete reasons. Maybe because the defense was playing tight and the play was designed short. Perhaps need a check-off to a deeper throw or a cross over pattern to force defense into altering their coverage.
At least it wasn't a draw play.

A 3-and-out series was NOT needed here. Again, each play was not horrible, maybe some execution problems, but it was like NW knew what was coming. Ealrier in the game, OSU ran some duck and under receiver stunts out of this formation and opened up some nice slants by confusing the coverage. This time it was straight up and at the heart of the defense.

[asdodge]

5th Drive

1st Play: 1st and 10 O32 (3:48 to go in half)
Form: I-formation, strong right, double flankers left
Def: 4 man front, 4 LBs across middle ( OLB on left showing coverage on inside flanker, OLB on right dropping into coverage)- 1 CB on far flanker, Cover 1 deep, with second CB wide to strong side reading run/showing blitz. Defense is tight, looking run.
On snap: Another 270-degree turn handoff up the gut
O-line gets about a 2-yard push as defense shoots up the middle on the run. No real holes inside, though gap to right is well blocked. Hall goes up the middle and is tackled for gain of 1-2 yards. Maybe he could have shifted to right and gotten more, but defense was definitely pegging middle and OSU ran there.

2nd Play: 2nd and 9 O33
Form: same as previous play
Def: 5-3, 1 CB tight on far flanker, inside CB 8 yards off. Cover 2 safeties. Defense looking run or deep throw.
SM PA to Hall, PA forces man coverage, Jenkins runs 15 yard curl, SM hits him with nice pass. Called back- holding. SM got to line with 15 secondson play clock- seemed to audible routes. Defense was watching short and long plays, SM went middle which was open. Too bad it didn't count.

2nd Play (again): 2nd and 19 O23
Form: Single-set I, strong right, 1 flanker right, 2 left
Def: 4-3, left side LB wide in coverage, right side LB blitzing. DBs in 1 deep coverage, fairly tight on flankers both sides.
On snap: Straight 7-step drop, CB blitz from right (plus LB blitz on same side. Hall chip blocks LB and releases, as do RG and RT- looks like a good screen to Hall. Excellent blocking. Defense looked like it did not expect the screen or were conceding short pass- the hustle of RG and RT bust play for 15 yards. Great call vs. blitz and good blocking.

3rd Play: 3rd and 4 O38
Form: Same form but reversed (strong left, double Fl right)
Def: 4-2 (nickel?) 2 LB's in middle (1 showing blitz) 1 safety pinching to strong side, 1 safety pinching to weak... CB's tight on flankers, 1 deep safety. Looks like zone pass coverage with a delayed blitz or two.
On snap: LB does blitz (on outisde stunt), other fakes blitz then runs wide to cover Hall on wide side. Safeties all go into coverage. LB comes free on SM but ball is away quickly to Jenkins low on sidelines. Good adjustment.
Again, NW waited to see blocking assignments, then committed LB to blitz on a stunt, but SM got rid of the ball.

Decent play, O-line caught on a stunt, but SM is freed long enough to hit hot read. Low throw, but first down.

4th Play: 1st and 10 O43
Form: Same as prev. play, but TE motions to weak side
Def: 4-3, but 3 is shifted to wide side ( original weak side), standard 2-2 coverage with DB's, on motion LBs shift to the right and CBs pinch, 1 showing blitz on new strong side- looking run?
Snap: straight drop back, Hall flares wide side, Safety and LB blitzes are picked up by Tackles. SM feels pressure, steps up, starts to run, then stops and lofts pass up field too high for TE. Ball is tipped and intercepted.
SM showed indecision, the pocket was pushed around behind him, but he was protected- if he just runs, he does well. If he stays and passes, he does well. He couldn't make up mind- got busted. Good call, blitz was picked up nicely, SM just needed to commit to pass or run, not both.

Interception. Maybe the second real mental error by the team this game. The holding call wiped out a good play but was overcome and did not affect the final outcome of this series. OSU