Please let me take a stab.
First let's start with how
NOT to stop this offense, but what many teams did anyway, and got torched as a result. In the "boom" games, defenses would give Olave/Wilson a lot of cushion on the outside, in fear of getting beat deep. While this prevented big play go balls, tOSU gladly took the free yards underneath via quick outs & comebacks. With an inconsistent run game, the quick throw to the sideline became tOSU's bread & butter move-the-chains play. What ended up happening with the soft coverage was, tOSU stayed on schedule feasting on free yards, and eventually hit a big play anyway, if not down the sideline then over the middle; CJ & co has been excellent with deep crosses, posts, or seam routes.
Take the Rose Bowl for example. Even with Olave & Wilson out, the Utes -- having a depleted secondary themselves -- elected to follow the negative examples and play soft coverage on the outside. I counted at least 7 quick outs/comebacks from tOSU, 4 for 1st downs:
Next, let's look at the working recipe, which easier said than done is to make tOSU earn its yards;
NOTHING for free:
- Press the outside receivers (euphemism for interfering as much as refs would allow), and/or jump the outs/comebacks routes aggressively
- Get home with pressure before deep routes develop
Examining the offensive struggles (< 30-pt games):
- Oregon: this game seems to be the outlier. Oregon was without their best pass rusher & potential #1 pick Thibodeaux. tOSU’s receivers were running free all day. Stroud just wasn't his late-season villain self. (Video below stolen from Land-Grant Holy Land. Notice how JSN got open. NOT soft.)
- Penn St was able to generate a lot of pressure early in the game -- particularly with #17 against NPF -- while defending sideline throws aggressively.
Examples:
In both cases, notice they played Wilson very tight; while Olave was given more cushion, the defender was fast to trigger on outs & comebacks.
tOSU actually protected better in the 2nd half per PFF, and the offense had a mini-explosion:
tOSU drove deep into PSU territory on all 5 2nd half possessions (not counting the game ending kneel down). However, tOSU couldn't get out of its own way in the red zone, and scored only 16 2nd half points.
- Nebraska also generated a lot of pressure, but this time mostly on the interior (e.g. with Ben Stille). Red zone troubles reared its ugly head, exacerbated by turnovers & the absence of Wilson.
Notably, on the 1st drive of the game, Klatt called out Olave breaking wide open but not getting the ball:
Turned out Stille chased Stroud out of the pocket in the other direction, and Stroud had to check the ball down for a minimal gain:
Nebraska again pressured Stroud off his spot in Day's much maligned late 4Q play call. Stroud was stripped just when "something was coming open":
Missing Olave on the 1st drive was key IMO. Nothing better to wreck a defensive game plan than to hit a big play to start the game. "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." I feel when tOSU scored fast & early, opposing defense often panicked and (maybe prematurely) abandoned their game plan, then things can really snow ball, e.g. when MSU’s defense started doing silly things like the following after an onslaught of Buckeye explosives:
- TTUN: I don't want to relive this game in too much detail. Let's just say their DE's wrecked havoc, and their DB's were ... handsy. According to the TTUN X&O analysts on twitter (e.g. @SpaceCoyoteBDS or @colintj), TTUN actually played soft coverage through out the season to "protect their corners"; they simply hadn't faced any offense that could consistently take advantage of the free yards. Against tOSU they smartly changed things up and played ... "tight coverage". Sadly this was an excellent game plan on their part: they knew they couldn't cover tOSU's receivers playing fair, the game was in their house, and the refs weren't going to call PI every play if any.
I'm as frustrated as the next fan with the Buckeye's inconsistent offense against top defenses ... but while the Buckeyes O never cracked 30 in their struggles, they also never scored fewer than 26. If fans were using the offensive output against Purdue or MSU to set expectations for points against TTUN, they would be setting themselves up for disappointment. No matter how good an offense is, it will find points harder to come by against better defenses. This is tautological. For better perspective, one should compare the offense before & after Coach Day arrived in Columbus. 2016 was not
that long ago that I forgot how that year's Buckeyes faired against the toughest D's on the schedule:
- 21 points against PSU in the only loss to our non-rival since Urban
- 10 offensive points against TTUN at the end of regulation
- 0 points against Clemson in the playoffs
That said, 2021 is already in the books. Watching the Rose Bowl had me hyped about next season's offense. Where can I find the 2022 Offense thread?
