• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!
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.
 
Upvote 0
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.


capt.co50309241802.clarett_teammates_co503.jpg
 
Upvote 0
Breaking The NW Game Down- copy as requested

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.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
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.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
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.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
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.
 
Upvote 0
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 just seems to be in the lackadaisical mode here.

the 6th Drive is to run out the clock, so no need to review.
 
Upvote 0
2nd Half

7th Drive

1st Play: 1st and 10 O20
Form: Single set I, double TE (inside slotted) right, flankers split
Def: 5-man front, 2 LBs inside, corners tight on flankers (though strong side backs off before snap), 1 deep safety, 1 safety pinching to strong side, showing blitz.
On snap safety does blitz, but inside TE picks him up. Standard 7-step drop, great protection, SM decides to roll out right and runs for 8-9.
Does SM not trust his line? He was protected but apparently no one was opened, he tucked the ball and ran. At least he was decisive about this and got good yards. No downfield view to see coverage. Could he have hung in pocket and found receiver???

2nd Play: 2nd and 2 O28
Form: I-form, strong right, double flanker left (wide side)
Def: 5 man front, 2 LBs & safety pinching on strong side, CBs on two flankers, inside tight, outside 8 yards back. 1 deep safety. Defense is looking run to O's left..
Snap: O-line gets 2 yard push, straight hand off, everyone but corners dive inside. Ross follows blocks, hole opens on RG, Ross hits it and gets 7-8 yards.
Good blocks and seals, Ross hit hole well. Despite stacked defense, OSU got good blocks and hit it quickly for good yards. Again, well-blocked and quick hand-off allowed bigger yards. Also, no spin by QB. Defense jumped to left of line, play went right.

3rd Play 1st and 10 O36
Form: Single-set I form, double TE strong right, flankers split
Def: 4 man front with 5th (LB) split to strong side then creeps in over TEs, 2 LBs in middle, CBs on flankers, safeties in cover 2. Expecting a quick run or long pass?
WS shows run support, backs off at snap.
Looks like a trap, as Bishop pulls on run right. LDT (Clarke's key?) pulled stunt and slid into run zone coverage and nails Ross for loss. Blocking looked good, the DT seemed to be stunting right and was in right place at right time, but Clarke should have gotten him
So far on this drive, NW is showing more motion and stunts to confuse O-line. It worked there. The pulls and the blocks were good. Ross looked slow on the keys, as well.

4th Play: 2nd and 11 O35
Form: Offset I left, strong side right, Double flanker left
Def: 4 man front, 2 LBs, cover 2 deep (with nickelback eventually pinching in from deep), SS pinching to LOS. Defense guarding pass and cross routes, but LBs looking for draw with SS and NB.
Outside flanker motions inside on weak side.
Snap: Jenkins (now outside) runs post, Carter runs shorter hook, TE slips out into flats unchecked. McMullen looks long, then sees TE and hits him with nice touch. Hartsock catches dump off, gains 9.
Nice play, the motion and routes of flankers pulled coverage off TE, leaving him open. SM looked off deep coverage to open TE for easy play. NICE

5th Play: 3rd and long 1 from O45
Form: Single-set balanced I, Flankers split
Def: 5 man front, 2 LBs not so tight, SS pinches tight to left of O, cover 2 Safeties, CBs are on tight. Defense is looking run, but not selling out as they have- guarding for short pass by looks of it.
At snap: DE on O's right reads pass and drops into coverage. No PA, but LB's come in quick, then read pass and try to back off, but too late, TE is open in middle. Again, SM looks to other receivers, then comes back to TE. The defense was caught flat-footed. Great blocking, but no pressure or blitz.
Some don't like passes on 3rd and 1- gutsy call. But play execution was great- and defense was not expecting this, either.

6th Play: 1st and 10 N47
Form: Single-set I, dbl TE right, flankers split
Def: 5 man front, 2 LBs (a little further back than previous play), CBs 3-4 yards off flankers, safeties both back, but SS is pinching up at snap- defense looking run.
Snap: 7 step drop, Ross flares to weak side drawing an LB or the WS, great pocket with passing lanes. Jenkins ran an up and curl or hook, McMullen fires one in. Complete. Caught the defense pinching run and got the 1-on-1 coverage, the curl creates the opening. Nice play, great blocking.

7th Play: 1st and 10, N30
Form: I-form, strong left, split flankers
Def: 4-3 with WS pinching on LOS, CB's are 5-7 yards off flankers, SS deep but moving up, LBs are holding back, looking pass?
Snap: Weak PA, WS blitzes, LB's froze on PA but were looking pass coverage, Hall slips out after PA and is rescue option on pass. Schnittker nails blitz, McMullen has a freebie! Carter has burned his man, wide open! Refs say ball hit the ground. Damn! Excellent execution, good routes, pass was maybe a bit too strong. These are the little things, the second time a pass was just too strong- the timing is good, just too much oomph. Damn again! Nice play.

8th Play: 2nd and 10 N30 (late out of huddle)
Form: offset I right, strong left, flankers both on weak
Def: 4-4 (maybe 2 safeties outside of 2 LBs) all bunched, CBs are tight on wide flanker, deep off inside flanker. 1 SS looking deep on strong side. Defense is looking run, but guarding short flare passes. Safety on inside Flanker cheats and shows blitz on weak side.
Will OSU run their always predictable 2nd-and-10 draw Play???
Snap: Safety cheating does not blitz, drops into coverage, everyone else reads run. Surprise, it is the draw play!!!! O-line opens cavernous holes, Hall hits them and gets yards, but Safeties and CB react and stuff it quickly. 3 yard gain. The holes were there, the hand-off was too long in the making. A straight running play nets @7 or more. Defense was looking draw play and nailed it. OSU is too predictable in this situation (under Tressel, OSU runs a draw play on 2nd-and-10 following an incompletion around 88% of the time). Bad call, but hard work and blocking netted the play 3 yards.

9th Play: 3rd and 7 N27
Form: shotgun, 3 wide left (1 a bit tighter), 2 right
Defense: 3 man front, 2 LBS staggered weak side, dime all off LOS cover 3 favoring 3 Receiver side.
Snap: 1 LB blitzes, other drops back to coverage on 2-Receiver side. 7-step drop, SM throws pocket screen to Carter on strong side. Carter has Clarke and Mangold in front of him. With deep coverage, DB's react to play but nice block by Clarke springs Carter for 1st down as he spins out of grasp of tackler. Nice call, good hustle by Clarke and Mangold. Hall did not block well, otherwise play could have gone further. Poor defense by NW. Backed off play and allowed screen to happen, but recovered well to prevent play from going big.

10th Play: 1st and 10 N17
Form: Single-set I, dbl TE right, flankers split
Def: 5 man front, 3 LBs (or 2 + SS), CBs are 5 yards off flankers, WS is in short Cover 1 in the middle. Defense is looking run to strong side.
Snap: LB and SS blitz to right side of Oline, OSU runs deep hand-off (not a draw). 4 blockers and 6 defenders is not good odds. Hall has nowhere to go, tries cut-back and gets nothing.
Another "should have been changed at LOS" play, but no time. A deep hand-off and the defense is looking for you to run to that side. O-line blocks are okay, but again overwelmed at point of attack. Lanes are filled by defenders before RBs can get there. These deep handoffs are murder, especially without the blocking back in front of the HB.

11th Play: 2nd and 12 N19
Form: shotgun, dbl TE right, 3 flankers left (not too wide)
Def: 5 man front, 1 LB, 1 SS in as LB, 3 DBs facing off flankers, 1 safety in deep coverage. Team is looking pass, but playing awfully tight- expecting a quick-hitter?
Snap, 5 step-drop, all LBs/Safeties drop into zones. SM throws poorly to short slant to Jenkins, no real yardage to gain, anyhow.
Again, the defense shows they are expecting a pass, a short pass, and are favoring this side. OSU runs no motion, no clearing patterns, just straight up routes. OSU needs to read the defense and call a change in routes. This play had no chance.

12th Play: 3rd and 12 N19
OSU: Shotgun, 3 Rec left, 2 right
Def: 3 man front, 7 LB/DBs across middle 4-5 yards off zone, 1 deep back. Defense is looking pass and running 7 zones.
Snap: 1 DL drops back, 3 rush. SM makes no bones about it, it is a QB draw, I LB to left is spying SM, all others are either watching man or reading play from deep. Excellent O-line blocking and downfield blocking. SM makes better moves, gets 1st down.
The quick decision to do this led to the success. He was gone with the snap, defense did not have time to pick it up. Plus, he ran to "weak" side, the spy was on the strong side. Great call? It worked this time.

13th Play: 1st and Goal N3-1/2
Form: The Old Power or roundhouse T, balanced line
Def: 5 man front, 5 LB/DB's inside TEs, 1 safety. Defense is looking run and preparing to react to anything inside tackles.
Snap: Handoff to Ross (right side back), up the LG. Good surge, but LBs read handoff, then crashed the hole. Still got about 2 yards, but no hope to get more inside.
This is a play old-timers say "we should always be able to get X-number of yards." Well, defenses aren't that simple anymore, this defense was expecting something inside the tackles, and got it.

14th Play: 2nd and Goal N1-1/2
Form: I form, triple TE strong left (Joe at FB)
Def: 6 man front, 4 across the back,1 DB flannked over strong TE, who motions inside then back to position, DB follows. Defense looking run to right side of OSU line.
-This is where everyone expects OSU to bulldoze- mindless, up the middle football, and NW is no different.
Snap: OSU gives ball to Joe,, but center of O-line gets beaten, Joe barely gains a half-yard.
Bruce used to call these attitude plays- you have got to want it more. Well, you can want it more all you want, but if the D knows where you are going to take it, they won't let you take it no matter how much more you want it. 5 OL can not block 8 defenders crowding space.

15th Play: 3rd and Goal N1
Form: Balanced I, Flanker far left
Def: 6-man front, open over tackles, 4 LB/DBs stationed over gaps. Clog middle, prepare for inside Tackle runs. 1 CB on flanker. Carter then motions slowly closer inside.
Snap: PA to FB, RTE (Hamby) feigns block then releases across goal line on crossing route. SM does that amazing 360-spin after the PA whih usually gets nailed by a weakside blitz. Weakside blitz! LB and DB covering gap on Hamby's side run inside-out blitzes to that side, with NO TE, that is 2 defenders and 1 blocker (FB)- however, FB picks it up well and Olivea (?) slides off one block and plasters blitz. Yeah! However, Clarke at LG gets dusted and beat inside- right into SM's face. SM takes hit for team and delivers pass to Hamby all alone. Great play, but Clarke did get eaten alive and almost blew play. Kudos to RBs and Olivea (RT???) for sliding off their blocks and containing blitz.

TD.

Overall a very nice drive, but again, some plays called just for the defense. On 2 key third down plays, SM hit line of srimmage with 15 seconds or so on play clock- giving him time to read defense- both plays successful. However on 2nd and long plays, SM gets under center with less than 8 seconds, and defense seems to know plays. I seriously blame this on coaches taking too long to pick a 2nd-and-medium/long play and not giving him time to audible. The QB needs to be able to check out of a play when the defense is stacked for it.

On the last couple of drives, but especially early on this one, NW started moving people rather than line up static, but they did tend to give away what they were looking for even in movement. After getting burned with 3 straight passes, NW backed off, even going to a 4 man front for a while, before returning to a 5-man. However, those LBs never lined up as tight as they did on the earlier series of the game.
 
Upvote 0
8th Drive: follows missed fg

1st Play: 1st and 10 O30
Form: I form, strong right, flankers split
Def: 4-4 (2 LB + 2DB across mid- 1 pinches on right before snap), CB's off Rece3ivers @8-10 yards, 1 deep safety. Defense is shading run, but not as tight.
Snap: Another 270-degree handoff on a run to the strong side forcing the Rb wide right. Holes are open off Gs on both sides, Guilford follows blocks into right side hole, gains about 4.
Okay, decent first down run, but again, D is looking for this run and O-line gives good lanes, just not fast enough to hit holes and miss gap-stoppers on defense. Extra 5 yards on a incidental facemask.

2nd Play: 2nd and 1 O39
Form: I form, balanced, split left flanker
Def: 5 man front, 4 backers, man coverage on flankers, 1 short deepback. This defense is guessing run to the right and watching misdirection left.
Snap: Right side gets great push, left opens hole, HB ISO- gets through hole for 5 yards.
Play took advantage of defense looking right and opened hole to left, FB hit it and got the yards. SM and Guilford faked option. Would have been BIG if they ran it, though.

3rd Play: 1st and 10 O43
Form: Single set I formation, strong right, flankers split 2 left, 1 right
Def: looked like 4-3, defense in run zones, Left side OLB shows blitz. DBs in shallow cover 2. They see the 3 receiver set but are still banking run.
PA to HB, defense bites, OL blocks left, SM rolls right, LB blitz inside to weak side, TE chips his LB and releases, SM throws short flare/TE screen. Nice play. Great blocking again, good chip and release to force LB to commit to SM and free up Hartsock.

4th Play: 1st and 10 N46
Form: straight I, strong right
Def: 4-2, Safety showing weak side blitz, Standard cover 2 with other 4 DBs. They are thinking run or short pass, then SS creeps in showing blitz.
At snap: Double safety blitz, SS comes at snap WS sees run, then blitzes. Long hand off (errrr). O-line gets 3 yard push up gut, but not at point of attack (inside tackle right), where 2 blockers are fighting 3 defenders at LOS. Blitz comes clean. TE ignores blitz (did he miss read???) and blocks downfield, but Guilford is trapped behind the LOS. Again, not a horrible call, but NW KNEW where the run was coming and blitzed the gap. Good line surge and hard running got a 1 yard gain despire good run blitz by NW.

5th Play: 2nd and 9 N45
Form: single set I, dbl TE (inside slot) right (short side of field), tight Flanker right and wide flanker right
Def: 5 man front, 3 LB, 1 Safety tight to right, 1 CB tight on wide flanker, 1 deep back. Defense is looking run to the right.
Snap: A pitch-sweep right. Absolutely excellent pulling by entire O-line, fast and hard. Guilford gains 4 before pushed out of bounds.
I like this play with two exceptions: 1) defense was stacked to the side, and 2) pitch was deep, giving defense time to react. Actually, I have a third problem- why do teams run toss sweeps to the short side of the field. The sideline is another defender! If this toss goes to the wide side, Guilford goes untouched to the endzone. Even if NW and OSU stack it to the wide side as they did to the short side. If fans want to see proof of the increase in OSU's Line speed- watch this play. The only thing that killed this play was Guilford had no room to maneuver once he hit the line of scrimmage.

6th Play: 3rd and 5 N41
Form: single set I, strong left, 2 flankers right, 1 left
Def: 3 man front with 1 LB showing outside blitz on weak side, other 2 LBs both showing run blitz inside NT/DE on left side. 1 CB loose on flanker left, maybe blitz? CB and Safety showing coverage on two flankers left, the SS in run-suppor to strong side. WS supporting coverage on inside flanker. Just before snap, all 3 safeties creep up more and Blitz LB shifts inside on strong side. They want to overload inside tackles.
Snap, it is an all out blitz. 2CBs and 1 WS drop to pass coverage, everybody chops inside on blitz. SM reads blitz, Jenkins is hot receiver runs short flare to sideline before WS can pick him up and catches quick pass. A nice read, SM takes a hit for team, OL just overwhelmed in middle 8 vs. 5. Good play and good hot read, but also short of 1st down. SM had no choice he was getting hit at snap. Some might say OL didn't pick up blitz well, but gave SM enough time to unload pass. They were just outnumbered at point of attack. Most stunting NW had done in 3 series.

7th Play: 4th and 1 N37
Form: Balanced I, flanker left
Def: a 5-5, with CB on flanker. They are stacked on left side of OSU offense, but Safeties to right are sliding that way. I don't think they are expecting the Purdue play here. They are guessing run, daring OSu to run right.
Snap: Another 270-degree deep hand off to Joe at HB. O-line does not get a push as LBs and DBs fire inside gaps inside tackles and create clog. Play is a failure. This is one where I am sure the O-line gets graded out poorly, but the delayed handoff deep in the zone, allows the entire defense to hit the LOS before Joe has the ball. If he is going up the middle, there is no hope. He's going up the middle.
A poor call. I know you should be able to push 2 yards, but NW isn't playing that line up man-on-man stuff. They put 5, force the O-line to commit, the RB doesn't even have the ball, the LBs are closer to the LOS when he gets the ball. The LBs just find the holes. It is almost like the defense is the offense- throwing guys into the holes before the RBs can get there.

Another promising drive killed because OSU wants to prove who is tougher and not who is smarter. Give this one to the brain boys at NW.

There were some good plays. The toss sweep, if less distance on the toss and run to the wide side is a big-play on this defense. Man, a fake to the HB and pitch to the FB goes big on this last play.

Oh well, 20-20 hindsight, I guess.
 
Upvote 0
9th Drive follows failed 4th down attempt

1st Play: 1st and 10 N45
Form: I-form, strong right, split flankers
Def: Base 4-3 cover 2 but a DB is showing blitz on weak side. Defense is in watch everything mode, but starts to cheat in for run defense.
Snap- the DB does blitz, straight hand-off to Guilford. OL does not get best blocks in, but holes are open to left. Guilford looks for hole right, then bounces way outside. He probably gains a couple extra yards if he keeps to his original hole and run, but frosh is trying to make big play happen. No real push by O-line.

2nd Play: 2nd and 6 N41
Form: I, strong right, double Flanker left.
Def: straight 5-2 CBs on flankers, SS in deep coverage, WS in zone.
Snap: PA to Guilford, FB picks up inside blitz, 2nd LB runs in/out blitz around tackle, but is slow. Seven step drop, SM has all the time in the world. Throws low and it is deflected to an open Carter, who can not make grab.
Another good play and called at a good time. Blitz is picked up well, SM seems to almost sidearm the ball and it gets tipped by DL/LB. That's his 3rd tip or deflected pass of game.

3rd Play: 3rd and 6 N41
Form, Pro-set shotgun, strong right, 2 flankers left- T. Smith is in as LHB.
Def: 3-3 (nickel package), all thre LB's show inside rush on very wide DE's. SS creeps in showing blitz or run support. CB's off flankers, cover 2 deep.
Just before snap, wide flanker goes in motion, cuts inside short flanker. Can't read CBs reactions, but looks like CB blitz from outside
At snap, SM gives service to deep look, but play is obviously designed to go to Smith (SM never raise ball or moves shoulders until he looks at Smith). Carter or Hall (can't tell if it was 8 or 82) makes nice inside move, Jenkins goes deep and Carter or Hall are WIDE open in cross underneath, SM never looks there. SM throws swing pass to Smith, but it is slow and a CB is gunning for Smith. Play is dead. Incomplete pass.
This was a dumb play that could have been interesting.
If SM uses Smith as decoy, he has Carter/Hall wide open underneath. A pump fake, or even an out and up by Smith to blow up that CB blitz would have been interesting, too. I won't argue the call, just think it should not have been specifically aimed at Smith- give SM options on this one.

Punt

We all know that a team HAS to score with advantageous field position to start like this. No real issues with play-calling on this one other than to specifically direct a play to one player- especially a player that only goes into a game when you want to give him the ball.
Sm seems to throw sidearm now and then, and they get deflected or knocked down. Get this fixed and the drive is still going.

Little things that end up with a dead drive. Not really execution, not really bad plays- just need to be thought out better.
 
Upvote 0
10th Drive: as I talk or post to myself.

1st Play: 1st and 10 N47
Form: starts as single-set, triple TE left, flanker left, shifts to dbl TE right (inside slot), tight flanker right and flanker left.
Def: Base 4-3 cover 2, no adjustments in front 7 on shift.
LBs are tight, looking run up the gut.
Snap- PA to MHall, who cuts right and chip blocks on OLB blitz, but TE also has him. SM snatches brief look to Hall and Hartsock as though he might throw this way, then fires missile to Carter who ran a seam route. The look off froze safeties in zone and opened up hole for Carter. Nice play, and again, that weak PA does the job. Great blocking by O-line. Hard to believe, these hosses may be the best pass-blocking group OSU has ever seen- and it's the same guys as last year.

2nd Play: 1st and 10 N27
Form: Shotgun with H-back left, dbl TE left, dbl flanker right (wide side) Smith is QB
Def: 4 man front, 2 LBs showing read coverage, WS safety showing blitz, SS showing tight LOS coverage, CB's off flankers by 6-8 yards yards. Deep safety moves up in coverage just before snap.
Snap: Gee, Smith is in and it is a QB sweep (I have never heard of a QB sweep, but that is what it is). Hamby, outside TE to left, muffs block and defense strings play out until man whom Hamby muffed on wraps up Smith. 2-3 yard gain. Again, the O-line blocks and moves well, the entire right side is blocking at the point where Smith is tackled. 3 problems, defense read Smith for Draw (he always runs when in), ran the sweep to short side of field again- all lanes clogged, nowhere for Smith to move, and Hamby blew block.
Uhm, coaches- let's try a sweep to the wide side- more room to maneuver- remember, the sideline is a 12th defender.

3rd Play: 2nd and 7 N24
Form: Single set, balanced, split receivers
Def: 5-3 with Safety on left cheating in, CBs tight, cover 1 deep. Defense is looking run all the way.
Snap: Deep hand-off as O-line goes 5-on-5 with defense front, 3 LBs read for hand-off or PA. At handoff, they are 3 yards from LOS, HB is 6. Hmmm. OLine gets 1-2 yard push, LBs read run and react to HB. Hole opens to left side but Bishop is trying to block DL and 2 LBs- not good. No gain.
Another play where the defense has guessed where OSU is going and sold out. The LBs do a good job of reading the handoff and hitting the holes before Hall get hit them. Bad call if the coaching can not give SM time to switch off when one can see the defense is gunning for this play. PA pass or roll-out-- goes big here. Just give a hot call.

4th Play: 3rd and 7 N24
Form: Empty shotgun, 3 rec right, 2 left
Def: 3 man front, no one in middle, 2 Safeties on inside receivers (1 left, 1 right) CB's tight on outside, Cover 3 deep.
Snap: Hey, another QB draw, but SM stumbles deciding whether to go inside or outside. Deep DB's have not hit coverage schemes from snap, so can pick up on QB play.
SM bumps into RT and falls down. Blame this on SM. He had blocking, both Gs pulled well and were giving him room to haul... he just didn't see the 320 pound T in the big red shirt in front of him. An easy oversight.

FG

Man, some quirky calls that almost worked. Again... lets run sweeps to the wide; let's put Smith in and NOT automatically run him with the ball. The PAs are working, but we go away from them. The underneath clear outs work, but we've stopped them.
There is a game flow and opportunity to take advantage, either Bollman or his spotter (whoever is in the box upstairs) is not keeping copious notes. The plays are there, with slight adjustments to the design.

This was another "almost" good drive. The execution is good, the blocking is there, just little design flaws that prevent the Bucks from busting big plays right now. And with the QB's overshooting the deep open receivers, the little flaws have to be excised.
 
Upvote 0
11th Drive: Zwick in at QB

1st Play: 1st and 10 N47
Form: Single set, dbl TE right, dbl flanker left
Def: 4-2, with safeties pinched on both sides of LOS, CBs slightly off flankers and 1 deep.
Outside TE goes in motion wide... SS follows.
Snap, everybody drops into coverage, straight 5-step drop-back. Great throw, Irrizary is wide open, and Zwick leads him perfectly. Irrizary makes lame effort.
Plays like this are rarely called on 1st down, and need to be executed. Irrizarry ate the safety alive. Pathetic attmept at one-handed grab.
I like the aggressive call, defense seemed to expect pass, but not post by TE. Did I mention Irrizarry has to make that catch.

2nd Play: 2nd and 15 (delay penalty), O48
Form: I-form, no TE, 1 flanker right, 2 left
Def: 4-3, corners tight on wide flankers, SS in short zone on inside flanker left.
Snap- straight drop-back, lame PA, everyone is reading pass anyhow. Schnittker gets beat on left-side rush, forcing Zwick to throw off-balance. Also, QB does the infamous 360 spin after play-action and rush comes from blind side during spin. Pass is incomplete. Coverage looks good.
Play looks like it was trying to get some yards underneath to get a makeable 3rd-down. Defense showed 4-3, but LBs dropped to zone at snap. Receivers were open, but coverage would have kept play to short gain. This is the second or third play where Schnittker muffed the block.

3rd Play: 3rd and 15 O48
Form: Offset I left, strong right, dbl flanker left
Def: 3-man front, 5 across short zone (1 showing blitz and WS reading stunts right), 2 CBs on flankers, cover 1 deep.
Snap- LB showing blitz drops before snap- obvious man-zone coverages. With three man rush, HB and TE stay in to block. 5-step drop, 3 yard pass left to H-back (Hartsock).
Okay, there is nothing good to say about this play. Why, vs. a 3-man rush are both RTE and HB staying in to block?? If you are not going for first down, now would be the time for the draw because the defense bailed out for the pass. Also, with cover 1 and tight man coverage to left, not much chance the swing pass to Hartsock is going to have much room. Run those hooks and curls and try to get the first down. At least put more receivers into the patterns. 5 OL, the HB, AND a TE all blocking 3 guys??? C'mon!!! Not a bright play.


let's go straight to next drive.

12th Drive:

1st Play: 1st and 10 O27
Form: single-set, dbl TE right, split flankers
Def: 5-2, safeties pinched up, CB's 10 yards off LOS
This defense is sniffing run and expecting it wide.
Studenty body left (the short side of field). Again, the pulling is quite good! The O-line gets out there, opens a lane, and Guilford goes through quickly. The handoff was quicker, as well. Allows the RB to get to the play faster. Guilford also breaks 3 tackles at 4-6 yards into play, and makes it the longest running play of the game.
I can only imagine if this were run wide how wide the lane would have been for Guilford. KUDOS to excellent job by O-line on their pulls. Clarke just shoved an LB so far out of the play, he must have thought he was lining up for the Capital home game.

2nd Play: 1st and 10 O43
Form: single-set, balanced, dbl flanker right
Def: 4-2, but 2 safeties are pinching just outside the lb's to the right showing blitz, WS is pinched in to left of Offense. (pretty much 9 in the box). 1 CB on wide-out 10 yards back, 1 deep safety. Defense is stuffing run or short pass to O's right.
Snap: some motion by RTE, but finishes where he started. Straight and quick hand-off, but play is going right- exactly where defense was stacking it with 2 blitzers. O-line had no chance and no push. Pretty much held straight up at LOS. Guilford gets back to line.
Again, this is not so much an execution issue. The play was designed to go right and the defense showed with 2 CB's and an LB pinching right, that they expected the play to be run there. 4 blockers can not contain 6 rushers to that side. The offense needs to be able to see the defensive alignment and alter the play- say, run it left??? If this play were simply called left instead of right- same formation and movement, Guilford goes 20-30 yards. The holes are huge on left side. Some would blame O-line here, but the play is set to be busted.

3rd Play: 2nd and 10 O43
Form: Shotgun, H-back left, dbl TE left, dbl flanker right
Def: 5-3, with 3 spread wide and tight to LOS, 2 CBs on flankers, 1 deep safety.
TROY SMITH AT QB ALERT!!! Hmmm, I wonder what play OSU calls out of this formation with TS at QB???? Geez, he even braces his legs at the snap like a sprinter getting ready to run.
Snap: Delay- but play was dead anyhow- Defense ignored blockers and played to right, where TS was going to run.

3rd Play Redux: 2nd and 14 O38
Form: Single-set, strong right, 2 flankers left, 1 right
Def: 5-2, CBs 7-8 yards off, safeties in shallow cover 2.
They aren't playing the bomb, here.
Snap, straight drop. JZ who showed the ability to look off earlier, locks onto flanker right and hits Childress with a bullet. Childress pushes ahead for @12 yards.
If JZ looks him off, then comes back, maybe more yards.
Good play, though, good throw. OSU has had success with these curl routes all game, got another one. NW fears that Ohio-resident speed. Childress was open from the snap.

4th Play: 3rd and 6 O46 (5 yard motion penalty)
Form: I-form, strong right, dbl flanker left
Def: 5-3, tight CB on inside flanker, 2nd CB off 8 yards on outside flanker, 1 deep safety.
Snap: PA holds LBs on reads, 2 commit in, RSLB drops into coverage right away. O-line holds off blitz very well, but HB is wasted on this play- not blocking, not in a pattern- just there. Zwick catches Hall on hook pattern, throws it low and away to get separation for RHall, but Hall misses low throw. The CB was in bump-n-run coverage. Outside flanker ran post. 1-on-1, the CB forced the low throw. Zwick threw it where it had to be thrown, just low.
One of those plays that almost works, but really, Zwick was given 1 guy to throw to. The blitzes all came inside and were handled beautifully. The HB is the question, I realize he is an emergency blocker, but has to read that the blitz was picked up and make himself an eligible receiver. Maybe Zwick figured he could hit RHall, but if Guilford flares a few feet, he is wide open for a HB screen with 2 defenders and 2 blockers between him and the endzone. The QB and RB must be given this option.

Instead, another punt.

Another drive with some good looks and a couple of bonehead penalties. Again, the TS alert went up, but play was never run. Need to see QBs given a chance to see the whole game.



13th Drive:

1st Play: 1st and 10 N38 1:50 to go
TS at QB ALERT, TS at QB ALERT!!!
Sorry, felt NW should know.
Form: Shotgun, dbl TE right, H-back right, dbl flanker right
Def: 5-3, the 3 shifted to O's right. 1CB on far Flanker
Cover 2 with safeties. NW MUST be expecting a run, they have left inside flanker ALL ALONE. You think they are looking for the QB Sweep???
Will we run that QB sweep????
Snap: Uhm, yeah, a QB sweep. Good moves- 8 yards.
Must be the NW scrubs in, as well. They were there, and still slow to the pursuit.

2nd Play: 2nd and 2 N30
Form: I-form, No TEs. 2 flankers left, 1 right
Def: 4-2 with Safeties pinching outside of LB's on left side, reading zone in case of slant pass to inside Flanker, but pinching for run-blitz. Cover 2 15 yards off but closing in at snap, 1 CB tight on far flanker.
Snap: Inside/out dbl safety blitz on O's left side.
OSU runs, SURPRISE, a draw play to right side. Only about the 4th time they have done so on from this formation and in short yardage cases. Guilford loses a yard.
Man, someone in OSU needs to learn what a draw play is and is supposed to do. This play was dead at the line. got outhustled to ball. Kne got burned on inside blitz by LB making tackle. a PA pass will stuff those LBs reading zone, but coming on blitzes.

3rd Play: 3rd and 3 N31.
Form: Single-set, dbl TE right, split flankers
Def: 5-2, WS in cover 1, CBs 5 yards off, SS 7 yards off outside TE, but pinches in to 3 yards before snap.
-Hey, it's the last play- who expects anything but a run?
Snap: a trap-play left, TE gets burned on block, but Guilford wiggles for 2.
Trap play on last play of game??? nevermind.

This series was going to run out the clock, so not much to discuss.
As the teams leave the field, many wonder, why can't the offense get it going this year? Well, I will break it all down in last post to this thread....
 
Upvote 0
Okay, so what???

Well, let's look at how I felt (proof in other threads) before tearing these games down, especially this one:

1. The offense system sucks, and Bollman/Tressel have no clue about a modern offense.
2. The RBs are slow and misread their holes all the time.
3. The O-line, outside of the penalties, was blocking well.
4. OSU was mis-using talent.
5. OSU was missing Clarett or emotional leader on offense.

What I saw in this game:
1. For the most part, the system has lots of good stuff. The plays were usually set up well, and the execution was usually good. The boys know the system and run it.
The problem is two-fold:
a. OSU has some pet-plays that they like to run regardless of the situation or defense presented. The draw plays vs. Run defenses and following 1st down incompletions have got to go.
b. Each play needs a check-off, and the QB needs to have time to alter. In many cases, a simple change of run left to run right (or vice-versa) would open big runs. The defenses seem to think OSU is going to do exactly what OSU does at times. Just let the QB switch the direction or such at the LOS. Some really good plays that just have 1 minor error or flaw (runs to short side which clog up the running lanes). OSU crossed up NW a lot early on, then went away from the PA and curl routes which had opened up some runs. The speed of a play's development needs to improve.

2. I think I noted less than 6 times where a RB mis-read the hole. They actually get there and seem to have the right idea. The problem is the deep hand-offs, and the constant 270-degree or 360-degree rotations by the QB which delay the hand-off and force the RB off the running lane a bit (easier to explain with video than on here). By the time the RBs get to hole, the read-react defenses have shot the gaps to stop the play.
The long-developing runs and schemes allow defenses to search the play and hit the gaps long after the O-line has committed to their primary blocks.

3. The O-line is doing a good to great job. The pulling speed was unbelievable- often they were at the point of attack a full second or more before RB could reach the POA. The breakdowns in blocking have come from hot reads by the FBs or even TEs at times. Also, when the defense seems to know what and where OSU will run, they overload the blockers, often getting +1 or +2 defenders at the Point of Attack. The quick PA plays caught them, and OSU had some dropped passes that could have REALLY forced the defense to back off. Jenkins and Irrizarry NEED to catch those passes they got lazy on. The O-line blew 1 play that I saw, and even then, I wasn't sure that the play didn't set them up.

4. OSU is trying to get the ball in the hands of Carter, Jenkins, Holmes, etc. But, truly- not enough. When OSU is too busy trying to run draw plays to get the RBs their yards, these receivers are coming open and the opponents' defense is left hanging out like Ron Jeremy in a pron flick to PA passes if OSU would call more. The 1st down PA passes gained more yards in 8 total plays (6 completions) than 20 1st down runs did.

5. OSU is missing something on offense- an intangible of some kind. As I noticed analyzing this entire game, I expected certain negative tendencies, and outside those damn draw plays, I didn't see them. So many plays were an inch or shoestring tackle away from being huge. SM just missed long on three passes that were homerun balls. Jenkins and Irrizarry each blew easy catches that could have been big plays (LI's was a TD if he catches it). The team is lackadeisical at times, most readily seen in the skill players, and there is no one on the sideline or in the huddle that will do what MOC did (for good or bad)- which is fire them up. No one is showing emotion- and someone needs to.

I will back off some of my criticism of the game-plan, although the draw-plays and the refusal to let the QBs make some audibles are hurting the team. If OSU can correct these little nuances (the QB spins, the long hand-offs), the offense will start to improve. If OSU can get a spotter in the booth who keeps notes and can point out where these plays are just missing, the offense will explode.

OSU seems to call their offense from the sideline based on their own "what would we do" rather then seeing what the defense shows and making an alteration in direction or rotation.

I was shocked to really see just how close these team was to scoring 50+ on NW. Literally, OSU was about 6 feet and 2 less penalties from hanging a C-spot on the Wildcats.

I know I am a nobody, but I really feel I have ripped the scheme more than I should, but think the timing of play-calls is the biggest issue.

PS: LEARN WHAT THE GOSH DARN DRAW PLAY IS ABOUT!!!

Well, hopefully this dissertation in A-minor was worth your time.

Take it for what it is worth. Nothing
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Back
Top