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LGHL MC&J: Alabama-Florida takes center stage in Week 3’s national schedule
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MC&J: Alabama-Florida takes center stage in Week 3’s national schedule
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Alabama will be looking for their eighth straight win against the Gators, plus picks for five other solid national contests.
Last week ATS: 6-10 (3-3 National, 3-7 B1G)
Season ATS: 15-16-1 (7-6 National, 8-10-1 B1G)
This week’s picks for the games involving B1G teams can be found here.
National games:
No. 15 Virginia Tech v. West Virginia (-3) - 12:00 PM EST - FS1
It feels like a crime that Virginia Tech and West Virginia don’t play every year. From 1991 to 2003 the two schools were members of the Big East contest, with the Hokies holding an 8-5 edge during that time. Overall, West Virginia is 28-23-1 against Virginia Tech, but the Hokies have won the last three meetings.
Virginia Tech surprised me a bit by taking down North Carolina in their season opener. The Hokies might have a little more than to work with than I originally thought heading the season. One hit Justin Fuente’s team has taken recently is they lost tight end James Mitchell for the rest of the season due to injury.
While there is a lot of things that West Virginia does right, what worries me about the Mountaineers is the issues they had with turnovers against Maryland. West Virginia turned the football over four times against the Terrapins, and we could see another repeat performance against a tough Virginia Tech defense. This game is going to be a grind. Virginia Tech plays a little smarter football, which is why I like them to make it four in a row against the Mountaineers.
Virginia Tech 24, West Virginia 20
No. 1 Alabama (-14.5) v. No. 11 Florida - 3:30 PM EST - CBS
A very popular pick this week seems to be Florida. I don’t know if I’m buying it. Alabama looked invincible in their season opener against Miami. Even though the Crimson Tide has had to replace a lot of offense this year, they always have backups that could start on pretty much any other team in the country. Bryce Young has tossed seven touchdowns in the first two games of the season, with two of those going to former Ohio State wide receiver Jameson Williams.
Florida has also had to replace some offensive pieces this year. Gone are Kyle Trask and Kyle Pitts. Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson have been fine for the Gators so far this year, but this will undoubtedly be their toughest test. Florida will get a little help since Alabama will be without linebacker Christopher Allen, and Will Anderson has been dealing with some injury issues.
I get wanting to take Florida with the points, especially after how the Gators played Alabama in the SEC Championship Game last year. The problem is I just don’t know how Florida is going to pass the football in this one. If the Crimson Tide jump out to an early lead it will make the Gators one-dimensional. I just think Alabama ends up smothering Florida in Gainesville. While the score won’t be as lopsided as when Alabama beat Miami a couple weeks ago, the Crimson Tide will win by at least 17.
Alabama 38, Florida 17
USC (-8) v. Washington State - 3:30 PM EST - FOX
USC is finally free! I’ve been saying for years that Clay Helton was not a good coach, and the Trojans finally pulled the trigger on sending Helton packing after USC quit against Stanford last week. I expect that we’ll see a lot better performance from the Trojans since they can play a little more relaxed now that Helton has been kicked to the curb.
Washington State has coaching issues of their own. The thing is, their coaching issues are mainly from an off-the-field issue, as Nick Rolovich has refused to get the COVID-19. While that’s Rolovich’s choice, it is obviously not helping the team’s performance on the field. The Cougars lost in their season opener before beating up on Portland State last week.
I expect we’ll get a big day from Kedon Slovis and the USC offense. Washington State has been awful on defense, which will play right into USC’s hands. While the Cougars will put up some points, the Trojans will get enough stops to add to Rolovich’s woes.
USC 41, Washington State 28
Tulane v. No. 17 Ole Miss (-14) - 8:00 PM EST - ESPN2
This could be one of the most exciting games of the weekend. Both Tulane and Ole Miss can put points on the board, so the better bet for this game might be the over, which sits at 76. In each of their first two games this year, both teams have scored at least 35 points.
Tulane has already shown they can hang with one of the best teams in the country this year, only losing by five against Oklahoma in their season opener. What was more impressive about the Green Wave was they didn’t give up in the game despite falling behind the Sooners by 23 points.
Lane Kiffin’s team looks like they could be a contender in the SEC West. Obviously the Rebels will know where they stand in a couple weeks when they take on Alabama. Matt Corral has thrown six touchdowns already this year, and the Ole Miss offense is averaging 600 yards per game.
What I like about taking Tulane in this game is even if they do fall behind by a few scores, they have the offensive firepower to at least thrown some touchdowns late in the game to bring the final deficit closer. I think we get a focused Ole Miss squad since they have a bye next week before taking on Alabama, but Tulane is up to the task and keeps things close enough.
Ole Miss 45, Tulane 34
No. 19 Arizona State (-4) v. No. 23 BYU - 10:15 PM EST - ESPN
BYU has certainly been tested so far this year. The Cougars are already 2-0 against Pac-12 teams, taking down Arizona and Utah in the first two games of the year. Not only did BYU snap their losing streak against Utah last week, they pretty much dominated their rivals, which is something I didn’t see coming. Jaren Hall has done a great job taking over for Zach Wilson, throwing five touchdowns this year.
We still don’t know a lot about Arizona State since they have only played Southern Utah and UNLV so far this year. Sparky has Jayden Daniels at quarterback, which should help in the hostile environment they’ll face in Provo. The thing is, Daniels is going to face a ton of heat from the BYU pass rush. To me this game feels like a toss-up, so I’ll side with the home team and the points.
BYU 27, Arizona State 24
Fresno State v. No. 13 UCLA (-11) - 10:45 PM EST - Pac-12 Network
UCLA has been one of the biggest surprises of the season so far. Chip Kelly has the Bruins on the rise. Zach Charbonnet continues to impress now that he has the Michigan stink off of him, rushing for 223 yards and four touchdowns in two games. Even more impressive for UCLA has been their rush defense, which is giving up just 37.5 yards per game.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, Fresno State is going to take to the air in the game. Jake Haener, who started his college career at Washington, is lighting it up passing the football, throwing for 1,009 yards and eight touchdowns through three games. The Fresno State defense has been pretty good as well, holding Oregon largely in check in the close loss to the Ducks a few weeks ago.
UCLA had a bye last week, which means they’ve had two weeks of hearing how great they are. Not that the Bruins aren’t talented, I just don’t know if LSU is quite as good as everyone thinks they are. Fresno State has proved they are a good team, so I see this game being decided by single digits. UCLA is pushed to the wire, much like Oregon didn’t win until late against the Bulldogs.
UCLA 35. Fresno State 31
Continue reading...
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Alabama will be looking for their eighth straight win against the Gators, plus picks for five other solid national contests.
Last week ATS: 6-10 (3-3 National, 3-7 B1G)
Season ATS: 15-16-1 (7-6 National, 8-10-1 B1G)
This week’s picks for the games involving B1G teams can be found here.
National games:
No. 15 Virginia Tech v. West Virginia (-3) - 12:00 PM EST - FS1
It feels like a crime that Virginia Tech and West Virginia don’t play every year. From 1991 to 2003 the two schools were members of the Big East contest, with the Hokies holding an 8-5 edge during that time. Overall, West Virginia is 28-23-1 against Virginia Tech, but the Hokies have won the last three meetings.
Virginia Tech surprised me a bit by taking down North Carolina in their season opener. The Hokies might have a little more than to work with than I originally thought heading the season. One hit Justin Fuente’s team has taken recently is they lost tight end James Mitchell for the rest of the season due to injury.
While there is a lot of things that West Virginia does right, what worries me about the Mountaineers is the issues they had with turnovers against Maryland. West Virginia turned the football over four times against the Terrapins, and we could see another repeat performance against a tough Virginia Tech defense. This game is going to be a grind. Virginia Tech plays a little smarter football, which is why I like them to make it four in a row against the Mountaineers.
Virginia Tech 24, West Virginia 20
No. 1 Alabama (-14.5) v. No. 11 Florida - 3:30 PM EST - CBS
A very popular pick this week seems to be Florida. I don’t know if I’m buying it. Alabama looked invincible in their season opener against Miami. Even though the Crimson Tide has had to replace a lot of offense this year, they always have backups that could start on pretty much any other team in the country. Bryce Young has tossed seven touchdowns in the first two games of the season, with two of those going to former Ohio State wide receiver Jameson Williams.
Florida has also had to replace some offensive pieces this year. Gone are Kyle Trask and Kyle Pitts. Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson have been fine for the Gators so far this year, but this will undoubtedly be their toughest test. Florida will get a little help since Alabama will be without linebacker Christopher Allen, and Will Anderson has been dealing with some injury issues.
I get wanting to take Florida with the points, especially after how the Gators played Alabama in the SEC Championship Game last year. The problem is I just don’t know how Florida is going to pass the football in this one. If the Crimson Tide jump out to an early lead it will make the Gators one-dimensional. I just think Alabama ends up smothering Florida in Gainesville. While the score won’t be as lopsided as when Alabama beat Miami a couple weeks ago, the Crimson Tide will win by at least 17.
Alabama 38, Florida 17
USC (-8) v. Washington State - 3:30 PM EST - FOX
USC is finally free! I’ve been saying for years that Clay Helton was not a good coach, and the Trojans finally pulled the trigger on sending Helton packing after USC quit against Stanford last week. I expect that we’ll see a lot better performance from the Trojans since they can play a little more relaxed now that Helton has been kicked to the curb.
Washington State has coaching issues of their own. The thing is, their coaching issues are mainly from an off-the-field issue, as Nick Rolovich has refused to get the COVID-19. While that’s Rolovich’s choice, it is obviously not helping the team’s performance on the field. The Cougars lost in their season opener before beating up on Portland State last week.
I expect we’ll get a big day from Kedon Slovis and the USC offense. Washington State has been awful on defense, which will play right into USC’s hands. While the Cougars will put up some points, the Trojans will get enough stops to add to Rolovich’s woes.
USC 41, Washington State 28
Tulane v. No. 17 Ole Miss (-14) - 8:00 PM EST - ESPN2
This could be one of the most exciting games of the weekend. Both Tulane and Ole Miss can put points on the board, so the better bet for this game might be the over, which sits at 76. In each of their first two games this year, both teams have scored at least 35 points.
Tulane has already shown they can hang with one of the best teams in the country this year, only losing by five against Oklahoma in their season opener. What was more impressive about the Green Wave was they didn’t give up in the game despite falling behind the Sooners by 23 points.
Lane Kiffin’s team looks like they could be a contender in the SEC West. Obviously the Rebels will know where they stand in a couple weeks when they take on Alabama. Matt Corral has thrown six touchdowns already this year, and the Ole Miss offense is averaging 600 yards per game.
What I like about taking Tulane in this game is even if they do fall behind by a few scores, they have the offensive firepower to at least thrown some touchdowns late in the game to bring the final deficit closer. I think we get a focused Ole Miss squad since they have a bye next week before taking on Alabama, but Tulane is up to the task and keeps things close enough.
Ole Miss 45, Tulane 34
No. 19 Arizona State (-4) v. No. 23 BYU - 10:15 PM EST - ESPN
BYU has certainly been tested so far this year. The Cougars are already 2-0 against Pac-12 teams, taking down Arizona and Utah in the first two games of the year. Not only did BYU snap their losing streak against Utah last week, they pretty much dominated their rivals, which is something I didn’t see coming. Jaren Hall has done a great job taking over for Zach Wilson, throwing five touchdowns this year.
We still don’t know a lot about Arizona State since they have only played Southern Utah and UNLV so far this year. Sparky has Jayden Daniels at quarterback, which should help in the hostile environment they’ll face in Provo. The thing is, Daniels is going to face a ton of heat from the BYU pass rush. To me this game feels like a toss-up, so I’ll side with the home team and the points.
BYU 27, Arizona State 24
Fresno State v. No. 13 UCLA (-11) - 10:45 PM EST - Pac-12 Network
UCLA has been one of the biggest surprises of the season so far. Chip Kelly has the Bruins on the rise. Zach Charbonnet continues to impress now that he has the Michigan stink off of him, rushing for 223 yards and four touchdowns in two games. Even more impressive for UCLA has been their rush defense, which is giving up just 37.5 yards per game.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, Fresno State is going to take to the air in the game. Jake Haener, who started his college career at Washington, is lighting it up passing the football, throwing for 1,009 yards and eight touchdowns through three games. The Fresno State defense has been pretty good as well, holding Oregon largely in check in the close loss to the Ducks a few weeks ago.
UCLA had a bye last week, which means they’ve had two weeks of hearing how great they are. Not that the Bruins aren’t talented, I just don’t know if LSU is quite as good as everyone thinks they are. Fresno State has proved they are a good team, so I see this game being decided by single digits. UCLA is pushed to the wire, much like Oregon didn’t win until late against the Bulldogs.
UCLA 35. Fresno State 31
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LGHL Defense 101: Fixing Ohio State’s pass defense from the ground up
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Defense 101: Fixing Ohio State’s pass defense from the ground up
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Ohio State’s defense is... not great! So I’m going to fix it. Last time the run defense was the focus. Now let’s work on the pass defense.
Welcome back to another installment of Defense 101: Fixing Ohio State’s defense from the ground up! In the previous article, I focused largely on Ohio State’s run defense, and for good reason. In the last two games, OSU has given up a million yards and an abundance of touchdowns in a way Buckeye fans haven’t seen in a long time... perhaps ever.
Unfortunately for fans, players, and coaches, the run defense isn’t the only issue. The pass defense isn’t great either, and was largely the biggest issue coming into this season as OSU allowed 464 passing yards and 5 touchdowns in the National Championship game against Alabama.
So we’ve fixed the run defense (theoretically) and honestly that was a large task in itself, so is it realistic that we can fix the pass defense as well? Who knows, but I’m going to give it the old college try. So as a recap, OSU runs a 4-2-5 defense. The scheme, which has come under a lot of fire, actually refers to the pass defense strategy, as stopping the run is basically the same regardless of scheme. So lets start there...
The Scheme
Ohio State under the guidance (?), direction (?) command (?) of Ryan Day, runs a single high-safety defense (more on this later) that includes Cover 1 and Cover 3 options. This defense was made famous by Pete Carroll and the Seahawks. This defense gave birth to what became known as the Legion of Boom and put fear into a lot of NFL offenses.
But why would this particular defense put fear into offensive coaches? I’ll put in basic terms, this defense relies on the defensive backs living on an island, which allows the in-the-box defenders to wreck havoc in the run game and pressure the quarterback. Defenses like to match coverages that look the same, but do different things. Cover 1 and Cover 3 both rely on a single high safety which is why Ohio State relies on both coverages.
As an aside, the number in the coverage typically refers to how many people are deep, let’s say 15 yards and deeper. So Cover 1 = 1 person deep, Cover 2 = 2 people deep, Cover 3 = 3 people deep. Now that we’ve covered that, lets talk coverages.
Cover 1
Cover 1 is essentially man to man defense. As mentioned before, in Cover 1 there is only one person deep with “zone” responsibilities. This means that every other player is in man defense. Man defense is simply following one particular player everywhere he goes across the field. If you’re counting, there are seven people who can be in pass coverage at one time. One of the benefits of Cover 1 is that you can add players who don’t have a specific man to guard into the coverage, essentially playing some sort of. You can also have them double-team a dynamic playmaker, or you can have them blitz.
As you can see in the image below, the defense is lined up in a 4-2-5. Players are lined up in front of the player that they are responsible for. In this instance, the offense only has six players who can run a route, so there is a linebacker who is free to play zone or blitz.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851839/cover_1.png)
Cover 3
Cover 3 is a zone defense. Zone, unlike man, means that defenders do not guard one particular player; instead the guard an area of the field or a “zone,” and become responsible for anyone who comes into that area. In Cover 3, defenses drop all seven non-linemen into zone and they each cover their predetermined area.
The benefit to a zone defense is that while you are defending the pass, all eyes are focused on the quarterback. The defense can react to the pass as expected, but can also provide help if the offense runs the ball. Like every defense, there are fundamental flaws in Cover 3, but if you are running Cover 3, your primary goal is to prevent big plays, defend the run, and keep all pass short so that your defense can rally to the ball.
This is a “bend but don’t break” style of coverage. Cover 3 should force QBs to throw short routes to the flats or attempt tight window throws up the seam (effectively the hash lines in college football).
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851852/cover_3.jpg)
Is the scheme broken?
The term “scheme” is simply how you defend the run and pass. A scheme itself cannot be broken. The issue with a scheme is when either you do not have the right players to run the particular scheme, or you cannot coach the scheme. I have a hard time believing that Ohio State’s bevy of four and five-star players cannot properly play Cover 1 and/or Cover 3, so that just leaves the issue of coaching.
With obvious exceptions, most defenses are pretty standard; I call out a specific scheme, anyone who knows what the defense is should be able to draw it up. There is not a cute way to play Cover 1 or Cover 3. You can disguise your coverage (which Ohio State does not do), you can trick teams by moving players around, by adding blitzes, or even by switching play responsibilities, but it’s still Cover 1 or Cover 3.
Which leads to the biggest problem in Ohio State’s defense, when you watch the film, you have no idea what defense they’re running. Players are not in the right position, their eyes are not in the right place, and therefore they are not doing the right things. Therefore, nothing that the specific defensive scheme is designed to stop is actually being stopped.
So how do you fix it?
So again I ask, if the scheme is not the issue and it’s most likely not going to be changed midseason — or perhaps ever as long as Ryan Day is the head coach at Ohio State — what can be done instead? Well, the coaches can get back to the basics and teach players the fundamentals.
Pass defense has a lot of minor intricacies that I'm not going to break down in this article. Like everything, there are many different techniques to do the same thing, but the fundamentals never change.
Defending the pass really begins with two things; first, know it’s a pass and second, know your responsibilities. It may seem redundant to say that you have to know it’s a pass, but on any given play there are three to five players who have both run and pass responsibilities, and if they cannot identify the pass they’re already at a disadvantage. So let’s get into fundamental:
If you read the previous article, you may notice that I basically have the same fundamentals for preventing the run and the pass. No, that is not laziness on my part, instead it’s because in order to play defense, you need the same fundamentals no matter the situation.
Defenses are best when they’re simple and players can just play. That is essentially the No. 1 issue with Ohio State’s D. It is not simple, players cannot just play, and they do not have the correct fundamentals.
Know the defense
If we’re being honest, outside of their linebackers, Ohio State’s pass defense has been presently surprising. Despite injuries to the expected starters, freshman corner Denzel Burke has shown himself to be a reliable option who has grown with each quarter of action, and Cam Brown played pretty well on one leg against Oregon, after missing the season opener against Minnesota.
The biggest issues with OSU’s pass defense have been the lack of pressure by the defensive line and poor fundamentals and play recognition by the linebackers, slot corner, and bullet.
In the clip below, there are two separate passes by Oregon QB Anthony Brown and the biggest issue with both is that it’s impossible to tell what defense is being played. This is because the players either don’t know the defense or don’t know their responsibilities.
In the first play, there are some teaching points for the corner, but overall, this is just a good throw and catch. The issues pile up after that. First, the defensive line gets zero pass rush which gives Brown a lot of time to find a receiver.
Second, some players are playing man while others are playing zone. Watch the slot corner at the bottom. He sees it’s pass, does not trust his eyes. and stands in one place, which allows the wide receiver to run past him.
The bigger issue though is that everyone else is playing man. The receiver who ran past him was his responsibility and luckily, Brown didn’t see him or it would’ve been a bigger play.
On the second play, Ohio State’s defense blitzes. This time the corners play man and the bullet and slot corner both play zone. You can argue that this is Cover 3, but most blitzes are paired with man coverage, because there aren’t enough people to cover every zone when there are extra guys rushing the passer.
If you watch each player, they are all doing something different. The players at the top of the screen are playing zone and the CB doesn’t get enough depth, which leads to a double covered look. At the bottom, OSU safety Bryan Shaw is playing man, while the slot corner is playing zone; once again letting a WR run right past him.
Luckily the defense was not burnt by these plays, but a better QB is going to take notice and hit a big play. If you cannot look at the defensive players and tell what coverage they’re running, you have a major issue.
Read your keys and trust your eyes
A lot of offenses use run-pass options and play action passes to confuse the defense. This is where the importance of reading your keys and trusting your eyes comes into play. In this play, Oregon runs what I believe is an RPO, but OSU is clearly not prepared for it.
The defense appears to be expecting run and doesn’t consider that Oregon might pass. The entire linebacker corp bites on the run fake and therefore is unable to defend the pass. The worst part of this play is that no one sees the linebacker blitzing — including Cody Simon who actually runs into the TE and for some reason continues to try and defend the player who is clearly not getting the ball.
If Simon actually defends the tight end, Brown has no where to go with the ball and gets sacked by OSU’s Javontae Jean-Baptise for a safety. Kudos to Oregon for calling this play, but OSU should have had it defended. Instead Oregon drives 99 yards and scores a touchdown.
This is becoming a pattern
If you’re starting to see a theme, you’re not alone. In this clip, either the players again have no idea what they’re doing, or they have absolutely zero idea how to play man coverage.
Let’s start with bullet Ronnie Hickman. He immediately bails on the snap, implying that it’s a zone, although let’s be honest, that doesn’t make sense because he doesn’t drop to the deep third of the field and there is already a deep safety.
By him dropping at the snap, he single handedly gives the TE a huge cushion which Brown immediately finds. Now just because the ball goes to the spot that Hickman cleared out doesn’t mean that we should look at what the other players on the field were doing on the play.
Both corners and the free safety are playing some sort of zone which further emphasizes that Hickman is in the wrong spot. Lathan Ransom is lined up like he’s playing man, but he literally does nothing and allows a free release. One linebacker is also clearly playing man, while the other is completely lost. There are two wide receivers open on this play, and if it went on longer, I can’t promise that there wouldn’t have been more.
In conclusion, it’s almost impossible to tell what the correct coverage is on any given play. Each player is playing something different, and none of them are playing it particularly well. Wide receivers are left wide open and tight ends might as well not exist until they’ve caught a pass for a first down.
The pass rush is legitimately non-existent. The only reason that this defense wasn’t burned for a touchdown in the passing game is because Anthony Brown is not all that great of a quarterback and missed some open reads. Plus when you’re running so well, who needs to pass?
The first step to fixing this defense is honestly just to re-teach it as its clear that no one is on the same page; there is no cohesion or communication on this defense. There is no understanding of concept or even where they’re supposed to be on a given play. Some players are playing man, some are playing zone, and some are playing the run when it’s clearly a pass.
This defense is fundamentally broken. Kerry Coombs or who ever the active defensive coordinator is when this article drops needs to scrap the game plan and just let the defense play. Athletes play best when they’re not thinking. Get in the film room, find your best players who can do what is asked of them and hope for the best.
Now, I’m not sure that this can be fixed in-season; Ohio State is lucky that they haven’t played a team who believes in a 21st century passing attack or they could be 0-2.
The best hope for this passing defense is that the coaches stop trying to get cute. If only 11 players can play, then those 11 need to play every single snap. Lastly, go back to the seventh grade, install a first day of practice defense and allow your collection of athletes to simply be the best players on the field; which they should be in every single game aside from when/if they play Alabama and Georgia.
Continue reading...
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Ohio State’s defense is... not great! So I’m going to fix it. Last time the run defense was the focus. Now let’s work on the pass defense.
Welcome back to another installment of Defense 101: Fixing Ohio State’s defense from the ground up! In the previous article, I focused largely on Ohio State’s run defense, and for good reason. In the last two games, OSU has given up a million yards and an abundance of touchdowns in a way Buckeye fans haven’t seen in a long time... perhaps ever.
Unfortunately for fans, players, and coaches, the run defense isn’t the only issue. The pass defense isn’t great either, and was largely the biggest issue coming into this season as OSU allowed 464 passing yards and 5 touchdowns in the National Championship game against Alabama.
So we’ve fixed the run defense (theoretically) and honestly that was a large task in itself, so is it realistic that we can fix the pass defense as well? Who knows, but I’m going to give it the old college try. So as a recap, OSU runs a 4-2-5 defense. The scheme, which has come under a lot of fire, actually refers to the pass defense strategy, as stopping the run is basically the same regardless of scheme. So lets start there...
The Scheme
Ohio State under the guidance (?), direction (?) command (?) of Ryan Day, runs a single high-safety defense (more on this later) that includes Cover 1 and Cover 3 options. This defense was made famous by Pete Carroll and the Seahawks. This defense gave birth to what became known as the Legion of Boom and put fear into a lot of NFL offenses.
But why would this particular defense put fear into offensive coaches? I’ll put in basic terms, this defense relies on the defensive backs living on an island, which allows the in-the-box defenders to wreck havoc in the run game and pressure the quarterback. Defenses like to match coverages that look the same, but do different things. Cover 1 and Cover 3 both rely on a single high safety which is why Ohio State relies on both coverages.
As an aside, the number in the coverage typically refers to how many people are deep, let’s say 15 yards and deeper. So Cover 1 = 1 person deep, Cover 2 = 2 people deep, Cover 3 = 3 people deep. Now that we’ve covered that, lets talk coverages.
Cover 1
Cover 1 is essentially man to man defense. As mentioned before, in Cover 1 there is only one person deep with “zone” responsibilities. This means that every other player is in man defense. Man defense is simply following one particular player everywhere he goes across the field. If you’re counting, there are seven people who can be in pass coverage at one time. One of the benefits of Cover 1 is that you can add players who don’t have a specific man to guard into the coverage, essentially playing some sort of. You can also have them double-team a dynamic playmaker, or you can have them blitz.
As you can see in the image below, the defense is lined up in a 4-2-5. Players are lined up in front of the player that they are responsible for. In this instance, the offense only has six players who can run a route, so there is a linebacker who is free to play zone or blitz.
Cover 3
Cover 3 is a zone defense. Zone, unlike man, means that defenders do not guard one particular player; instead the guard an area of the field or a “zone,” and become responsible for anyone who comes into that area. In Cover 3, defenses drop all seven non-linemen into zone and they each cover their predetermined area.
The benefit to a zone defense is that while you are defending the pass, all eyes are focused on the quarterback. The defense can react to the pass as expected, but can also provide help if the offense runs the ball. Like every defense, there are fundamental flaws in Cover 3, but if you are running Cover 3, your primary goal is to prevent big plays, defend the run, and keep all pass short so that your defense can rally to the ball.
This is a “bend but don’t break” style of coverage. Cover 3 should force QBs to throw short routes to the flats or attempt tight window throws up the seam (effectively the hash lines in college football).
Is the scheme broken?
The term “scheme” is simply how you defend the run and pass. A scheme itself cannot be broken. The issue with a scheme is when either you do not have the right players to run the particular scheme, or you cannot coach the scheme. I have a hard time believing that Ohio State’s bevy of four and five-star players cannot properly play Cover 1 and/or Cover 3, so that just leaves the issue of coaching.
With obvious exceptions, most defenses are pretty standard; I call out a specific scheme, anyone who knows what the defense is should be able to draw it up. There is not a cute way to play Cover 1 or Cover 3. You can disguise your coverage (which Ohio State does not do), you can trick teams by moving players around, by adding blitzes, or even by switching play responsibilities, but it’s still Cover 1 or Cover 3.
Which leads to the biggest problem in Ohio State’s defense, when you watch the film, you have no idea what defense they’re running. Players are not in the right position, their eyes are not in the right place, and therefore they are not doing the right things. Therefore, nothing that the specific defensive scheme is designed to stop is actually being stopped.
So how do you fix it?
So again I ask, if the scheme is not the issue and it’s most likely not going to be changed midseason — or perhaps ever as long as Ryan Day is the head coach at Ohio State — what can be done instead? Well, the coaches can get back to the basics and teach players the fundamentals.
Pass defense has a lot of minor intricacies that I'm not going to break down in this article. Like everything, there are many different techniques to do the same thing, but the fundamentals never change.
Defending the pass really begins with two things; first, know it’s a pass and second, know your responsibilities. It may seem redundant to say that you have to know it’s a pass, but on any given play there are three to five players who have both run and pass responsibilities, and if they cannot identify the pass they’re already at a disadvantage. So let’s get into fundamental:
- Line up correctly: If you do not line up correctly you’ve already lost. You must align yourself based on what the offense is showing. One of the benefits of the 4-2-5 defense is that alignment should be easy, because the defense essentially has the same position on both sides. The offense dictates your alignment.
- Know the coverage: This is definitely defense 101. You need to know if you’re playing Cover 1 or Cover 3, because each player has drastically different responsibilities determined by the coverage.
- Read your keys: This is of the utmost importance, because the key will tell you whether it’s a run or pass. Multiple players on defense have run and pass responsibilities so it’s important to know what the offense is doing so that you can react correctly.
- Execute the correct responsibility: This is underrated; defense is the epitome of teamwork. In man coverage, you are singularly responsible for one player. If you do not guard that player then you’ve let your team down and potentially let a big play occur. In zone, you are responsible for an area of the field. To even attempt to defend the pass, everyone has to know what they’re responsible for, how to execute said responsibility, and ultimately actually execute it.
- Trust your eyes/communicate/play fast: Sometimes this is really the most important part of defense. The offense’s whole job is to confuse you; the opposing players are on scholarship too, so they are likely pretty good at what they do. If you trust your eyes, communicate with your team, work as a cohesive unit, and play fast, you at least give yourself a chance.
If you read the previous article, you may notice that I basically have the same fundamentals for preventing the run and the pass. No, that is not laziness on my part, instead it’s because in order to play defense, you need the same fundamentals no matter the situation.
Defenses are best when they’re simple and players can just play. That is essentially the No. 1 issue with Ohio State’s D. It is not simple, players cannot just play, and they do not have the correct fundamentals.
Know the defense
If we’re being honest, outside of their linebackers, Ohio State’s pass defense has been presently surprising. Despite injuries to the expected starters, freshman corner Denzel Burke has shown himself to be a reliable option who has grown with each quarter of action, and Cam Brown played pretty well on one leg against Oregon, after missing the season opener against Minnesota.
The biggest issues with OSU’s pass defense have been the lack of pressure by the defensive line and poor fundamentals and play recognition by the linebackers, slot corner, and bullet.
In the clip below, there are two separate passes by Oregon QB Anthony Brown and the biggest issue with both is that it’s impossible to tell what defense is being played. This is because the players either don’t know the defense or don’t know their responsibilities.
In the first play, there are some teaching points for the corner, but overall, this is just a good throw and catch. The issues pile up after that. First, the defensive line gets zero pass rush which gives Brown a lot of time to find a receiver.
Second, some players are playing man while others are playing zone. Watch the slot corner at the bottom. He sees it’s pass, does not trust his eyes. and stands in one place, which allows the wide receiver to run past him.
The bigger issue though is that everyone else is playing man. The receiver who ran past him was his responsibility and luckily, Brown didn’t see him or it would’ve been a bigger play.
On the second play, Ohio State’s defense blitzes. This time the corners play man and the bullet and slot corner both play zone. You can argue that this is Cover 3, but most blitzes are paired with man coverage, because there aren’t enough people to cover every zone when there are extra guys rushing the passer.
If you watch each player, they are all doing something different. The players at the top of the screen are playing zone and the CB doesn’t get enough depth, which leads to a double covered look. At the bottom, OSU safety Bryan Shaw is playing man, while the slot corner is playing zone; once again letting a WR run right past him.
Luckily the defense was not burnt by these plays, but a better QB is going to take notice and hit a big play. If you cannot look at the defensive players and tell what coverage they’re running, you have a major issue.
Read your keys and trust your eyes
A lot of offenses use run-pass options and play action passes to confuse the defense. This is where the importance of reading your keys and trusting your eyes comes into play. In this play, Oregon runs what I believe is an RPO, but OSU is clearly not prepared for it.
The defense appears to be expecting run and doesn’t consider that Oregon might pass. The entire linebacker corp bites on the run fake and therefore is unable to defend the pass. The worst part of this play is that no one sees the linebacker blitzing — including Cody Simon who actually runs into the TE and for some reason continues to try and defend the player who is clearly not getting the ball.
If Simon actually defends the tight end, Brown has no where to go with the ball and gets sacked by OSU’s Javontae Jean-Baptise for a safety. Kudos to Oregon for calling this play, but OSU should have had it defended. Instead Oregon drives 99 yards and scores a touchdown.
This is becoming a pattern
If you’re starting to see a theme, you’re not alone. In this clip, either the players again have no idea what they’re doing, or they have absolutely zero idea how to play man coverage.
Let’s start with bullet Ronnie Hickman. He immediately bails on the snap, implying that it’s a zone, although let’s be honest, that doesn’t make sense because he doesn’t drop to the deep third of the field and there is already a deep safety.
By him dropping at the snap, he single handedly gives the TE a huge cushion which Brown immediately finds. Now just because the ball goes to the spot that Hickman cleared out doesn’t mean that we should look at what the other players on the field were doing on the play.
Both corners and the free safety are playing some sort of zone which further emphasizes that Hickman is in the wrong spot. Lathan Ransom is lined up like he’s playing man, but he literally does nothing and allows a free release. One linebacker is also clearly playing man, while the other is completely lost. There are two wide receivers open on this play, and if it went on longer, I can’t promise that there wouldn’t have been more.
In conclusion, it’s almost impossible to tell what the correct coverage is on any given play. Each player is playing something different, and none of them are playing it particularly well. Wide receivers are left wide open and tight ends might as well not exist until they’ve caught a pass for a first down.
The pass rush is legitimately non-existent. The only reason that this defense wasn’t burned for a touchdown in the passing game is because Anthony Brown is not all that great of a quarterback and missed some open reads. Plus when you’re running so well, who needs to pass?
The first step to fixing this defense is honestly just to re-teach it as its clear that no one is on the same page; there is no cohesion or communication on this defense. There is no understanding of concept or even where they’re supposed to be on a given play. Some players are playing man, some are playing zone, and some are playing the run when it’s clearly a pass.
This defense is fundamentally broken. Kerry Coombs or who ever the active defensive coordinator is when this article drops needs to scrap the game plan and just let the defense play. Athletes play best when they’re not thinking. Get in the film room, find your best players who can do what is asked of them and hope for the best.
Now, I’m not sure that this can be fixed in-season; Ohio State is lucky that they haven’t played a team who believes in a 21st century passing attack or they could be 0-2.
The best hope for this passing defense is that the coaches stop trying to get cute. If only 11 players can play, then those 11 need to play every single snap. Lastly, go back to the seventh grade, install a first day of practice defense and allow your collection of athletes to simply be the best players on the field; which they should be in every single game aside from when/if they play Alabama and Georgia.
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LGHL You’re Nuts: Which Ohio State basketball loss has hurt you the most?
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You’re Nuts: Which Ohio State basketball loss has hurt you the most?
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo courtesy of OhioStateBuckeyes.com | Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
There, there. Let it all out.
Pain. It is something everyone is familiar with. As Ohio State fans, we experienced it on Saturday after the football team dropped a tough one against the Ducks. So we figured we would bring the pain to the hoops realm and discuss which Ohio State loss on the basketball court has brought you personally the most pain.
Last week, thanks to the full schedule being released, we discussed what we believed to be the hardest game on the Buckeyes’ schedule. Connor won with 57% (30 votes) with his pick of the game at Purdue. Justin got 30% (16 votes) with his pick of the battle against Michigan in Ann Arbor (is a whore). And other got 13% (7 votes) but again, the others did not listen and tell us who they picked (except one for vote for Illinois which is hard to argue against).
After 19 weeks:
Connor- 11
Justin- 5
Other- 2
(There has been one tie)
But back to present day. So what game brings you the most pain? Live it with us. Let us know in the comments, or tweet us @LandGrant33 or @BucketheadsLGHL.
Today’s Question: Which Ohio State basketball game has hurt you the most?
Connor: Penn State 82, No. 13 Ohio State 79 (January 25, 2018)
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Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
Photo courtesy of OhioStateBuckeyes.com
The 2017-18 Ohio State men’s basketball team — Chris Holtmann’s first team — had a knack for falling behind early and digging themselves out of it in the final few minutes. They did it against Purdue on the road. They did it against Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament. And they did it against Penn State at home.
The Buckeyes were 9-0 in Big Ten play heading into this one, surprising many pundits and experts who penciled them into the middle to bottom of the conference before the season started.
Armed with the future B1G POY in Keita Bates-Diop, a future NBA starter in Jae’Sean Tate, and the almighty Andrew Dakich, this team (in hindsight) was fantastic. Having risen from unranked all the way up to No. 13 in the country by January, the Buckeyes were an actual, legitimate threat to win their first B1G title in six years. Michigan, Michigan State, and Purdue were tangling with Ohio State at the top of the standings. Penn State was not.
This Nittany Lion team in particular was only 3-5 in conference play leading into that fateful night, but they also had two future pros in Lamar Stevens and Tony Carr — who we’ll talk about in just a moment. New Ohio State point guard Jamari Wheeler was a freshman on this Penn State team, too. They truly were not a bad team, and actually wound up finishing sixth in the conference that year and won the NIT.
Regardless, Ohio State was in the top-25 and riding some serious momentum, having won eight straight games. A home matchup with Penn State was merely a blip on the radar. Fans trickled in as the ball tipped off in the Schottenstein Center, but neither the home team nor the home crowd seemed too concerned about Penn State.
The Nittany Lions responded by putting on a shooting clinic the likes of which we have never seen, going 11-14 from beyond the arc (79%) and pulling ahead by as many as a dozen points in the second half. Each time that Ohio State scored a bucket to begin the climb back, Penn State responded. Stevens scored 15. Shep Garner — who is Flavor Flav’s cousin, believe it or not — had 14. Carr dropped a team-high 28. It was like trying to keep a boat afloat that just kept springing a new leak every few seconds.
The Buckeyes shot the ball well themselves, shooting it at a 56% clip overall and 46% from deep. Normally, this would suffice. Not on a night when Penn State was putting on the most impressive shooting clinic we’ve seen in years.
Down by nine with two minutes left, our good friend Keita canned back-to-back triples to make it a one-possession game with 1:14 to go. He finished the game with 25 points. After a Penn State miss, Tate took Mike Watkins down low and scored easily with the left hand, making it a one-point game with 19 seconds remaining. The Buckeyes had no choice but to foul, so C.J. Jackson picked up the foul and sent the man of the hour — Carr — to the line. He hit both, unsurprisingly, making it a three-point, 79-76 Penn State lead with 14 seconds remaining.
And then it happened.
The most exiting, heart-wrenching, rage-inducing, show-stopping, scream-at-your-TV ending that I can recall in recent memory.
INSANE FINISH IN COLUMBUS!
Tony Carr and Keita Bates-Diop were unstoppable down the stretch, and Carr had the final answer for @PennStateMBB at the buzzer to seal the upset over No. 13 Ohio State: pic.twitter.com/aoDBprnPRG
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) January 26, 2018
Bates-Diop connects on a long triple with five seconds left, tying the game at 79. He landed doing the splits, something a 6-foot-9, 240 pound man should not be able to do. His teammates wanted to rush the court, mob him, and celebrate overtime, but first they had to make sure Penn State didn’t do the impossible. Well, they did.
Carr nonchalantly brought the ball down the floor and tossed up a prayer from a few feet in front of the half-court line. It caromed off the glass and into the basket just before the horn sounded, and Penn State escaped Columbus with one of the most exiting — and impressive — wins of the season.
The Schott went from utter mayhem following Bates-Diop’s make to dead silence on Carr’s buzzer-beater. The student section stood with their hands on their head, in disbelief.
Final score: Penn State 82, Ohio State 79. The Buckeyes would go on to finish in second-place in the Big Ten... just one game behind Michigan State.
Justin: Oral Roberts 75, Ohio State 72 (March 19, 2021)
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IndyStar-USA TODAY Sports
When it comes to pain, there is one game that stands out. And this picture says it all. It is a game that I honestly didn’t think I would ever have to think about it again. It’s the last game that the Ohio State men’s basketball team has played, and it is one that made people on the internet really lose their mind. It is when the No. 2 seeded Ohio State Buckeyes fell to the No. 15 seeded Oral Roberts Eagles 75-72.
The game that made someone on the internet go as far to call me a coward and other mean words because I jokingly quoted a meme to him. He obviously had not seen the meme. The game that made a lot of people question Chris Holtmann as a coach, despite the fact that many people directly involved in the game will call him one of the more underrated coaches in the country.
The game that made people forget exactly how good Duane Washington Jr. is and actual cowards on the internet threatened E.J. Liddell; as if he wasn’t the sole reason the Buckeyes were in the game in the first place.
This game hurt for a number of reasons. The main one being that every single person who is not an Ohio State fan had the best day of their lives because — for some odd reason — they hate Ohio State and enjoyed seeing 18-21 year old men having one of the worst days of their lives. I think that is weird behavior, but I digress. I can’t tell you how many text messages I received. Not. Fun.
The other reason was that I truly believe that this Ohio State team could have made a deep run. I do not think they would have gotten past Baylor in the Elite Eight, but I do think that they could have fairly easily made it that far. Heck, Oral Roberts almost did.
Not to mention, the Buckeyes got really unlucky. It is not an excuse; it is a fact. Oral Roberts was a disastrous matchup from the start and the Buckeyes went into that game without Kyle Young, who would have made a huge difference on Kevin Obanor down low. Not to mention, as we have since learned, Young did not play and Seth Towns and Liddell were not fully healthy. With hindsight, you could almost see this coming.
This game was a strange one because — to be very honest — I never thought the Buckeyes were going to lose until the final buzzer sounded in overtime. It just felt like one of those games that they would struggle, but ultimately live to fight another day. Who knew it was more like a last stand. I just feel bad for the players. It is hard to have your failures unfold on national TV and it is even harder when you are 18-21 years old and everyone is enjoying it.
Some might call this regency bias. I say, “Who cares?” Pain.
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo courtesy of OhioStateBuckeyes.com | Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
There, there. Let it all out.
Pain. It is something everyone is familiar with. As Ohio State fans, we experienced it on Saturday after the football team dropped a tough one against the Ducks. So we figured we would bring the pain to the hoops realm and discuss which Ohio State loss on the basketball court has brought you personally the most pain.
Last week, thanks to the full schedule being released, we discussed what we believed to be the hardest game on the Buckeyes’ schedule. Connor won with 57% (30 votes) with his pick of the game at Purdue. Justin got 30% (16 votes) with his pick of the battle against Michigan in Ann Arbor (is a whore). And other got 13% (7 votes) but again, the others did not listen and tell us who they picked (except one for vote for Illinois which is hard to argue against).
After 19 weeks:
Connor- 11
Justin- 5
Other- 2
(There has been one tie)
But back to present day. So what game brings you the most pain? Live it with us. Let us know in the comments, or tweet us @LandGrant33 or @BucketheadsLGHL.
Today’s Question: Which Ohio State basketball game has hurt you the most?
Connor: Penn State 82, No. 13 Ohio State 79 (January 25, 2018)
Photo courtesy of OhioStateBuckeyes.com
The 2017-18 Ohio State men’s basketball team — Chris Holtmann’s first team — had a knack for falling behind early and digging themselves out of it in the final few minutes. They did it against Purdue on the road. They did it against Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament. And they did it against Penn State at home.
The Buckeyes were 9-0 in Big Ten play heading into this one, surprising many pundits and experts who penciled them into the middle to bottom of the conference before the season started.
Armed with the future B1G POY in Keita Bates-Diop, a future NBA starter in Jae’Sean Tate, and the almighty Andrew Dakich, this team (in hindsight) was fantastic. Having risen from unranked all the way up to No. 13 in the country by January, the Buckeyes were an actual, legitimate threat to win their first B1G title in six years. Michigan, Michigan State, and Purdue were tangling with Ohio State at the top of the standings. Penn State was not.
This Nittany Lion team in particular was only 3-5 in conference play leading into that fateful night, but they also had two future pros in Lamar Stevens and Tony Carr — who we’ll talk about in just a moment. New Ohio State point guard Jamari Wheeler was a freshman on this Penn State team, too. They truly were not a bad team, and actually wound up finishing sixth in the conference that year and won the NIT.
Regardless, Ohio State was in the top-25 and riding some serious momentum, having won eight straight games. A home matchup with Penn State was merely a blip on the radar. Fans trickled in as the ball tipped off in the Schottenstein Center, but neither the home team nor the home crowd seemed too concerned about Penn State.
The Nittany Lions responded by putting on a shooting clinic the likes of which we have never seen, going 11-14 from beyond the arc (79%) and pulling ahead by as many as a dozen points in the second half. Each time that Ohio State scored a bucket to begin the climb back, Penn State responded. Stevens scored 15. Shep Garner — who is Flavor Flav’s cousin, believe it or not — had 14. Carr dropped a team-high 28. It was like trying to keep a boat afloat that just kept springing a new leak every few seconds.
The Buckeyes shot the ball well themselves, shooting it at a 56% clip overall and 46% from deep. Normally, this would suffice. Not on a night when Penn State was putting on the most impressive shooting clinic we’ve seen in years.
Down by nine with two minutes left, our good friend Keita canned back-to-back triples to make it a one-possession game with 1:14 to go. He finished the game with 25 points. After a Penn State miss, Tate took Mike Watkins down low and scored easily with the left hand, making it a one-point game with 19 seconds remaining. The Buckeyes had no choice but to foul, so C.J. Jackson picked up the foul and sent the man of the hour — Carr — to the line. He hit both, unsurprisingly, making it a three-point, 79-76 Penn State lead with 14 seconds remaining.
And then it happened.
The most exiting, heart-wrenching, rage-inducing, show-stopping, scream-at-your-TV ending that I can recall in recent memory.
INSANE FINISH IN COLUMBUS!
Tony Carr and Keita Bates-Diop were unstoppable down the stretch, and Carr had the final answer for @PennStateMBB at the buzzer to seal the upset over No. 13 Ohio State: pic.twitter.com/aoDBprnPRG
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) January 26, 2018
Bates-Diop connects on a long triple with five seconds left, tying the game at 79. He landed doing the splits, something a 6-foot-9, 240 pound man should not be able to do. His teammates wanted to rush the court, mob him, and celebrate overtime, but first they had to make sure Penn State didn’t do the impossible. Well, they did.
Carr nonchalantly brought the ball down the floor and tossed up a prayer from a few feet in front of the half-court line. It caromed off the glass and into the basket just before the horn sounded, and Penn State escaped Columbus with one of the most exiting — and impressive — wins of the season.
The Schott went from utter mayhem following Bates-Diop’s make to dead silence on Carr’s buzzer-beater. The student section stood with their hands on their head, in disbelief.
Final score: Penn State 82, Ohio State 79. The Buckeyes would go on to finish in second-place in the Big Ten... just one game behind Michigan State.
Justin: Oral Roberts 75, Ohio State 72 (March 19, 2021)
When it comes to pain, there is one game that stands out. And this picture says it all. It is a game that I honestly didn’t think I would ever have to think about it again. It’s the last game that the Ohio State men’s basketball team has played, and it is one that made people on the internet really lose their mind. It is when the No. 2 seeded Ohio State Buckeyes fell to the No. 15 seeded Oral Roberts Eagles 75-72.
The game that made someone on the internet go as far to call me a coward and other mean words because I jokingly quoted a meme to him. He obviously had not seen the meme. The game that made a lot of people question Chris Holtmann as a coach, despite the fact that many people directly involved in the game will call him one of the more underrated coaches in the country.
The game that made people forget exactly how good Duane Washington Jr. is and actual cowards on the internet threatened E.J. Liddell; as if he wasn’t the sole reason the Buckeyes were in the game in the first place.
This game hurt for a number of reasons. The main one being that every single person who is not an Ohio State fan had the best day of their lives because — for some odd reason — they hate Ohio State and enjoyed seeing 18-21 year old men having one of the worst days of their lives. I think that is weird behavior, but I digress. I can’t tell you how many text messages I received. Not. Fun.
The other reason was that I truly believe that this Ohio State team could have made a deep run. I do not think they would have gotten past Baylor in the Elite Eight, but I do think that they could have fairly easily made it that far. Heck, Oral Roberts almost did.
Not to mention, the Buckeyes got really unlucky. It is not an excuse; it is a fact. Oral Roberts was a disastrous matchup from the start and the Buckeyes went into that game without Kyle Young, who would have made a huge difference on Kevin Obanor down low. Not to mention, as we have since learned, Young did not play and Seth Towns and Liddell were not fully healthy. With hindsight, you could almost see this coming.
This game was a strange one because — to be very honest — I never thought the Buckeyes were going to lose until the final buzzer sounded in overtime. It just felt like one of those games that they would struggle, but ultimately live to fight another day. Who knew it was more like a last stand. I just feel bad for the players. It is hard to have your failures unfold on national TV and it is even harder when you are 18-21 years old and everyone is enjoying it.
Some might call this regency bias. I say, “Who cares?” Pain.
Continue reading...