2009 tOSU Offense Discussion

[martinss01]

I think the change from the I formation to the shotgun was good at first but now it seems like teams have figured us out again and we are right back to square one. I just look back on our offense and when it was good, late 2005 and 2006 we ran a lot of formations. I also thought the first half of 07 with TB that our offense looked pretty good. We have been a primarily I formation team most every year.

the majority of our starters at that point were 3rd and 4th year starters. most of our players right now are 2nd or mid 3rd. just about every single offensive skill player we have is either 1st or 2nd year. if they can't execute the simple plays there is little reason to believe they can run the complex ones.

Could running 90% of our stuff out of the shotgun be doing more harm than good. JT always says he wants to be a power team, a spread team and run various formations....but one thing for sure other than our 5 wide 2 minute offense we have been a very high percentage 1 back..shotgun offense.

and who is our fullback? the true freshman zack boren? he's developing nicely but he isn't ready to be a staple of the offense. have you forgotten the 4th and 1 against navy or the 3rd and goal against usc? he'll get there, but asking him to perform on 90% of our plays is unrealistic at this point.

 

[BuckNut65]

Disagree. The run blocking underachieved early this year, while the pass protection was better than expected.

I think the line played better with Miller & Cordle in there. I doubt many fans saw that coming.

Way too many mistakes on first down today, especially after we got behind. Between the multiple false starts to bad pitches, when you are going backward constantly, especially with a struggling offense, it just allows their defense to tee off. I agree...I never would have expected the Miller-Cordle tackle combo to be better than Adams-Shugarts but the o-line definitely played better when they were in the lineup, especially with pass protection. Adams/Shugarts struggled mightily today.

 

[Sportsbuck28]

Nothing ticks me off more than a false start because it's a mental mistake... physical mistakes like a hold I can deal with, but a mental mistake like that is unacceptable, especially when it's happening as much as it is.

There simply should not be as many false starts as there is for this offensive line, when it's been happening this much and this often you've gotta wonder.

 

[Onebuckfan]

Nothing ticks me off more than a false start because it's a mental mistake... physical mistakes like a hold I can deal with, but a mental mistake like that is unacceptable, especially when it's happening as much as it is.

There simply should not be as many false starts as there is for this offensive line, when it's been happening this much and this often you've gotta wonder.

I totally agree by the false starts..and missed assignments..they leave more guys un-blocked than they actually get physically beat by the DL

 

[Taosman]

The tackles had a horrible day. Do we see Miller back at LT this week?
Even shoring up one tackle would help.

 

[scooter1369]

Well, part of JT's offensive philosophy is to use the punt (an offensive down) as a tool of the defense. So our offense really should get some credit. It's almost like football is a...how do I put this..."Team Game". Yeah, football is a team game. You can quote me.

honoring grad's request to move the discussion here

Every coach wants to see their punter pin the other team deep. That is not unique to Tressel and to claim that punting is part of his offensive philosphy may be the problem. Punting is something you have to do when your offense has failed. Kind of like dropping back in battle to regroup when your assault has been repelled. The defense benefits from a good punter, but using one should never be part of the offensive gameplan.

No coach wants to punt, and despite evidence to the contrary, I assume Tressel is included on that list.

And yes, Football is a team game, BUCKYLE. And I'm sure the defense can't wait to have a teammate this season.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Way too many mistakes on first down today, especially after we got behind. Between the multiple false starts to bad pitches, when you are going backward constantly, especially with a struggling offense, it just allows their defense to tee off. I agree...I never would have expected the Miller-Cordle tackle combo to be better than Adams-Shugarts but the o-line definitely played better when they were in the lineup, especially with pass protection. Adams/Shugarts struggled mightily today.

Not sure if you are being serious here, but after going back and rewatching I thought a decision that really killed us, was our drive after the TD. We put Cordle and Hall in at tackle. Cordle and Hall were each beat once, this was the drive when Boren got called for the block in the back...

The line is not blocking great, but they are just pinning their ears back, run blitzing and blitzing and with a young line those things are hard to pick up.

We gotta find a way to stretch the D or we will conitnue to struggle with run and pass blocking...But teams being able to play the 4-4 look with a cover 1, should not be happening with guys like Posey, Dane, and Carter on the outside.

 

[Bill Lucas]

We gotta find a way to stretch the D or we will conitnue to struggle with run and pass blocking...But teams being able to play the 4-4 look with a cover 1, should not be happening with guys like Posey, Dane, and Carter on the outside.

Or...we could rely on a quick hitting offense. Ohio State seems to favor slow developing plays IMO. I'd like to see a quick attack that keeps defenses on their heels. Bubble screens, quick slants, etc. Take the thinking out of the offense.

I know it's too this season late to implement a dramatic change. However, if we don't start getting Stoneburner and Ballard involved in the passing game we are wasting two tremendous talents. And when they do run a route the quarterback needs to look at them. On one of the sacks it was evident that Ballard was running all alone down the middle of the field. This happens all too often with the Ohio State offense.

 

[Buckfan09]

The Purdue game shows the value that boom gives the offense. At the goal line Boom is a beast. What were we doing in Shotgun at the goal line? Boom is definitely the answer to our offensive struggles. His stats are not indicative of my theory, but having a inside runner as option in short-yardage situations is something that our buckeyes have missed the last few weeks.

 

[leroyjenkins]

The Purdue game shows the value that boom gives the offense. At the goal line Boom is a beast. What were we doing in Shotgun at the goal line? Boom is definitely the answer to our offensive struggles. His stats are not indicative of my theory, but having a inside runner as option in short-yardage situations is something that our buckeyes have missed the last few weeks.

Wrong. Saine was running just fine. How we have 3 plays from the 2 and our strong 225 lb back doesnt get to run right up Boren's ass is beyond me.

 

[jwinslow]

The Purdue game shows the value that boom gives the offense. At the goal line Boom is a beast. What were we doing in Shotgun at the goal line? Boom is definitely the answer to our offensive struggles. His stats are not indicative of my theory, but having a inside runner as option in short-yardage situations is something that our buckeyes have missed the last few weeks.

Saine is just fine at plowing through in short yardage. Boom's blocking was very suspect this season in short yardage sets, so they tried a new approach. It worked beautifully on second down, and Terrelle just missed the td throw.

That series was indicative of this season, they don't have anything to hang their hat on, so they're bouncing between a number of looks with meager results.

 

[BigJim]

I haven't read through this thread since the Purdon't game, sorry if this has already been mentioned. I read Duane Long's blog post after the game (Purdue Game thoughts) and remember thinking it seemed like he held back quite a bit from being too negative. Reading through the comments I just noticed this one from Duane:

written by Duane Long, October 18, 2009

written by iu fan, October 18, 2009
Duane, I'm surprised you weren't more critical in your review. Saying the offense looked decent in the 4th quarter (when Purdue was playing a soft D) is like complimenting the in-flight snack on the Hindenburg. This was an ugly, morale-crushing loss.

We were COMPLETELY out-coached on both sides of the ball. Where were the adjustments? Tressel just got schooled by Danny Hope and a 1-5 Purdue team. Let that one sink in.

...​

I am going to tell you why I saw no need to open fire on the coaches. It all goes back to Bollman and I know he won't be back. Who is going to be the next OC and OL coach is all that remains. I am not convinced it will for sure be Hazel. I am not for sure that it would be a good thing that it is Hazel. I know that Bollman is at the center of everything that is wrong with the offense. 6 more games and we get something new. That has not happened in the Tressel era. We have only had 3 other coaches on offense the entire time JT has been here, and one of them doesn't count since Peterson replacing Conley was about being the recruiting coordinator not about coaching tight ends. I am not totally crushed because I see a better day coming.

I was going to post this in the rumor mill thread about coaching changes but the relentless rambling was impressive enough to cause that thread to be closed. Duane has posted before that he believes Bollman won't be back, I'm just surprised how confident he is of that.

 

[jwinslow]

Bollman is close to retirement independent of the results on the field.

 

[BigJim]

Bollman is close to retirement independent of the results on the field.

I have a feeling those two things might not be entirely independent. If the OSU offense had been rolling along the last few years he may still want to be here. I'm just speculating though.

 

[ysubuck]

What's going to change though?

Coach Tressel's philosophy has been strong defense, opportunistic special teams and mistake free offense. The punt is the most important play in football.

Does anyone really think he's going to bring in some gunslinger looking to put 50 on the board every game?

I'd be excited about a new OL coach though.