2016 tOSU Offense Discussion

[Jagdaddy]

Let me ask you all what is probably a chicken or egg question. Offense has just been hard the past few weeks. Struggling to get first downs, struggling in the passing game, scoring and yards are down, less explosive plays, yada, yada, yada. What is the origin of that? Is it the players forcing the coaching staff to take us back to their version of Tressel-ball, or is it the coaching staff playing it more safe as they began to try to win B1G football games?

I've heard a lot of our fans saying in some form, "Just let 'er rip." I guess what I'm not sure about is whether the players are the impetus for this tighter form of offense or is it the OC's and off staff puckering up because of the stakes.

The consequences of performing like that - and the defense is giving up yards and points too and the special teams have decided to get some kicks blocked - is everyone thinks you are beatable. It's much harder to defeat a team that believes than one who is thinking coming in, "We are about to get killed. I hope we can keep them under 50 and score at least once." Losing that intimidation factor is no small thing.

I think they're overthinking things and trying a bit too hard to be perfect. The constant standing around at the line while Barrett acts like Peyton Manning and checks into something (a run seemingly the vast majority of the time). Call a play, get to the line and go: IMO, all that checking didn't even work well for Manning and it surely doesn't for JT. Brilliance isn't needed, just enough confusion, hesitation, and exhaustion by the defense to let our athletes start playing down hill.

Also, if, as JT claims, they're playing way off of the WRs, get the ball to them much quicker and let them beat people.

 

[AuTX Buckeye]

I think they're overthinking things and trying a bit too hard to be perfect. The constant standing around at the line while Barrett acts like Peyton Manning and checks into something (a run seemingly the vast majority of the time). Call a play, get to the line and go: IMO, all that checking didn't even work well for Manning and it surely doesn't for JT. Brilliance isn't needed, just enough confusion, hesitation, and exhaustion by the defense to let our athletes start playing down hill.

Also, if, as JT claims, they're playing way off of the WRs, get the ball to them much quicker and let them beat people.

JT isn't changing the plays.... he's looking over to the sidelines who's getting the plays from the booth. I think JT would probably check into better plays honestly.

 

[RugbyBuck]

What happened to the read-option? I know we're afraid to run JT, but the offense is premised upon match-ups and to keep the defense honest and outnumber it, he's got to run sometimes. It's not like he's not a better than average rusher.

 

[OSUK]

I think they're overthinking things and trying a bit too hard to be perfect. The constant standing around at the line while Barrett acts like Peyton Manning and checks into something (a run seemingly the vast majority of the time). Call a play, get to the line and go: IMO, all that checking didn't even work well for Manning and it surely doesn't for JT. Brilliance isn't needed, just enough confusion, hesitation, and exhaustion by the defense to let our athletes start playing down hill.

Also, if, as JT claims, they're playing way off of the WRs, get the ball to them much quicker and let them beat people.

I don't have any objective data to support this, but my impression has been that they do better when they take 20-25 sec to snap the ball instead of trying HUNH play after play. JT calmly looks at the defense, sometimes flips the formation or checks out of play, and then they snap the ball. The hurry up seems to work pretty well after an explosive play or on a 3rd and 1 or in red zone. FWIW

 

[OSUK]

What happened to the read-option? I know we're afraid to run JT, but the offense is premised upon match-ups and to keep the defense honest and outnumber it, he's got to run sometimes. It's not like he's not a better than average rusher.

My nephew plays RB for a HS team that will be in the playoffs this weekend. Their stud QB was fighting for extra yards against their rival last Friday night, got blasted, then 500 pounds of humanity fell on his throwing shoulder, bam, broken clavicle. Out at least 4 weeks. I think that's why they are trying to limit his exposure. That kind of injury can happen any time on a football field, but you limit the risk by reducing carries. They have to balance putting him at risk vs. winning the game. If they need him to run to win the game, he will run. If he gets hurt again, I like Joe Burrow, but I kinda doubt he is in a position to deliver a CJ performance and beat scUM, and I know we don't have the QB Whisperer here any longer. :)

 

[ScriptOhio]

THOUGH IT DOESN'T SHOW IN GAMES, URBAN MEYER SEES ENCOURAGING SIGNS FROM OHIO STATE'S DOWNFIELD PASSING GAME

Urban Meyer and Ohio State know exactly who they are when it comes to their passing game. A work in progress, not as exciting, take what you can get, whatever.

The Buckeyes are not ready to force things and as a result turn the ball over, even with a stout defense that sits statistically as one of the best in the country (sixth in scoring and total defense through eight games) on the other side of the field. They can't really afford to do that, especially when opponents instruct their secondaries to play deep to take away the downfield threat by using Cover 3.

In the minds of Meyer, offensive coordinators Ed Warinner and Tim Beck in addition to quarterback J.T. Barrett, there is no sense chucking the ball 40 yards down the field if the success rate is poor because of the lack of a deep threat and defenses doing their best to take it away.

“We don't force balls here, we just don't do that," Meyer said Tuesday on the Big Ten teleconference.

But that doesn't mean Meyer goes through practice each week thinking there isn't a chance a time to stretch the field vertically is never going to come.

“Certainly the first three drives and the last few drives (against Northwestern) were fantastic,” Ohio State's head coach said on Monday. “I'm seeing improvement. We're not as explosive as we have been. And is it the receivers' fault? No. James Clark came clean, we missed him on a deep ball.

“I do see it coming.”

Entire article: http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-...signs-from-ohio-states-downfield-passing-game

 

[OSUK]

THOUGH IT DOESN'T SHOW IN GAMES, URBAN MEYER SEES ENCOURAGING SIGNS FROM OHIO STATE'S DOWNFIELD PASSING GAME

“I do see it coming.”

I'd feel better if this was what Urban was saying going into game 3 instead of game 9. :)

 

[ScriptOhio]

I'd feel better if this was what Urban was saying going into game 3 instead of game 9. :)

Better late than never.....

 

[OSUK]

Better late than never.....

If it's the truth, and he's not just trying to sooth the troubled minds of Buckeye Nation. :)

Beware of coaches with psychology degrees. LOL.

 

[RugbyBuck]

My nephew plays RB for a HS team that will be in the playoffs this weekend. Their stud QB was fighting for extra yards against their rival last Friday night, got blasted, then 500 pounds of humanity fell on his throwing shoulder, bam, broken clavicle. Out at least 4 weeks. I think that's why they are trying to limit his exposure. That kind of injury can happen any time on a football field, but you limit the risk by reducing carries. They have to balance putting him at risk vs. winning the game. If they need him to run to win the game, he will run. If he gets hurt again, I like Joe Burrow, but I kinda doubt he is in a position to deliver a CJ performance and beat scUM, and I know we don't have the QB Whisperer here any longer. :)

I completely understand that and have been there, but you also tend to cause injuries when you play not to lose and/or outside the flow of the offense. Urban's offense has been, at least, premised upon at least the threat of the QB run. Take that away and we have what we've been seeing; a team that stands there letting the play clock run down trying to pick exactly the right play instead of running its offense. I'm not suggesting that we run him between the tackles 25+ times, but he is a big kid with a bigger heart and running him within the flow of the offense would also free up other potential plays which would then take pressure off of JT and reduce his number of carries.

 

[OSUK]

I completely understand that and have been there, but you also tend to cause injuries when you play not to lose and/or outside the flow of the offense. Urban's offense has been, at least, premised upon at least the threat of the QB run. Take that away and we have what we've been seeing; a team that stands there letting the play clock run down trying to pick exactly the right play instead of running its offense. I'm not suggesting that we run him between the tackles 25+ times, but he is a big kid with a bigger heart and running him within the flow of the offense would also free up other potential plays which would then take pressure off of JT and reduce his number of carries.

I hear ya. If we are going to play offense like this then we need to use one of our more effective rushing weapons (JT) more. I'm with you on that. But I think the core of the offensive stagnation is the inability to complete passes downfield and expand the box defenses are playing us in. I may be full of it, but my impression is that when Urban Meyer's offense is scary, they are burning the defense 20-40 yards downfield several times a game, the defense then plays in a 40-50x52 yard box, and then all of the underneath passing and rushing plays open up. In other words, if they fix the downfield passing problem, we won't be discussing how to better play limited offense. Does that make sense?

 

[ScriptOhio]

Is the OSU Offense Really Regressing?

Remember last August when the Buckeyes were going to be young so we were going to have to wait for them to be good?

Remember last September when the Buckeyes were awesomely better than you expected and were going to trample the college football world?

Remember October when you got totally exasperated with the OSU offense and (horrors) the Buckeyes lost a game?

There is no lack of experts who, with great authority, will tell you exactly what is wrong with the Buckeyes, specifically the Buckeye offense. Very few of those people want to tell you that your first thoughts on the Buckeyes this past August might be the truth, because what the heck, they have already shown on the field they are better than that.

Maybe.

Maybe not.

The Buckeyes did enjoy some impressive offensive success early in the season, and when they went to Norman and put 45 points on the Sooners in a road game at night it was pretty clear that the Buckeyes were really good. At least that's what a lot of people (including me) thought.

With hindsight, maybe we jumped the gun.

We took a look at who the Buckeyes have played, how the defenses of those teams have done this season, and how the Buckeyes did against those defenses. Our measuring stick was one stat, points allowed, because after all, preventing points is what defense is about. Here's what we found.
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The Buckeye offense is improving despite the howls of a lot of people to the contrary. They are finding an identity and figuring out what it will take for this team to be more effective offensively and win. Will they meet expectations? Depends on whose expectations you're talking about, yours or theirs.

"You talk about all the road games that we had at night, I don’t really know any other team in the nation that has done that," said starting middle linebacker Raekwon McMillan.

"For a young team to go out and do that and be 2-1 in those situations, we’d love to be 3-0, but to be 2-1 is very impressive for a young team."

The early-season success made us all forget. This really is a young team, and at times they've played like it, but they've also had some very impressive moments too. Will they catch lightning in a bottle over the last four games of the season? We'll see. The one place they have a veteran is in that head coaching office, and that guy has a history bringing teams along at just the right time.

It's going to be an interesting ride.

Entire article: http://theozone.net/Ohio-State/Foot...Nebraska/Is-the-OSU-Offense-Really-Regressing

 

[RugbyBuck]

Does that make sense?

I'm all for slants and crossing patterns, absolutely. Urban wants balance, but his teams have been run-first, though, to open up the pass. If we were going fast tempo, read-option, those types of routes would be open and could be hit in the flow of the offense. I'd be fine if it worked the other way around, but I don't see that happening consistently with this team.

 

[OSUK]

In the article that ScriptOhio posted, you basically have: "you aren't seeing necessarily what you are seeing" or "you are misunderstanding what you are seeing". I think JP is a great analyst and I generally take him for gospel. To his point, there are several things outside of the OSU offense that can factor in to the overall performance. Certainly, the quality of the defenses, how those defenses are approaching the offense, and needing to be able to do certain things to win games against opponents down the road are among them.

However, JP quotes JT as saying that it's hard to throw deep when DB's are playing 10 yards off pre-snap and bailing at the snap. True. But in that case, 5-10 yard patterns should be wide open, easy pitch and catch. I sure haven't seen many, if any of those. So, not sure that adds up.

It is true that stats often lie. Often in football it's not how many yards and first downs you produce, but when. For example, when your opponent has just blocked a second kick and taken the lead, and you have 4:27 to drive the field to tie or win, it takes you 3 minutes to move the ball 30 yards, and you end up needing to convert 4th and 23, that's not good offense.

 

[Steve19]

Is the OSU Offense Really Regressing?