FILM STUDY: EMPTYING THE PLAYBOOK AGAINST ILLINOIS IN ADVANCE OF THE GAME
he first, and most common, approach is to hold all your best cards until the day of the big game, coming out with new wrinkles no one has seen before and leaving your opponents on their heels as they try to decipher what is happening on the fly. This was often the model under former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel, he of the 9-1 record against his biggest rival and the architect of the victory in 2006 in which his top-ranked Buckeyes defeated their second-ranked opponents.
Though Tressel had long been considered a 'conservative' play-caller and featured two NFL running backs, he opened up that famous contest with a five-wide receiver look and slung the ball around all afternoon to the tune of 316 passing yards against one of the nation's top defenses. It certainly didn't hurt that the eventual Heisman Trophy winner was in the pocket throwing to a group of receivers that would amass 831 professional catches (and counting), and such a shock to their opponents' system had the desired effect.
But the straight-laced leader was known to spend all season preparing for The Game, installing special wrinkles that would give the scarlet and gray the upper hand. His eventual successor, Urban Meyer, hasn't always gone to the same extreme in terms of specific preparations for one game but has been known to debut new gadgets in past tilts with the team from Ann Arbor.
This year, however, Meyer seems to be taking the second approach. With a new offensive brain trust of Kevin Wilson, Ryan Day, and increasingly, line coach Greg Studrawa building the game plan each week, the Buckeyes have embraced a 'less is more' attitude this fall. While Meyer's teams in Columbus have long been known for their diversity in the running game, teaching virtually every concept found in a pro playbook, this year, they've dialed back the complexity.
Similarly, to reignite a stagnant passing game, Day has leaned heavily on two core passing concepts:
Rams Mesh (named for Mike Martz and the
Greatest Show on Turf St Louis Rams) and
Bubble Y-Over (aka
Saints). While having just two central plays may seem predictable, the trio has done an excellent job of using diversity in their formations to keep defenses from anticipating their calls.
But against a defense like the one they'll see this Saturday, the Buckeyes can't simply rely on a unique alignment to keep the wolves at bay. Don Brown teaches an aggressive brand of football that asks a lot of his players but gets the results many coaches only dream of. So, to keep Brown, his staff, and their players from picking up on any kind of tendencies or keys that might alert them to a certain play-call, the Buckeyes emptied the playbook last weekend in their 52-14 drubbing of Illinois.
Against Michigan State the week prior, Ohio State's offense looked unstoppable thanks to some subtle tweaks in their alignments that left the Spartans grasping for answers. Primarily, an unbalanced set placed all three wide receivers and the tight end to the wide side of the field created all kinds of havoc for the defense as they looked to defend each gap against the powerful Buckeye running game.
Instead of putting that successful approach back on the shelf for a week and hoping no one up north would remember it even existed, Meyer and his staff doubled down, showing even more looks from this formation. The first, and most noticeable, was a reverse to 'H' receiver Parris Campbell, who took a lateral from running back Mike Weber back across the grain of the play and turned upfield before leaving several Illini defenders grasping at thin air.
After hitting the reverse for a big gain and methodically running the ball from this set, the Buckeyes called for a regular Trips formation that still caused confusion for the defense. With three receivers split wide to one side, the Illini thought they had every gap covered thanks to a wrinkle of their own that saw both outside linebackers align over the wide D-gaps.
But with the tight end to the right, the line shifted over too far when executing their called slant after the snap, leaving an extra gap for the middle linebacker to cover. As the MIKE tries to get outside with Weber, he allows a huge cutback lane and offers the sophomore runner only the slightest of arm tackles, allowing him to race 42 yards to the end zone instead.
Entire article:
https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...ybook-against-illinois-in-advance-of-the-game
