2021 tOSU Defense

[heisman]

I knew this defense was in trouble when they played touch football in the spring game.

 

[Honor&Glory]

I'm a little salty reading the after game comments.

They moved Coombs to the box and Barnes to the sideline and let Barnes call the plays running the same type of defense. In essence, they made no real change because the guy on the sideline is still calling the Defense. Let the guy up in the booth call it since he can see whats going on.

This is starting to feel more like Day wants to influence the D calls and keeps the one calling the game next to him on the sideline. Hope I'm wrong.

i see this mentioned a lot. I watched a lot of games this weekend. Almost every DC I saw was on the field. Everyone wanted Marcus Freeman. He calls from the field and always has. Clemson’s DC and Sagan’s DC are on the field.
I’m not sure being in the box is that big of a deal.

 

[ScriptOhio]

 

[OHSportsFan]

Man, that is a brutal lede to read.

“For the second-straight week, the Buckeyes’ defense surrendered more than 500 total yards — but there were some positive takeaways…”

But I kind of agree. Mentioned in the game thread that I was seeing more looks and movement and disruption on defense. Go figure Tulsa just made some crazy plays (which, everyone seems to against OSU?).

 

[buchtelgrad04]

The front 7 misses Mattison sorely.

 

[Onebuckfan]

They need coaching help on D ..this is how bad it is bring in former buckeye Dick LeBeau as Analyst in the booth. Yea I know he’s 84 but if he’s forgot half he knew he’s still an upgrade.

 

[Bill Lucas]

Fortunately (hopefully) they have a few weeks to figure things out. If not the game against the Pedsters will be brutal.

 

[Bestbuck36]

You didn't think it looked significantly different? Two high safeties, more zone, stunts, blitzes on the first drive? Not saying it was good defense, but they weren't just sitting around in base doing nothing.

No, it was definitely disguised better than before but some of that is due to a lot of nickel being played so the DBs were moving around. The movement is what we really needed in the base as well and it was definitely more aggressive, also needed. I didnt see the Cover 2 that I thought would be implemented much with Proctor gone and Shaw needs the help. They rolled it up quite a bit and that was different. I just very much dislike the calling plays from the sideline as a DC. Put Coombs back on the sideline and use his energy and leadership for his unit and put the signal caller in the booth where they can see the adjustments needed. I dont have time to watch film so I'll have to wait til someone comes out with a detailed list of defense called to see if I saw what I think I saw.

 

[Bestbuck36]

i see this mentioned a lot. I watched a lot of games this weekend. Almost every DC I saw was on the field. Everyone wanted Marcus Freeman. He calls from the field and always has. Clemson’s DC and Sagan’s DC are on the field.
I’m not sure being in the box is that big of a deal.

It probably works a lot better when the Defense understands whats going on and I really dont think the Buckeye D does a lot of times.

 

[bukIpower]

Rewatched the game and I can't believe how many times we were inches away from a sack and the amount of times they came down with the ball on 3rd down for either a score or a first down.

I think 1 easy fix we could make would be that we have got to get our LBS blitzing on a better timing. So many times we weren't actually starting the blitz until the ball was snapped. There were massive holes to blitz through and our guys were finding the holes but just were about 1 second too late. We've got to start our pressure a tad earlier if we want those to get home.

 

[buchtelgrad04]

No, it was definitely disguised better than before but some of that is due to a lot of nickel being played so the DBs were moving around. The movement is what we really needed in the base as well and it was definitely more aggressive, also needed. I didnt see the Cover 2 that I thought would be implemented much with Proctor gone and Shaw needs the help. They rolled it up quite a bit and that was different. I just very much dislike the calling plays from the sideline as a DC. Put Coombs back on the sideline and use his energy and leadership for his unit and put the signal caller in the booth where they can see the adjustments needed. I dont have time to watch film so I'll have to wait til someone comes out with a detailed list of defense called to see if I saw what I think I saw.

They played multiple coverages against Tulsa. They played cover 2, quarters, cover 1, and multiple variations of cover 3 from what I saw.

A lot more SIM pressures as well. They are still too predictable when they go with man though. It’s too easy to run those pick routes if you go to man coverage on pretty much every single 3rd and less than 7.

 

[ScriptOhio]

“We’re gonna watch the film and assess it and go back in there," Day said of the defense's overall performance. “But I think the way the things went today was pretty smooth, and hopefully we can build on it."

There is, indeed much to build on, even if the box score doesn't show it.

Yes, the Buckeyes gave up 501 yards of offense to an unranked, group-of-five program that is still winless this season. But this was the most diverse scheme we've seen from Ohio State's defense in years, with a variety of coverages making their way onto the call sheet in the second half.

Additionally, the unit is still very much a work-in-progress, but it at least has a semblance of an identity upon which everything can build. The outside cornerbacks have been terrific through three games, with opposing QBs completing just 40% of their passes when targeting Brown and Burke this season.

With those two taking away the outside, the defensive staff can continue to experiment with ways to take away passes between the numbers and avoid getting beat by bunch sets. While blitzing the inside linebackers on every play might be a step too far, Barnes, Coombs, and co. now have multiple ways to keep opponents guessing on early downs instead of sitting in a static, single-high alignment every time.

This unit was never going to abandon the basic structure of relying on single-high coverage mid-season, and frankly, it never has to. The core philosophy of what Day wants to achieve is by no means the wrong one to hold.

Taking away the inside run and deep passes outside is a proven recipe for winning football games, and one the Buckeyes can still hope to achieve. But there is still much work to be done.

Whether by finding the right combination of pass rushers or by continuing to mix in new blitzes, the Buckeyes must find a way to create pressure more effectively. Additionally, whoever is calling plays must work to avoid settling into predictable tendencies that can later be exploited.

Ohio State showed enough from a schematic standpoint to keep offenses guessing, knowing that its best bet is to get in man-coverage and rely on its talented corners to make a play. But where and when the other concepts are called will go a long way in determining how successful this defense can ultimately be.

 

[BB73]

From that 11W article:

OHIO STATE DEFENSIVE PLAY-CALLS AGAINST TULSA
CONCEPT ………% OF SNAPS
Cover 1 (Man) .32.1%
Cover 3 (Zone) 31.0%
Man Blitz ………..13.1%
Zone Blitz ……….11.9%
Cover 2 (Zone) …9.5%
2-Man (Man + Zone) 2.4%

 

[Jaxbuck]

They played multiple coverages against Tulsa. They played cover 2, quarters, cover 1, and multiple variations of cover 3 from what I saw.

A lot more SIM pressures as well. They are still too predictable when they go with man though. It’s too easy to run those pick routes if you go to man coverage on pretty much every single 3rd and less than 7.

I'm with you, much more multiple but they have a lot of room for improvement.

Here is what fundamentally concerns me about the defense; no matter how much better they get in playcalling and execution of assignments in the back 7, the front four generate next to zero pass rush. You just can't play football that way in this day and age of offense. Give a QB time and the offense will hurt you, if it be from RPO's, a bust in coverage or just winning 1v1 jump balls.

So my overly simplistic prognostication is the defense will become as good as JTT and Sawyer become this year. I say that because, to me eye, no one else has shown the ability to consistently generate a pass rush and they've all been around a long time. The back 7 will likely firm up but things will only get so much better from that. Until you can disrupt timing/harass/speed up or sack QB's consistently the defense won't be "good".

I'd say our most likely case scenario to field a competent defense by year end in JTT developing to be a legit threat opposite of Harrison and Barnes getting the back 7 in synch and a lot less predictable. We only need a "just good enough" defense to win if the offense can become consistently elite.

 

[Hstead]

I'm with you, much more multiple but they have a lot of room for improvement.

Here is what fundamentally concerns me about the defense; no matter how much better they get in playcalling and execution of assignments in the back 7, the front four generate next to zero pass rush.

Here are a couple novel, crazy ideas. How about we drop 8 in obvious passing downs? How about we drop our DE into coverage and bring the LB? How about we use some concept called the Rushmen package with JTT and Sawyer lined up over Gaurds? How about we stand up at least one, two, or hell even 4 guys in 3rd and long and let them move around before the snap? How about we do ANYTHING but line up 4 guys with their hands in the same exact piece of dirt and do the exact same thing on every snap? And heaven forbid we bring two LBs through the same gap, and I am not talking A gap, or bring more heat off the corner from (gasp) a DB.

STALE ASS SHIT!