2021 tOSU Defense

[Jaxbuck]

Cut to scene: Jax listening to Total Eclipse of the Heart gazing at his Jessica Alba poster.

 

[lowbuck]

It's called modern college football. They fixed the biggest issue which was a DC living in the (recent) past where you could run press man with predictable frequency.

Spend the offseason practicing zone defense and keep recruiting the level of athlete you are currently recruiting and it will be fine.

Good defense is keeping a good offense under 30 anymore. The two deep safety, zone based defenses that keep everything in front of them are back and that means sometimes you are going to give up some yards and 3 or so TD's in a game.

I hear you. I don't have a problem with base zone cover 2. The problem is the execution. There is way too much cushion being given that not only allows an uncontested catch but also YAC on simple routes. So many plays I saw our guys are playing off presnap, and then drop way back at the snap allowing a quick 5 yard to 8 yard easy pass usually allowing a few YAC.

That's the first thing that stands out. The other is just the big holes in our zone. It's like our guys aren't great at it and that is why they leave such large cushions. If you have a D that isn't in sync on zone it's easier to pick apart with seams and decoys.

All I have is assumptions, but I almost feel like our D practicing against our O has made them a little gunshy about getting smoked and that is why it seems like it is so conservative. I understand a conservative approach against a major WR threat, especially if you don't have a corner who can follow him in man all game. Against our O I get trying to keep everything underneath because we can take the lid off pretty much any time you don't sell out against it. Against other offenses we have played I don't see the same risk/reward profiles there.

So yeah, just score a ton of points and you win, I get it. But good defense and scoring points are not mutually exclusive. Georgia is suppressing offenses like crazy. I'm not saying we need or should expect Georgia D, but we need better play than we have right now.

 

[Jaxbuck]

I hear you. I don't have a problem with base zone cover 2. The problem is the execution. There is way too much cushion being given that not only allows an uncontested catch but also YAC on simple routes. So many plays I saw our guys are playing off presnap, and then drop way back at the snap allowing a quick 5 yard to 8 yard easy pass usually allowing a few YAC.

That's the first thing that stands out. The other is just the big holes in our zone. It's like our guys aren't great at it and that is why they leave such large cushions. If you have a D that isn't in sync on zone it's easier to pick apart with seams and decoys.

All I have is assumptions, but I almost feel like our D practicing against our O has made them a little gunshy about getting smoked and that is why it seems like it is so conservative. I understand a conservative approach against a major WR threat, especially if you don't have a corner who can follow him in man all game. Against our O I get trying to keep everything underneath because we can take the lid off pretty much any time you don't sell out against it. Against other offenses we have played I don't see the same risk/reward profiles there.

So yeah, just score a ton of points and you win, I get it. But good defense and scoring points are not mutually exclusive. Georgia is suppressing offenses like crazy. I'm not saying we need or should expect Georgia D, but we need better play than we have right now.

No question it can be better and that it isn't mutually exclusive.

My theory for why they aren't great in zone is simply Coombs didn't have them practice it enough through spring, summer and fall camp.

I guess I had just girded my loins for Purdue so it doesn't bother me as much but I completely understand the frustration.

 

[lowbuck]

No question it can be better and that it isn't mutually exclusive.

My theory for why they aren't great in zone is simply Coombs didn't have them practice it enough through spring, summer and fall camp.

I guess I had just girded my loins for Purdue so it doesn't bother me as much but I completely understand the frustration.

That's a strong possibility. We beat Purdue and offense showed out. I'm not upset at the game, I'm just not confident our pass D is playing at a high enough level for us to handle a team with a quality D and just a modest O.

 

[Jaxbuck]

That's a strong possibility. We beat Purdue and offense showed out. I'm not upset at the game, I'm just not confident our pass D is playing at a high enough level for us to handle a team with a quality D and just a modest O.

Pretend you are a fan of the two teams left on the schedule for a second.

You confident in trying to keep up with the OSU offense? Do you really think (DFBIA aside) that your defense can somehow keep the OSU offense under control? See any good match ups?

If you had to bet your life on a game, you want their team or Ohio State?

We're going t pole axe these cunts. Enjoy the ride.

 

[sg86]

Bryson Shaw is terrible. And it’s making the entire secondary look awful.

I’ve never seen a Buckeye defender look so thoroughly lost every week. Almost every big play shows him either out of position or with the absolute worst anticipation.

I am at a complete loss as to why they continue to run him out there week after week.

 

[lowbuck]

Pretend you are a fan of the two teams left on the schedule for a second.

You confident in trying to keep up with the OSU offense? Do you really think (DFBIA aside) that your defense can somehow keep the OSU offense under control? See any good match ups?

If you had to bet your life on a game, you want their team or Ohio State?

We're going t pole axe these cunts. Enjoy the ride.

Obviously I am fully expecting us win the last two games and I don't think either of those D's can hold back our O, but I also expect our D to give up a lot of yards if either is competent enough to use the Purdue game plan and go pass heavy.

I am working off the assumption we do win out and get to the playoffs, and if that happens I don't think we are going to be able to operate under the assumption our O can score with impunity against stronger D, which means we need help from our D.

Our offense played pretty much flawlessly and CJ usually had all the time he needed. Matching this performance from the offense against stronger opposition than Purdue is a big ask.

Our D let Clifford put up a 67% comp for 360 yards. CJ had a 64% comp. Ped tripped on their dicks all season (despite having delusions of eliteness to start the season) and played us close.

O'Connell had 4 TDs, 400 yards, 77% comp vs 82% for CJ

I'm not even going to put Indiana in the convo of recent games because Rutgers just held them to 3 pts and the week before scum held them to 7.

Both of those QBs had more yards than CJ, but I'm not making that a point because both had more pass attempts than him.

I'm just pointing out our explosive offensive can be offset considerably by the opposition exploiting our pass D. Our pass D is getting picked apart by pedestrian QBs with talent gaps on their offensive side. Our defense doesn't have to be world beaters, but it's got to be better than what it is, particularly if we get playoff seed.

 

[pnuts34]

Bryson Shaw is terrible. And it’s making the entire secondary look awful.

I’ve never seen a Buckeye defender look so thoroughly lost every week. Almost every big play shows him either out of position or with the absolute worst anticipation.

I am at a complete loss as to why they continue to run him out there week after week.

Thank you! I was coming here to say just that! Shaw is a special teams player at OSU, at best! He's not starting caliber at OSU, he is a starter for a Maryland, Indiana, Rutgers or any MAC team. But not OSU. And he's a major liability in the back end and making us miss Proctor weekly. He takes bad angles, and gets beat bad deep often, and his job is to not get beat deep. I think there isn't anyone else, tbh. He is the best S option at this point now. There must be injuries, or just not game ready for the coaches to not play Ransom and Williams.

And if you've never seen a Buckeye defender look so thoroughly lost every week, than you didn't watch the clown show at S that was Jahsen Wint and Isaih Pryor in 2018...

 

[bukIpower]

Thank you! I was coming here to say just that! Shaw is a special teams player at OSU, at best! He's not starting caliber at OSU, he is a starter for a Maryland, Indiana, Rutgers or any MAC team. But not OSU. And he's a major liability in the back end and making us miss Proctor weekly. He takes bad angles, and gets beat bad deep often, and his job is to not get beat deep. I think there isn't anyone else, tbh. He is the best S option at this point now. There must be injuries, or just not game ready for the coaches to not play Ransom and Williams.

And if you've never seen a Buckeye defender look so thoroughly lost every week, than you didn't watch the clown show at S that was Jahsen Wint and Isaih Pryor in 2018...

I want to see Williams back there. Especially if we are going to play Zone. Let Ransom take the deep stuff and have Williams be the strong safety..

Just 400 yards passing and no sacks is not acceptable. Clearly we were playing far too back otherwise they wouldn't have been able to get rid of the ball do quick. We weren't doing enough then to tighten coverage or confuse the QB if they were able to get ride of the ball. This was a Purdue team that gave up sacks too.

 

[Buckeye86]

I’m kinda hoping when Ohio State went up 35-7 they decided to keep things extremely basic on D for the rest of the game to not put anything on tape for the final games, and that somewhat explains the lackluster performance… that’s the best spin I can come up with, at least.

 

[pnuts34]

I want to see Williams back there. Especially if we are going to play Zone. Let Ransom take the deep stuff and have Williams be the strong safety..

Just 400 yards passing and no sacks is not acceptable. Clearly we were playing far too back otherwise they wouldn't have been able to get rid of the ball do quick. We weren't doing enough then to tighten coverage or confuse the QB if they were able to get ride of the ball. This was a Purdue team that gave up sacks too.

Defense definitely let their feet off the gas from the 2nd QT on. And in obvious passing situations Ransom has looked better in coverage. And he should've been allowed to learn on the fly. Idk if Barnes plays Williams and Ransom much going further, with the biggest games of the season in front of us. Those 2 should've been in yesterday, Nebraska and Ped St to get experience to be ready for the biggest games. I think we may be stuck with Shaw and Williamson going forward unfortunately.

 

[Onebuckfan]

I am expecting a defense that is more unpredictable next year. I expected Combs to bring some NFL concepts ..like game planning a defense for the opponent. We rushed 4 and lined up the same way constantly…it works a lot of the time..Day has a helluva record but to beat the best or an O with talent with today’s rules favoring the O the D needs to confuse the QB with alignment or shifts..we have talent if given some schematic advantages it will shine. This team hasn’t jelled on D yet..they are learning on the fly.

 

[AKAK]

No question it can be better and that it isn't mutually exclusive.

My theory for why they aren't great in zone is simply Coombs didn't have them practice it enough through spring, summer and fall camp.

I guess I had just girded my loins for Purdue so it doesn't bother me as much but I completely understand the frustration.

Just to echo chamber this nicely...

I should, especially fot the people i got shitty with yesterday, be 100% clear that I hate this shit.

Passing is for pussies and we should be giving up pre-war stats to anyone and everyone, getting 100 sacks a year should anyone fucking dare throw the ball against us and allow less that 50 yards per game on the ground.

Then for funzies, run the ball 10 times in a row out if the hurry up and grind their bones to dust whenever we please.

But... That's not what we have. And to some degree it is mutually exclusive in the sense that if you score in 4 plays and they score in 10, you have to sorta play soft and force mistakes because you might be out there 40 minutes and 75-80 plays. And when you're up 28, the primary goal is going to be to stay up 28. (I gotta imagine the win probability up 28 pretty good through the second half,. Where if you let them get a quick swing to 14, it might fall into the 70's or 80's for a quick second)

So, they're going to take those things into account and not let the other team score fast.

Would I like to see some more aggression in the red zone? For sure. Could they throw me a fucking bone and send a blitzer on 3rd and 10+. It would be nice.

But this is the only/last offense that's equipped to do anything like this, but if faced with a similar situation I think the plan will continue to be keep everything in front and stay 4 TDs up.

Its gross, but it is what it is.

 

[Onebuckfan]

It’s different for us old timers, yds don’t matter it’s possessions create turnovers, get off the field on 3rd and longs, red zone defense that gives up fg not tds. Conversely don’t turn the ball over on offense, convert in the red zone, and get explosive plays to score.

 

[maximumblitz]

Bryson Shaw is terrible. And it’s making the entire secondary look awful.

I’ve never seen a Buckeye defender look so thoroughly lost every week. Almost every big play shows him either out of position or with the absolute worst anticipation.

I am at a complete loss as to why they continue to run him out there week after week.

I don't think Bryson Shaw has his own thread own here?