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Who's going to play tight end?
Will Stover move back? Or are we counting on Scott and Rossi?
Can Scott block? Why do I have so many questions for a potent offense with so many returning players?
 
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Column: Can the Ohio State win big without a big-time run game?

So, what can we expect next year? Oh, I think that Day liked what he saw from the wide-open, Stroud-led passing attack. He’s so cool, so accurate. The 2022 Bucks will be a passing team. The line (three of the starters back?) will pass block. The Buckeyes will throw long passes on 4th and one. Stroud, and JSN, and (maybe) Harrison will make All America teams. Henderson, and Williams, and (maybe) Emeka Egbuka on end arounds will keep foes off balance. They’ll be tough to stop.

Will they win it all? That depends not on the pass/run ratio but on what Jim Knowles can do with the Buckeye defense. It’s OK to put the ball in the air.
 
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Please let me take a stab.

First let's start with how NOT to stop this offense, but what many teams did anyway, and got torched as a result. In the "boom" games, defenses would give Olave/Wilson a lot of cushion on the outside, in fear of getting beat deep. While this prevented big play go balls, tOSU gladly took the free yards underneath via quick outs & comebacks. With an inconsistent run game, the quick throw to the sideline became tOSU's bread & butter move-the-chains play. What ended up happening with the soft coverage was, tOSU stayed on schedule feasting on free yards, and eventually hit a big play anyway, if not down the sideline then over the middle; CJ & co has been excellent with deep crosses, posts, or seam routes.

Take the Rose Bowl for example. Even with Olave & Wilson out, the Utes -- having a depleted secondary themselves -- elected to follow the negative examples and play soft coverage on the outside. I counted at least 7 quick outs/comebacks from tOSU, 4 for 1st downs:



Next, let's look at the working recipe, which easier said than done is to make tOSU earn its yards; NOTHING for free:
  1. Press the outside receivers (euphemism for interfering as much as refs would allow), and/or jump the outs/comebacks routes aggressively
  2. Get home with pressure before deep routes develop
Examining the offensive struggles (< 30-pt games):
  1. Oregon: this game seems to be the outlier. Oregon was without their best pass rusher & potential #1 pick Thibodeaux. tOSU’s receivers were running free all day. Stroud just wasn't his late-season villain self. (Video below stolen from Land-Grant Holy Land. Notice how JSN got open. NOT soft.)
  2. Penn St was able to generate a lot of pressure early in the game -- particularly with #17 against NPF -- while defending sideline throws aggressively.
    Examples:


    In both cases, notice they played Wilson very tight; while Olave was given more cushion, the defender was fast to trigger on outs & comebacks.
    tOSU actually protected better in the 2nd half per PFF, and the offense had a mini-explosion:
    3qLaPTk.png

    tOSU drove deep into PSU territory on all 5 2nd half possessions (not counting the game ending kneel down). However, tOSU couldn't get out of its own way in the red zone, and scored only 16 2nd half points.
  3. Nebraska also generated a lot of pressure, but this time mostly on the interior (e.g. with Ben Stille). Red zone troubles reared its ugly head, exacerbated by turnovers & the absence of Wilson.
    Notably, on the 1st drive of the game, Klatt called out Olave breaking wide open but not getting the ball:

    Turned out Stille chased Stroud out of the pocket in the other direction, and Stroud had to check the ball down for a minimal gain:

    Nebraska again pressured Stroud off his spot in Day's much maligned late 4Q play call. Stroud was stripped just when "something was coming open":

    Missing Olave on the 1st drive was key IMO. Nothing better to wreck a defensive game plan than to hit a big play to start the game. "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." I feel when tOSU scored fast & early, opposing defense often panicked and (maybe prematurely) abandoned their game plan, then things can really snow ball, e.g. when MSU’s defense started doing silly things like the following after an onslaught of Buckeye explosives:
  4. TTUN: I don't want to relive this game in too much detail. Let's just say their DE's wrecked havoc, and their DB's were ... handsy. According to the TTUN X&O analysts on twitter (e.g. @SpaceCoyoteBDS or @colintj), TTUN actually played soft coverage through out the season to "protect their corners"; they simply hadn't faced any offense that could consistently take advantage of the free yards. Against tOSU they smartly changed things up and played ... "tight coverage". Sadly this was an excellent game plan on their part: they knew they couldn't cover tOSU's receivers playing fair, the game was in their house, and the refs weren't going to call PI every play if any.


I'm as frustrated as the next fan with the Buckeye's inconsistent offense against top defenses ... but while the Buckeyes O never cracked 30 in their struggles, they also never scored fewer than 26. If fans were using the offensive output against Purdue or MSU to set expectations for points against TTUN, they would be setting themselves up for disappointment. No matter how good an offense is, it will find points harder to come by against better defenses. This is tautological. For better perspective, one should compare the offense before & after Coach Day arrived in Columbus. 2016 was not that long ago that I forgot how that year's Buckeyes faired against the toughest D's on the schedule:
  • 21 points against PSU in the only loss to our non-rival since Urban
  • 10 offensive points against TTUN at the end of regulation
  • 0 points against Clemson in the playoffs

That said, 2021 is already in the books. Watching the Rose Bowl had me hyped about next season's offense. Where can I find the 2022 Offense thread?


Brining this over from '21 thread for @rsh
 
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IMO the annual tight end concerns are simply us finding something to complain about. I can't think of a time that lack of TE use has cost us a game or productivity. Their support in the run game is obviously beneficial, but our passing attack can only get incrementally better, and frankly I don't give a shit which position get's the target as long as it moves the offense. Some teams prioritize the position; mostly out of need (Iowa certainly can't staff an aerial attack like ours). Seeing Mitch Rossi play the FB/TE hybrid had me excited in the Rose Bowl and Ruckert made some amazing plays during his time. But absolutely no reason to force play towards a position under our scheme.

To add, despite the lack of use, tOSU consistently (if perhaps infrequently) puts solid TE's into the NFL.
 
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Maybe I’m in the minority, but I think a TE is critical bc it’s so critical in the run game.

He doesn’t need to be an elite pass catcher, but we should always have someone who is NFL talented to set edge, or be able to provide a nice counter smash. It’s been a staple at OSU since Meyer and I think it’d be shortsighted to overlook it.

It’s not likely, but I’d be kinda excited if we moved Cormontae Hamilton back to TE and just let him blow people up.
 
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Maybe I’m in the minority, but I think a TE is critical bc it’s so critical in the run game.

He doesn’t need to be an elite pass catcher, but we should always have someone who is NFL talented to set edge, or be able to provide a nice counter smash. It’s been a staple at OSU since Meyer and I think it’d be shortsighted to overlook it.

It’s not likely, but I’d be kinda excited if we moved Cormontae Hamilton back to TE and just let him blow people up.
Fully agree about the run game. And those kind of blocks always setup that rare pass play for a TD or first down similar to what Rossi caught in the Rose Bowl.

We should never try to get away from having them in our rotation. But lack of TE use in our passing game is sort of a constant point of complaint from Buckeye faithful and I've never understood if there's a valid reason or if it's meme status at this point.
 
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Maybe I’m in the minority, but I think a TE is critical bc it’s so critical in the run game.

He doesn’t need to be an elite pass catcher, but we should always have someone who is NFL talented to set edge, or be able to provide a nice counter smash. It’s been a staple at OSU since Meyer and I think it’d be shortsighted to overlook it.

It’s not likely, but I’d be kinda excited if we moved Cormontae Hamilton back to TE and just let him blow people up.
I know Day will sometimes put a TE # on and OL occasionally, but if there’s not really a threat to throw to the TE very often, why not just do that all the time? Imagine NPF wearing #85 and lined up next to Thayer, M. Jones, Wypler, Paris, Dawand. Load the box to stop Treveyon? Okay, air it out to Olave, JSN, or Garrett. Play a Nickel? Okay, those 6 OL + Tre will run down your throat.

I actually thought about this when thinking about Aamil Wagner. If he never got over 300, no problem, he could be a 285 lb “TE”….just a thought
 
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Maybe I’m in the minority, but I think a TE is critical bc it’s so critical in the run game.

He doesn’t need to be an elite pass catcher, but we should always have someone who is NFL talented to set edge, or be able to provide a nice counter smash. It’s been a staple at OSU since Meyer and I think it’d be shortsighted to overlook it.

It’s not likely, but I’d be kinda excited if we moved Cormontae Hamilton back to TE and just let him blow people up.
We need blockers at TE .. move Jones to TE and play 6 OL aka Minnie and scUM. Doug France model.
 
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