-
Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
If our talent shows up like it did in the game we were hit with a bunch of DNPs due to Covid. We're so fucking loaded with talent it's insane.
Haha good point, I meant to mention we did that with about half our team available. If talent shows up AND we're back near full strength, it could be a bloodbath.
Upvote
0
ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
THEY WIN BY KEEPING SCORES LOW
Northwestern’s formula for winning games this season has been pretty simple: Don’t let the other team score more than 20 points. That’s how the Wildcats have won all six of their games this season, and they currently rank second in the entire Football Bowl Subdivision with only 14.6 points allowed per game.
The problem for the Wildcats, as they prepare to face an Ohio State offense that’s far more explosive than any they have faced yet this season, is that’s how they have to win.
With the exception of their season opener against Maryland, which they won 43-3, Northwestern hasn’t scored more than 28 points in any of its last six games, including a 29-20 loss to Michigan State.
Ohio State has scored at least 38 points in all five of its games this season, so Northwestern is going to have to be able to either find a way to score more points than it has in any of its last six games or limit the Buckeyes to fewer points than they’ve scored in any game this year.
THEIR PASSING OFFENSE ISN’T DANGEROUS
It’s fair to say Northwestern’s passing offense has gotten better this year, because it really couldn’t have been any worse than last year. With a revolving door of quarterbacks that included Aidan Smith, Hunter Johnson and Andrew Marty after TJ Green was injured in the season opener, the Wildcats legitimately had the worst passing offense in the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2019, ranking 130th out of 130 teams in passing yards per attempt (4.5) and passer rating (84.5).
With the arrival of Indiana quarterback Peyton Ramsey as a graduate transfer this offseason, Northwestern’s offense has been more competent. But the Wildcats still aren’t a team that are going to pose a real threat to Ohio State’s pass defense.
Northwestern hasn’t thrown for more than 239 yards in any of its seven games this season, and it still ranks just 106th nationally in passing yards per game (180.9). The Wildcats don’t make many big plays through the air, ranking dead last in the Big Ten with only two 30-plus-yard passing plays and zero passing plays of 40 yards or more.
The Wildcats have had a couple of big games running the ball this year, accumulating 325 rushing yards against Maryland and 411 rushing yards this past weekend against Illinois, but they had also been held under 100 rushing yards in their previous three games before the Illinois game.
SENIOR LINEBACKERS EVERYWHERE
One thing that both teams in this week’s Big Ten Championship Game have in common: They’re loaded with experience, including three senior starters, at linebacker.
Much like Tuf Borland and Pete Werner have seemingly been in the middle of Ohio State’s defense forever, so too have Paddy Fisher and Blake Gallagher at Northwestern. Fisher is now a fourth-year starter for the Wildcats, having earned at least second-team All-Big Ten honors in each of the past three years, while Gallagher is a third-year starter. Both of them have 65 total tackles this season, tying them for the team lead and fourth in the Big Ten, while Gallagher also ranks third in the conference with 9.5 tackles for loss.
Like Baron Browning for the Buckeyes, a third senior linebacker joins them in the starting lineup in Chris Bergin, who’s in his second year starting for the Wildcats and has recorded 58 total tackles in seven games this year.
“They’ve played so much football, it’s amazing. I feel like they’ve been there forever,” Ryan Day said last week on his radio show. “And they play that way. They’ve seen how teams attack them, they know how to quickly adjust.”
MANY INTERCEPTIONS
With 12 interceptions in seven games this season, Northwestern has the second-highest rate of interceptions per game among all FBS teams behind only Indiana. Redshirt freshman safety Brandon Joseph is tied for the lead among all FBS players with five interceptions, while seven other Wildcats each have one pick.
Though Justin Fields doesn’t usually throw interceptions, he threw three against Indiana, making Northwestern’s similar success intercepting passes with regularity this season a threat that shouldn’t be ignored going into this week’s game.
“They have some pretty good guys on the back end,” Day said last week. “They’ve got some young guys who’ve done really well.”
Upvote
0
ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
While Monday night wasn't Day's first time commenting on the upcoming matchup with Northwestern, as he also held a press conference on Sunday, here's a quick roundup of what else he had to say:
- Day said it's a good thing that the Buckeyes are fresh and healthy, but it's hard that they've missed out on hundreds of game reps that they would have typically had at this time of the year. He's trying not to dwell on that, though, recognizing that everyone has had to deal with unusual challenges this season.
- Day described Ohio State's seniors as “a special group.” He said it was great to hear their stories during the team's Senior Tackle last week. “That was the best hour-and-a-half, two hours that I've had in a long time, listening to these guys during Senior Tackle.” They have a chance to win their fourth straight Big Ten championship this week.
- Day said Northwestern's defense is “pretty consistent in their looks, but they have different changeups that they have.” He said they've watched Northwestern film from both of the last two seasons since there were less games to watch from this year.
- Day said he thinks the Buckeyes think they “have a pretty good feel” for who Northwestern quarterback Peyton Ramsey is as a player, having also played against him when he was at Indiana. “We know how good of a quarterback he is. Really talented player. Manages the game really, really well. Gives that side of the ball a lot of confidence, and he's a good leader.”
- Day said it helped the Buckeyes move forward from the Michigan game being canceled that they quickly knew they would be playing Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship Game and could turn their attention toward their next target. He said he would have been worried about how the team would handle that situation a couple months ago, but he thinks they're used to dealing with the disappointments now.
Upvote
0
ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
FILM STUDY: NORTHWESTERN'S NO-NONSENSE APPROACH TO DEFENSE HAS STRUGGLED TO SLOW DOWN OHIO STATE IN RECENT YEARS
While the national perception of his employer and alma mater is that of a wealthy, private school known best for producing writers, business leaders, and scientists, its football team embodies the blue-collar, southside Irish values which shaped him. Though most of Northwestern's alumni base loves that he's thrown out the first pitch at Wrigley Field more than 10 times, the die-hard White Sox fan has built a team that plays more like Mike Singletary than Walter Payton, and will now play for a Big Ten title for the second time in three years.
In 127 football seasons, Northwestern has won 10 games or more just five times. The first was in 1904 and the second came while Fitzgerald was an All-American player in 1995. The other three have come in the last eight seasons in which he transitioned the program from relying on a high-powered spread offense to that of a hardworking, opportunistic defense.
Although that unit may get its personality from the head coach, one of the more overlooked elements of the program's success is the man who actually calls the coverages and fronts.
After earning starting at outside linebacker for Bo Schembechler's 1969 Rose Bowl team, Mike Hankwitz got his first defensive coordinator job 44 years ago at the University of Arizona. From there, the coaching lifer spent time at Purdue, Colorado - where he won a national championship while calling the defense for Bill McCartney's Buffaloes in 1990, Kansas, Texas A&M, Arizona (again), Colorado (again), and Wisconsin before finally settling in with Fitzgerald and the Wildcats in 2008.
Philosophically, Hankwitz's defense is quite similar to the one installed by Jeff Hafley last year in Columbus. The Wildcats play a four-man front with the back-seven keeping their eyes on the ball to contain big plays and force opponents to put together long drives in order to score.
How Hankwitz chooses to bring that plan to life is quite different, however. His defense operates almost exclusively with two-deep safeties, relying on zone-match Cover 4/Quarters coverage to give his defenders a chance to steal a look at the backfield (like a traditional zone defender) before playing routes more like man-coverage.
While Michigan State relied on this same approach for years under Mark Dantonio and coordinator Pat Narduzzi, the Wildcats continue to gain an extra defender against the run with this scheme. Though the offense believes they should be able to block everyone in the box, the safety will quickly step down and fill the C-gap if the tight end shows he's run blocking.
As the Buckeyes saw regularly in the 2018 Big Ten championship game, Hankwitz likes to use his defensive ends to play outside-in, containing the edges and funneling the ball back inside to the disciplined linebacker duo of Paddy Fisher and Blake Gallagher along with the safeties.
In that contest two years ago, Hankwitz held Ohio State to 108 yards rushing with an average of just 2.35 yards-per-carry. Last fall, however, Ryan Day and co. schemed up new ways to create holes in the Northwestern front, leading to a huge night on the ground at Ryan Field.
By flexing out the tight end away from the interior linemen in this 3x1 look, the Wildcats are left with just five defenders in the box. Knowing the Wildcats will play four defenders over the three receivers in their base Cover 4, the help safety will have to come from the opposite side.
.
.
.
continued
Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...ach-to-defense-continues-to-carry-the-program
While the national perception of his employer and alma mater is that of a wealthy, private school known best for producing writers, business leaders, and scientists, its football team embodies the blue-collar, southside Irish values which shaped him. Though most of Northwestern's alumni base loves that he's thrown out the first pitch at Wrigley Field more than 10 times, the die-hard White Sox fan has built a team that plays more like Mike Singletary than Walter Payton, and will now play for a Big Ten title for the second time in three years.
In 127 football seasons, Northwestern has won 10 games or more just five times. The first was in 1904 and the second came while Fitzgerald was an All-American player in 1995. The other three have come in the last eight seasons in which he transitioned the program from relying on a high-powered spread offense to that of a hardworking, opportunistic defense.
Although that unit may get its personality from the head coach, one of the more overlooked elements of the program's success is the man who actually calls the coverages and fronts.
After earning starting at outside linebacker for Bo Schembechler's 1969 Rose Bowl team, Mike Hankwitz got his first defensive coordinator job 44 years ago at the University of Arizona. From there, the coaching lifer spent time at Purdue, Colorado - where he won a national championship while calling the defense for Bill McCartney's Buffaloes in 1990, Kansas, Texas A&M, Arizona (again), Colorado (again), and Wisconsin before finally settling in with Fitzgerald and the Wildcats in 2008.
Philosophically, Hankwitz's defense is quite similar to the one installed by Jeff Hafley last year in Columbus. The Wildcats play a four-man front with the back-seven keeping their eyes on the ball to contain big plays and force opponents to put together long drives in order to score.
How Hankwitz chooses to bring that plan to life is quite different, however. His defense operates almost exclusively with two-deep safeties, relying on zone-match Cover 4/Quarters coverage to give his defenders a chance to steal a look at the backfield (like a traditional zone defender) before playing routes more like man-coverage.
While Michigan State relied on this same approach for years under Mark Dantonio and coordinator Pat Narduzzi, the Wildcats continue to gain an extra defender against the run with this scheme. Though the offense believes they should be able to block everyone in the box, the safety will quickly step down and fill the C-gap if the tight end shows he's run blocking.
As the Buckeyes saw regularly in the 2018 Big Ten championship game, Hankwitz likes to use his defensive ends to play outside-in, containing the edges and funneling the ball back inside to the disciplined linebacker duo of Paddy Fisher and Blake Gallagher along with the safeties.
In that contest two years ago, Hankwitz held Ohio State to 108 yards rushing with an average of just 2.35 yards-per-carry. Last fall, however, Ryan Day and co. schemed up new ways to create holes in the Northwestern front, leading to a huge night on the ground at Ryan Field.
By flexing out the tight end away from the interior linemen in this 3x1 look, the Wildcats are left with just five defenders in the box. Knowing the Wildcats will play four defenders over the three receivers in their base Cover 4, the help safety will have to come from the opposite side.
.
.
.
continued
Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...ach-to-defense-continues-to-carry-the-program
Upvote
0
sparcboxbuck
What happened to my ¤cash?
This. One of the kids I coach has a sibling who is friends with / teammates with one of his boys in a not-lacrosse sport. The kid’s dad and I were talking a couple of years ago and he mentioned that Pat is like the most low-key guy you could know. Completely just one of the other parents and really a good dude.
In a world where he could justifiably have a huge ego he chooses to just be ‘another one of the parents.’ Admittedly, dude’s got a pretty cool job for being just one of the parents. I’ve always liked what I’ve seen of the guy. Some guys seem to recognize the stage and become actors. I get the sense that there’s no acting with him.
Upvote
0
If only his playing career had some accomplishments that gave him credibility:
List of 2-time Bronko Nagurski Award Winners for National Defensive Player of the Year:
Pat Fitzgerald, 1995 and 1996
/ end of list
Upvote
0
Zem
Hall of Fame
He is an upstanding fellow. Would be interesting to see what he could do at a perennial powerhouse.
I have a reason to feel contempt for NW if anyone is looking for such a thing. Their fans appear to be key jigglers. Miss St people ring cowbells in lieu of applause or cheering, NW folks use their keys. I know this from watching an OSU-NW game at a bar years ago. It was as if it's a Wildcat tradition. It was annoying and I have milked it ever since as the source for my contempt.
Upvote
0
ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Baron Browning
-- People on the outside can have their own opinion about the Buckeyes and whether they deserve the playoffs or not. That's not a concern inside the Woody.
-- It wasn't hard to move to Sam, there's just different keys. At Mike he had to identify so much more. At Sam, you just worry about yourself.
-- He didn't bother Pete Werner too much while learning Sam because Pete was learning his own new position. He just leaned on Greg Mattison. "He made me a better player every day."
-- Every day in practice they focus on stopping the run against the scout team. That's the most important thing during a game as well.
-- Pete Werner means a lot to this team. "That's my brother."
-- It wouldn't sit well without anybody to miss your final home game. It took a day or two to shift his mindset to Northwestern. There is added motivation because there are fewer games remaining now.
-- Are they trying to prove something to the people who think the Big Ten changed their rules for them? Every week you have to prove yourself in the Big Ten.
-- The run defense is about holding guys accountable from the very first practice.
-- The other day some younger guys were complaining about how long a practice went and Justin Fields told them to make the most of their opportunities and take advantage of the chance to get better.
-- Missing Tuf Borland against Michigan State gave them more fuel for the fire. He's a great leader, friend, and a brother. "He's like the foundation of our unit."
-- What is special about this program? "The brotherhood." They cherish each other. Ryan Day has enhanced their culture. They have love for each other. It sounds simple to say but they take pride in it. Everything they went through this year, they went through together. Day kept them together through all of it.
Jeremy Ruckert
-- The need to be versatile has been key this year. They are able to bounce back after cancelations and prepare well.
-- He doesn't look back on last year's Big Ten Championship Game much even though people still talk about his touchdown catch.
-- The tight ends have been reliable all year long, even before the season. It's a good group of leaders that does whatever they are asked to do.
-- The tight ends definitely feel the love from the coaches and the rest of the team. Those people understand what the tight ends do each week. They are a reliable group.
-- "If I didn't have Luke [Farrell] as a teammate, I wouldn't play as much as I am." Ruckert wouldn't be the same player, he wouldn't be as good as he is. Farrell is an unselfish guy and does everything he can at the highest level and doesn't say much about it.
-- He hasn't put much thought into the NFL. They have worked so hard to make this season happen and that's where the focus has been. There may be a decision down the road, but right now the focus is on being healthy and stacking days up this year.
-- They haven't been focusing on the playoffs and is six wins good enough. They just try to put the best play and game they can on film. That's the motivation. Show people that Ohio State is one of the top teams. That's the only thing they can control.
-- You try not to put yourself in a position where you can contract COVID. When you get tested in the morning, you wait for 15 minutes to see if you're okay.
-- "Coming here was a great decision for me."
-- Every other school has more games than Ohio State, so they have to look good in the games they play. You try not to think about anything other than playing your best game.
-- Jonathon Cooper has so much passion for this team and this city. He has stepped up as a leader and you want to rally around him and he's playing great.
-- The more you play, the more you feel the brotherhood. When you're younger, you see the leaders and how they operate in the weight room. But once you're on the field there is an added weight to the experience.
Wyatt Davis
-- He feels a lot better physically. Emotionally, that was tough not having that game. He's ready to go. It helped his knee to miss a game.
-- He found out after practice that he won the Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year award. He feels blessed to have a coach like Greg Studrawa. "I'm just really grateful for him."
-- It was really tough not having a senior day. That's all he was thinking about before the game was canceled and afterward as well. During Saturday practice he kept thinking that they should be playing a game instead. Not being able to walk out of the tunnel of Ohio Stadium one last time was really tough. The motivation to finish strong is huge.
-- This year's B1G Championship Game doesn't feel the same as last year's because of the lack of games and just the overall strangeness of this year. They have had so few reps this year and the execution isn't normally where you'd be for the 13th game. Practice has been amped up trying to simulate the lost game reps.
-- He has learned to appreciate every opportunity this season has provided and to take none of it for granted.
-- This game is huge. It's one stepping stone towards the end goal. The goal at the start of the season is to win every game and "Get to Indy." So now they're at Indy and the next goal becomes the target. This is why they work so hard to put themselves in the position to do what they're doing now.
-- His pick for the OL that had the best season is Nicholas Petit-Frere. "He's motivating me to go harder. I'm excited for his future. He has improved the most to me."
Shaun Wade
-- He's definitely glad he came back. "Why not come back and finish what I started." Very much looking forward to this game. It would be another check mark for them.
-- Northwestern's offense is very disciplined. They don't like to get off track. They like positive plays.
-- This program is where it is is because the players are winners and it's built on winning. The brother is real. They compete. They compete against each other like brothers too. "If you're my little brother, we're going to fight."
-- Putting the best product out there for everyone to see starts with practice. He practices against the best receivers in the nation.
-- He has a lot of room to improve. He's very hard on himself. Even if he looks good on film he can still see areas where he can get better.
-- There's only so much improvement you can make in practice because you're facing the same guys each week. Playing in games, you get to see new and different players to test yourselves against.
-- Definitely hurt to get not get to play against Michigan. "I was mad that they kind of backed out. But at the end of the day, that's COVID and our health is definitely more important than the sport of football."
-- Getting interceptions for him is just playing football. That's studying and letting the game to you. At corner, you can't go to the play because you might get a double-move pulled on you.
-- He's comfortable outside, but games are different in practice, so he's still learning and improving.
-- He's told his teammates that they need to look good this week and blow Northwestern out.
-- Ronnie Hickman had a good game against Michigan State. Marcus Williamson has improved and it's going to be good to get Josh Proctor back. "We've got a couple of freshman that are going to be good, but they're freshman at the end of the day." Sevyn Banks is getting better too.
-- The team wishes they had more games. "The game is just different than practice." It's four quarters that you get to compete against somebody that you do not. "You need to play in games to get better."
-- He got burnt early on in practice when he moved outside, but that happens. "That's just football." It doesn't happen as much as it did.
Upvote
0
