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Game Thread CFP Semifinal: Ohio State vs. Clemson, Sat 12/31 @ 7p ET, ESPN

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jwinslow said:
OSU's defense is very good but not great. Hooker and Baker are incredible talents but can get a bit undisciplined. OSU has 3 premiere DBs in CB Conley, CB Lattimore and S Hooker but are weak at the nickel spot (although sometimes weak = not a top-20 pick). Teams have picked on the other safety Webb and nickelback Arnette this year, to the point where OSU began 3 cover corners and sliding Conley into the slot in nickel formations.

OSU has recruited at a Bama level everywhere but WR and DT, specifically nose tackle. Not surprisingly, those are their two weaknesses in this game. OSU has a lot of 3-techs and promising tweeners, but at the 1-tech spot they have Michael Hill and no one else (redshirt frosh Hamilton has been okay but isn't a 3-down player). OSU came in second for Lawrence and Wilkins and would kill for either one (and now gets to face both).

In their place, they have junior Michael Hill and literally nothing but freshmen DTs. Dre'Mont Jones is a 3-tech hybrid who has played pretty well but is still a bit undersized (thickness wise). Robert Landers is a very undersized whirling dervish at DT and is the type of guy who usually lands at Purdue or Wisconsin and wreaks havoc on the blue bloods that thought he was too small. Nick Bosa has been ahead of big brother Joey Bosa at every point in his football career and that holds true this year as well. He's also a bit of a hybrid for now.

OSU is pretty good at forcing 3rd and medium to long situations, which brings out their best unit, their rushmen package with 4 killer pass rushers. They use Jalyn Holmes and Joey Bosa inside with Hubbard and Lewis outside. They don't always get home but they consistently force early passes and iffy decision making, leading to the many interceptions and TDs. Unlike early downs where they're a little undersized, they are as good as anyone in america when it comes to their DL on passing downs. They also force this pressure without much blitzing, making an unexpected blitzing LB even more devastating (like Michigan found out).
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Truth. That's good stuff right there.

I think the youth and lack of discipline is why the Oklahoma backup QB was actually right - especially at the time he provided the bulletin board material: they played basic because they could and it was the best way to win. Before the season I heard about how Schiano was going to dial up some elaborate schemes. I did see some stuff like M or OLB, safety, an occasional corner blitz, and a couple of zone blitzes (which always causes that beautiful DE, Steve Miller to come to mind), but on the whole, they rushed 3 or 4 and played coverage.

We all love it when we have a really aggressive D that's sacking the QB, causing TO's, and producing a lot of negative plays, but there is risk involved with that. You have to have the rest of the defense compensate for the blitzer's normal responsibilities. Getting everyone reading the same thing and reacting to compensate is something that normally more experienced players do. I can see why the OSU defensive coaches chose to mostly play it safe given the youth of that defense. Still, that's just an impression I have. It may be wrong. Maybe they did more elaborate stuff than I was taking note of. I'd like to see what their percentage of blitz (run and pass) vs. basic actually was over the course of the season.

Regardless, I know this for sure, if Watson is able to stand back there for 4-5 seconds and go through all his reads, we in trouble. Now that this crew has 12 games under their belt together, it's time for Schiano to earn his money.
 
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UrbanBuckeye said:
I don't understand why everyone thinks Clemson is such an underdog. Can anyone explain this to me? There have been multiple articles citing this as fact. The line is practically as close as you can get.

It's hard to believe a team with a QB that's a possible Heisman winner & played Bama last year in a VERY close game would be plastered all over the media as the underdog.

This isn't Washington-Bama for fuck sake.
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From a pure football perspective, this is a pick em. It appears to me that the sharps expect more money to come in on Ohio State initially, so they are tempting money to come in on Clemson. That -3 is going to come down, I suspect. So, it's more of a gambling thing than a football analysis thing.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-ohio-state-vs-clemson-odds-analysis-and-pick

I also think there is an Urban factor. Gamblers and football analysts know what that coach can do given a month. He has a track record. :)
 
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OSUK said:
I also think there is an Urban factor. Gamblers and football analysts know what that coach can do given a month. He has a track record. :)
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Indeed as Clemson actually outplayed Alabama, but Dabo was out coached by Saban ie the on-side kick Clemson was totally unprepared for. And Clemson had a special teams deficit as Kenyan Drake returned a kickoff for a td.

Turnovers/special teams is a major factor as 'Bama had (2) fumble returns and a punt return for (3) td's against Ole Miss beating them 48-43. Put freshman qb Jalen Hurts in a position where he has to win the game and roll the dice.

Amazing the Buckeyes had (4) turnovers against Oregon two years ago and still won. Four turnovers against either Clemson or 'bama and Ohio State is toast!

>

And again, don't overlook Washington. Remember when Ohio State had no chance against the U.
 
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shiloh said:
Indeed as Clemson actually outplayed Alabama, but Dabo was out coached by Saban ie the on-side kick Clemson was totally unprepared for. And Clemson had a special teams deficit as Kenyan Drake returned a kickoff for a td.

Turnovers/special teams is a major factor as 'Bama had (2) fumble returns and a punt return for (3) td's against Ole Miss beating them 48-43. Put freshman qb Jalen Hurts in a position where he has to win the game and roll the dice.

Amazing the Buckeyes had (4) turnovers against Oregon two years ago and still won. Four turnovers against either Clemson or 'bama and Ohio State is toast!

>

And again, don't overlook Washington. Remember when Ohio State had no chance against the U.
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Urban took an OSU team that was inexperienced in championship games and used it to his advantage. There is some youth on OSU this year, but maybe Urban can find the way to handle it again.
 
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Gcashwell said:
Urban took an OSU team that was inexperienced in championship games and used it to his advantage. There is some youth on OSU this year, but maybe Urban can find the way to handle it again.
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But Ohio State had major momentum after beating Wisky 59-0 in the B1G championship game with a third string qb and an ever improving offensive line and a breakout dynamo named Zeke! And yes, Urban was a major part of the 2014 equation.
 
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I'm by no means an expert...which is partly why I come here--to read analysis & try to understand more about the game, tOSU plays, etc.. The other reason is your lovable personalities and profanity.

In any case, wouldn't going after Watson, trying to force sacks primarily be a bad idea? In that situation, he's far more likely to pass--which is where things could go terribly wrong. Keeping him contained in the pocket would be more important, correct? His dual threat abilities scare me a bit (no surprise, right?).

As many of you have said, the difference between winning & losing this one could very well be our coach.
 
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UrbanBuckeye said:
I'm by no means an expert...which is partly why I come here--to read analysis & try to understand more about the game, tOSU plays, etc.. The other reason is your lovable personalities and profanity.

In any case, wouldn't going after Watson, trying to force sacks primarily be a bad idea? In that situation, he's far more likely to pass--which is where things could go terribly wrong. Keeping him contained in the pocket would be more important, correct? His dual threat abilities scare me a bit (no surprise, right?).

As many of you have said, the difference between winning & losing this one could very well be our coach.
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Bama tried to contain him in the pocket last year in the title game and it didn't work. They eventually switched personnel in the second half and took a "get him" approach that worked much better, but by then the secondary was gassed.

I think OSU has the quickness to pursue Watson.
 
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shiloh said:
Indeed as Clemson actually outplayed Alabama, but Dabo was out coached by Saban ie the on-side kick Clemson was totally unprepared for. And Clemson had a special teams deficit as Kenyan Drake returned a kickoff for a td.

Turnovers/special teams is a major factor as 'Bama had (2) fumble returns and a punt return for (3) td's against Ole Miss beating them 48-43. Put freshman qb Jalen Hurts in a position where he has to win the game and roll the dice.

Amazing the Buckeyes had (4) turnovers against Oregon two years ago and still won. Four turnovers against either Clemson or 'bama and Ohio State is toast!

>

And again, don't overlook Washington. Remember when Ohio State had no chance against the U.
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You've brought up the main reason why I think Ohio State beats Clemson. Watson will probably be the best player on the field but Dabo's coaching blunders are going to cost them the game imo.
 
Upvote 0
OSUK said:
Truth. That's good stuff right there.

I think the youth and lack of discipline is why the Oklahoma backup QB was actually right - especially at the time he provided the bulletin board material: they played basic because they could and it was the best way to win. Before the season I heard about how Schiano was going to dial up some elaborate schemes. I did see some stuff like M or OLB, safety, an occasional corner blitz, and a couple of zone blitzes (which always causes that beautiful DE, Steve Miller to come to mind), but on the whole, they rushed 3 or 4 and played coverage.

We all love it when we have a really aggressive D that's sacking the QB, causing TO's, and producing a lot of negative plays, but there is risk involved with that. You have to have the rest of the defense compensate for the blitzer's normal responsibilities. Getting everyone reading the same thing and reacting to compensate is something that normally more experienced players do. I can see why the OSU defensive coaches chose to mostly play it safe given the youth of that defense. Still, that's just an impression I have. It may be wrong. Maybe they did more elaborate stuff than I was taking note of. I'd like to see what their percentage of blitz (run and pass) vs. basic actually was over the course of the season.

Regardless, I know this for sure, if Watson is able to stand back there for 4-5 seconds and go through all his reads, we in trouble. Now that this crew has 12 games under their belt together, it's time for Schiano to earn his money.
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Simple, savage defense is what Sparty used to make Urban cry uncle. It let's them attack and play fast, and if you have the secondary to do it, you can be really good. They went from having an incredible secondary across the board (2013) to having a mixed group (2014) to being really flawed (2015 & 16) and sparty's defense suffered accordingly.
 
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