College football: Buckeyes primed for information overload
Thursday, December 18, 2008 3:30 AM
By
Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
If preparations go as planned, every time Texas lines up in a different offensive formation in the Fiesta Bowl, it should be a deja vu moment for the Ohio State defense. Then the next thought for every defender, safety Kurt Coleman said, will be to fight the impulse. Maybe, after a month to prepare, they think they know the Longhorns, their high-powered offense and all-star quarterback Colt McCoy's tendencies backward and forward. But Texas will have had a month to prepare, too.
"Really, you've got to play within the defense," Coleman said. "And if the defense tells you you've got to stay back in the deep half (zone coverage) then stay in the deep half."
But the mind will be trying to feed the Buckeyes information every nanosecond about what it thinks is coming. Players during the season only have about four days to gain a handle on the next opponent. The buildup to a bowl game gives both teams plenty of time to watch hours of video and become experts.
"You first try to figure out what is their favorite formation," OSU linebacker Marcus Freeman said. "You'll code-name it something like 'Gray' or 'Red'. Let's say they like three wide receivers, one tight end and one back, along with the quarterback.
"Then you watch and decide what their favorite play is out of that formation. From that point, you start breaking it down, and you start looking for frequencies that play is called, and so on."
It's rudimentary stuff, really.
"It's a long process, but it's really about getting prepared for every situation," Coleman said.
Once the lessons have been learned, coaches try to help players unclutter their minds.
Cont...
