Football
By the Numbers
By Jeff Amey
Ohio State went to Happy Valley this past Saturday night and put on an offensive performance that would make
Nightmare on Elm Street seem like a romantic comedy. The Buckeyes are now sitting with two losses early in a season in which nearly everyone thought they would be contending for a national championship.
Before we get into discussion about this game and more, let's take a look at the statistics.
Run/Pass Breakdown
64 Total Plays--230 yards--3.6 ypp
25 pass (39%)--13/25 for 139 yards 1 INT
39 runs (61%) for 91 yards 1 TD--2.3 ypc
11 Total Drives
ave. of 5.8 plays--20.9 yards
ave. start--OSU 27
1st Down--26 plays (41%) for 104 yards
7 pass (27%)--5/7 for 50 yards
19 runs (73%) for 54 yards--2.8 ypc
ave. gain of 4.0 yards
2nd Down--23 plays (36%) for 79 yards
10 pass (43%)--5/10 for 59 yards
13 runs (57%) for 20 yards 1 TD--1.5 ypc
ave. of 7.6 yards to go
ave. gain of 3.4 yards
3rd Down--15 plays (23%) for 47 yards
Eight pass (53%)--3/8 for 30 yards 1 INT
Seven runs (47%) for 17 yards--2.4 ypc
ave. of 7.9 yards to go
ave. gain of 3.1 yards
conversions--5/15 (33%)
Playaction Passing
3/6 for 30 yards
First Downs--16
Eight by pass
Six by run
Two by penalty
FORMATION BREAKDOWN
Two back formations--11 plays (17%)
One pass (9%)--0/1 for 0 yards
10 runs (91%) for 13 yards--1.3 ypc
Shotgun formations--50 plays (78%)
24 pass (48%)--13/24 for 139 yards 1 INT
26 runs (52%) for 70 yards 1 TD--2.7 ypc
One back/empty formations--3 plays (5%)
Zero pass (0%)--0/0 for 0 yards
Three runs (100%) for 8 yards--2.7 ypc
RUN TYPE BREAKDOWN--39 attempts
counter/trap--3 (8%) for 6 yards--2.0 ypc
draw--7 (18%) for 34 yards--4.9 ypc
sweep--1 (3%) for 5 yards--5.0 ypc
base/iso--6 (15%) for 14 yards--2.3 ypc
end around--0 (0%) for 0 yards (facemask negated)
power--0 (0%) for 0 yards
QB run/scramble--15 (38%) for -9 yards--(-0.6) ypc
option--7 (18%) for 41 yards 1 TD--5.9 ypc
stretch--0 (0%) for 0 yards
Other Stats of Note
* Four offensive penalties for the game
* OSU did not start on PSU side of 50
* Two-for-two in red zone scoring (1 TD, 1 FG)
* 31 of 64 plays were on PSU side of the 50 (48%)
* 22 of 64 plays were for no gain or loss (34%). 14 of those were in the second half
* Seven sacks and twi turnovers (1 INT, 1 fumble)
* 45 of 64 plays had 3 or more WR's lined up (70%). Eight of those 45 plays ended with the ball in a WR's hands (18%) 3 of those on the last drive.
It's hard to find a place to start talking about the offense this week. Any optimism about the offense turning a corner with their game against Iowa was crushed cruelly in Happy Valley Saturday night. We are left in the same exact place we've been in since the beginning of the Jim Tressel era at Ohio State, asking the question 'What's wrong with the offense?'.
This game was disappointing on so many levels. Not only were the fans frustrated, but it seemed at times that some of the players on the field were somewhat frustrated as well. It could be that what little leeway Tressel had with Buckeye fans left over from the National Championship in 2002 was left on the field in Happy Valley along with that loss.
We all bought into the pre-season hype surrounding this team and with seemingly good reason. Tressel himself said that he thought the Buckeyes would have an explosive offense this season. It's hard to believe that what he had in mind as an "explosive offense" is one that could be held to 10 points and 230 yards of offense...even by a good defense.
Last season's game against Michigan and this season's game against Iowa shows clearly what this current crop of Buckeyes are capable of, so why did they lay an egg against Penn State? Taken in the context of the entire Jim Tressel era at Ohio State, there are only a few possibities to answering that question.
1) The talent at Ohio State isn't as good as advertised.
2) Jim Tressel is not very good at putting together a consistantly effective offense.
3) Penn State is significantly better than anyone thought they were.
4) A combination of the first three.
The most logical of those answers is number four. The Nittany Lions team reminded me of the Buckeye team from 2002. They played a solid, mistake-free game, didn't do much on offense, and let their defense win the game for them. They looked very well prepared for everything Ohio State had to offer on both sides of the ball, and that seemed to be one of the big differences between the two teams.
That speaks directly to possibility number two up there. Why did Penn State look so prepared for everything the Buckeyes had to offer on offense? For one thing, there weren't very many new wrinkles when it came to the offense this week. There were a few new plays, but nothing that stood out. For the most part, it was the same basic gameplan that the Buckeyes came out with every week since Troy Smith took over the offense in place of Justin Zwick. The difference between this and the past two games and the half of the game Troy played against Texas was the way Penn State defended Troy Smith and the fact that the Buckeye defense and special teams weren't able to give the ball to the offense on a short field as they have all season long.
That brings us to Troy Smith and the rest of possibility number one. As time goes by and Troy plays more games, his strengths and weaknesses become more apparent. His strengths have been readily apparent and were magnified in the win over Michigan last season and Iowa this season. His weaknesses have basically been given a free pass over time because other teams hadn't taken advantage of them and the team won games. The Iowa and Michigan games gave rise to the belief that he might be the best quarterback to ever play for the Buckeyes in the eyes of some fans.
The reality is that Troy has trouble reading and dissecting zone defenses. Michigan and Iowa both played a lot of man coverages against the Buckeyes. Man to man defenses play right into Troy's strengths (defensive backs and some linebackers have their back to the QB and reciever matchups are easier to read). Against zone coverages, he seems unable to recognize where the holes in the defense are and is unable to anticipate when his receivers are going to come open. Couple that with his seeming unwillingness to pull the trigger on his passes unless he sees a receiver wide open, and you have a quarterback that performs like Troy did on Saturday.
He looked lost and confused at times, and didn't seem to know what to do to be successful against the defensive style Penn State employed. When he stayed in the pocket to find a receiver, he was unable to do so and took sacks. When he took off and ran, the linebackers in the short zones were able to converge on him quickly and limit his yardage. When he did try to anticipate a receiver coming open and throw the ball on timing, he threw it into coverage and was intercepted. He has been lucky thus far this season that all of his previous throws into coverage were dropped by the defenders. His luck ran out on Saturday.
This is a fundamental problem, one that in most cases is not within the realm of possiblity of improving during the season. Practice time at this point of the season is devoted to preparation for the next opponent, not work on fundamentals. Is Troy Smith the best choice at quarterback now that his weaknesses were so clearly exposed? One thing that has become clear over the past three games is that the main weapons of this offense going into this season, the wide receivers, have basically become a non-enitity on the field. Justin Zwick may not have all of the athletic skills that Troy Smith has, but he seemed to distribute the ball to all of the weapons on the field and has always seemed to read defenses fairly well. Let's not throw Troy under the bus yet, but let's hope that the Buckeyes don't keep beating their head against a wall when there is a possible solution on the bench if the opposing defenses are able to confuse Troy the same way Penn State did.
Jim Tressel's overall philosophy and approach to offensive football is generally a conservative, low-risk style of attack. The question is why.
A conservative, low-risk, field position approach to the game is a winning strategy in the long run. Ohio State will probably never finish with a losing record in any season under Jim Tressel because of it. It is low risk but it is also low reward. Ohio State has literally had a chance to win just about every game under Tressel, but being in every game is not the same as dominating every game, something that is usually necessary to win a national champsionship.
The team looked unprepared, unfocused, and uninspired last Saturday. The playcalling wasn't exactly bad, but didn't inspire awe either. None. With all of the weapons the Buckeyes have on offense, if the philosophy of the head coach is responsible for an offensive showing as poor as the one last Saturday, then that philosophy isn't working.
