Football
By the Numbers
By Jeff Amey
The San Diego State Aztecs came into Ohio Stadium and dominated the game....for the first 11 seconds. The Aztecs scored on their first play from scrimmage on an 80 yard catch and run. After that, the never even sniffed the goal line and finished only one more play on the Ohio State side of the 50 yard line. The game was never really in doubt, yet it is hard not to come away from this game feeling a little bit of disappointment.
As well as the defense played and for all of the good field position Ohio State was able to get, they were only able to put 27 points on the board. We're going to explore why later on, but for now let's just look at the stats.
Run/Pass Breakdown
82 Total Plays--373 yards--4.5 ypp
36 pass (44%)--23/36 for 196 yards 1 INT
46 runs (56%) for 177 yards 3 TD--3.8 ypc
14 Total Drives
ave. of 5.9 plays--26.6 yards
ave. start--OSU 41
1st Down--34 plays (41%) for 126 yards
10 pass (29%)--7/10 for 55 yards 1 INT
24 runs (71%) for 71 yards 1 TD--3.0 ypc
ave. gain of 3.7 yards
2nd Down--29 plays (35%) for 155 yards
14 pass (48%)--8/14 for 89 yards
15 runs (52%) for 66 yards 1 TD--4.4 ypc
ave. of 7.2 yards to go
ave. gain of 5.3 yards
3rd Down--19 plays (23%) for 92 yards
12 pass (63%)--8/12 for 52 yards
7 runs (37%) for 40 yards 1 TD--5.7 ypc
ave. of 6.2 yards to go
ave. gain of 4.8 yards
conversions--10/19 (53%)
Playaction Passing
2/5 for 32 yards 1 INT
First Downs--20
11 by pass
9 by run
FORMATION BREAKDOWN
2 back formations--7 plays (9%)
1 pass (14%)--0/1 for 0 yards
6 runs (86%) for -4 yards 2 TD--(-0.7) ypc
Shotgun formations--59 plays (72%)
31 pass (53%)--20/31 for 139 yards 1 INT
28 runs (47%) for 138 yards 1 TD--4.9 ypc
One back/empty formations--16 plays (19%)
4 pass (25%)--3/4 for 57 yards
12 runs (75%) for 43 yards--3.6 ypc
RUN TYPE BREAKDOWN--46 attempts
counter/trap--2 (4%) for 9 yards--4.5 ypc
draw--12 (26%) for 50 yards--4.2 ypc
sweep--1 (2%) for 1 yard--1.0 ypc
base/iso--9 (20%) for 15 yards 1 TD--1.7 ypc
end around--1 for -8 yards--(-8.0) ypc
power--0 (0%) for 0 yards
QB scramble/run--6 (13%) for 34 yards 1 TD--5.7 ypc
option (QB and HB)--11 (24%) for 70 yards 1 TD--6.4 ypc
stretch--4 (9%) for 6 yards--1.5 ypc
Other Stats of Note
* 2 offensive penalties for the game
* OSU started on SDSU side of 50 four times--24 points
* 4 for 6 in red zone scoring (3 TD, 1 FG)
* 43 of 82 plays were on SDSU side of 50 (52%)
*20 of 82 plays went for no gain or loss (24%)
* no sacks and 1 turnover (interception)
* 61 out of 82 plays had 3 or more WR's lined up (74%)
* 13 of those 61 plays ended with the ball in a WR's hands (21%)
Looking at the statistics above, it doesn't seem like there would be anything to be disappointed about. The offense put up nearly 400 yards of offense. It completed 64% of its passes. It converted better than 50% of their third down attempts. It put the ball in the end zone when the defense or special teams put the offense on a short field. So why do we and many other fans feel disappointment in the offense this week?
We spent a good deal of time from the end of the game up to this writing thinking about that, and came up with as clear a picture as we can muster. We think the majority of Ohio State fans are wondering "Is this as good as it's going to get?". We see a team loaded with talent at the skill positions. We see a couple of quarterbacks beginning their fourth year in this program. We see a defense that could possibly be the best in the country. How does a team with all of these things struggle to put 27 points on the board against a team that hasn't been able to stop anyone all year?
Ohio State could've and probably should've beaten San Diego State by at least 50 points on Saturday. The teams were seperated by at least that much on mere talent alone. It was evident from San Diego State's second snap on that they weren't going to be able to do much with the ball, yet they were able to hang around in much the same way Texas was allowed to hang around the week before until deep into the second half, when a fumble on the 1 yard line allowed Ohio State to finally put the game away.
What is the problem? Why does it seem as if the Buckeyes are getting the absolute minimum of production from the multitude of offensive weapons they are able to put on the field? This is the $50,000 question that no one seems to be able to answer, but we're going to give it a shot.
The reasons for Ohio State's offensive struggles are very complex. Any answer has to begin and end with the guy at the top of the food chain. Ultimately, it is Jim Tressel's responsibility to get the most out of his players every play, drive, game, and season. If he's unable to do that, the blame for it ultimately has to rest with him.
Last season, we pointed out that Jim Tressel has often stated that the offense has certain goals that they would like to obtain on an average weekly basis. We also pointed out that they have not once reached all of those goals in the same game since Tressel took over as head coach of the Buckeyes. That still holds true. Assuming that he didn't set those goals with no intention of ever reaching them, you also have to assume that Tressel is just as unhappy with his offense's lack of production as the fans are.
Now that we are a little more than 4 seasons into the Jim Tressel era at Ohio State, his basic philosophy has become clear. He is more likely to try to win games with defense and special teams than simply outscoring opponents with his offense. There's nothing wrong with that philosophy, especially if a team is lacking in offensive talent. It won a national championship for Ohio State in 2002 (as well as several other times during the Woody Hayes era). The trouble is, it doesn't seem that Ohio State is lacking in offensive talent.
So the question breaks itself down to: If talent is not the issue, is it playcalling? Personnel choices? Scheme? Execution? Player development?
It's a little bit of all of those things in our humble opinion. Some more than others. The coaches have said in the past that Ohio State will not have a set scheme. They stress that they will change the offense to suit what personnel they have. The coaches have obviously lived up to their word on this. The offense has evolved into something new every season under Tressel, with each season seemingly putting his best weapons out on the field. Ohio State's offensive strengths lie in their wide receivers this season, and we are seeing three and four wide receivers sets about 75% of the time.
Execution has been a major problem in a couple of the seasons in the Tressel era, but doesn't seem to be as big of a problem this season. There have been occasional breakdowns on the line and in route-running, but for the most part, outside of the quarterback position, there has been good execution from the players. Quarterback is a whole other issue that will be addressed further later.
Personnel choices for the most part have been good as well in the Tressel era. There hasn't been a lot of second guessing for most positions except, again, the quarterback position. Outside of that position, I don't think there is much doubt that Ohio State had their best offensive weapons on the field.
So what does that leave as the major issues? Playcalling, player development, and the Quarterback position.
When it comes to playcalling, there is no way that the coaches call plays with the expectation that it will not succeed. While this may be true, it also doesn't seem as if they coaches put the players in the best position for them to succeed with the plays they call. The offensive playcalling doesn't seem to have a rhyme or reason on continuity to it. There are few plays that look to be set up by previous plays with the same look. There doesn't seem to be a plan in the way the games are called. It seems that the offense is continually searching to find something that works against the defense instead of the defense searching for a way to stop what Ohio State is doing.
While I like that the Buckeyes have decided to maximize on the number of talented wide receivers they have on the roster with their formation choices and a spread offense, it seems they are doing very little to maximize the effectiveness of those weapons by stretching the field horizontally and vertically and trying to get the ball to those weapons in space. In some cases, it seems they are struggling to even get the ball to those weapons at all. This ties directly into the next major issue behind the struggles of the Ohio State offense, the Quarterback position.
Aside from one game, Ohio State has not gotten spectacular play out of the quarterback position in the entire Jim Tressel era. I think it would best be described as adaquate, no more and no less. In the past, I would say that it was more due to the fact that the Buckeyes didn't have a great quarterback on the roster. I don't feel that is the case anymore. Justin Zwick and Troy Smith are both former Elite 11 quarterbacks and, although they bring different things to the table, both look like they could be significantly above average quarterbacks in their own way.
Neither one of them seem to be living up to that potential. While Justin Zwick has shown significant improvement so far this season, it doesn't seem like he has done enough to reclaim the starting position in the coach's eyes. Troy Smith on the other hand, showed a huge amount of potential in the win over Michigan last season, but it seems as if that potential remains locked up and his development as a passer has been painfully slow. He's making some of the same mistakes in the passing game he was making from the start when it comes to reading defenses and going through progressions.
That brings us to player development. Take a hard look at who is on the field when the Buckeyes are on offense. It is clear that there is a lot of potential on the field at every position. That potential never really seems to be developed into a full blown weapon. That doesn't really speak well for the offensive coaching staff.
Think of the offense this season. There have been flashes of potential from every player on the offensive side of the ball, but no one that you can really say is a star, outside of possibly Santonio Holmes. Every one of the rest of those players have one game you can point back to as "proof" that they could be a great player. Troy Smith has Michigan. Ted Ginn has Michigan State. Anthony Gonzalez has his breakout end of last season, culminating in the Michigan game. Antonio Pittman looked strong against Indiana last season (doesn't everyone?). The line as a whole looked impressive against Miami (OH) earlier this year.
There have been flashes, but none of those players have turned in consistantly good performances week after week, and we as fans are left remembering back to those great games when we think of the potential this offense presents. There is no reason why Ohio State shouldn't be putting up at least 40 points per game with the talent they have, but it's up to the coaches to develop that talent and put it to it's best use out on the field for that to happen.
As for the game against San Diego State, there were several disturbing things out of the offense this week. One thing was the lack of a consistant running game outside of Troy Smith running with the ball. It was obvious that Antonio Pittman's knee was still bothering him. He wasn't cutting as well or running with the same power and decisiveness he ran with the first two games. Equally obvious and more disturbing was something else that I noticed while watching the game on Saturday. I decided to test myself on it when I rewatched the game to break it down.
Ohio State lined up in the shotgun 48 times with Troy Smith in at quarterback. On those plays, we were able to correctly guess whether Ohio State was going to run or pass the ball 44 out of those 48 plays simply by where the halfback was lined up in relation to the quarterback. Ifwe I were able to do this from watching television, there is little doubt opposing coaches are going to notice the same thing. This is something that needs to be addressed and either changed or taken advantage of later by the coaching staff (or at least noticed).
Anyone that frequents the message board on this site knows well what my opinion of Troy Smith's abilities are. For those of you that choose not to look in on the excitement that is a public message board, here's what I think in a nutshell. He has excellent running ability, but has some real weaknesses when it comes to the passing game. I don't feel that he reads defenses very well after the snap, fails to look off opposing safeties, tends to lock onto his primary receiver for too long, and doesn't go through progressions before he decides to take off with the ball.
These weaknesses are going to be more pronounced in the type of passing game Ohio State is using this season. It requires Smith to be a type of quarterback that he just isn't. Instead of running pass plays where he is going to have to read the defense and find the open man, they should be running pass plays designed with the specific purpose of getting a man open. A subtle difference, but one that would probably help Troy look better in the passing game, and make his decision to run easier and probably quicker.
