good find by highlander133 on BN
The Blue-Gray Sky blog
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
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Four Plays, the Conclusion | by Jay
We've seen
the Bomb,
the Reverse, and
the Play-Action. This brings us to the final nail in the coffin for the Fiesta Bowl: Antonio Pittman's 60-yard run off tackle for a touchdown with less than two minutes left in the game. A punch in the stomach that expelled our last breath of hope, it iced the win for the Buckeyes and sent us home empty-handed (yet again) after a bowl game.
The thing that really kills you about this touchdown is that despite being outplayed all day by the Bucks, the Irish were still only down by seven, and were in a remarkably good position to get the ball back and maybe get a chance to take it to overtime. On this series we had bottled up Pittman on first down, then sacked Troy Smith for a three yard loss. So it's third and eleven on the OSU 25, and we get a great pass rush (sans blitz), and Talley has his hands on Smith, and it's gonna be a sack, and they're gonna have to punt --
and we're gonna get the ball back only down by seven with two minutes to go in the game! -- and Smith spins and squirts out of the pocket and somehow finds Anthony Gonzalez down the right line for fifteen yards. And a first down.
Now the ball's on the OSU 40, with 1:58 left and the score still 27-20:
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</td> <td style="vertical-align: top;">OSU sets up with 2 backs in an I-formation, White (89) as the FB and Pittman (25) as the TB; and 2 WR, Ginn (7) split wide left and Holmes (4) in the slot left.
We've got our base 4-3 package in with all three linebackers. Our two corners are deep and Ndukwe (18) is playing up. Hoyte (39) is showing blitz.
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</td> <td style="vertical-align: top;">Here's a closer pre-snap read with Hoyte creeping up. Talley (99) is the DE on this side.
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</td> <td style="vertical-align: top;">At the snap Hoyte blitzes, as does Ndukwe from the safety position. With so little time left in the game, it's clear we're hellbent on making something happen. We're desperate to get the ball back so we blitz two men.
</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="vertical-align: top;">
</td> <td style="vertical-align: top;">The play goes away from Hoyte, so he's negated. The FB White draws a bead on the blitzing Ndukwe.
Talley has crashed inside instead of engaging the LT Datish; was there some kind of defensive line stunt we were hoping to execute here?
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</td> <td style="vertical-align: top;">White ties up Ndukwe. Here you can also see Talley, Landri and Laws all bunched up in the middle, while Datish (50) is free to move to the second level of the defense.
</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="vertical-align: top;">
</td> <td style="vertical-align: top;">Datish picks up Crum while Ginn and Holmes will take out our corners. It's completely wide open on the left side: Ndukwe blitzed, Talley crashed inside, and Crum has been sealed off.
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</td> <td style="vertical-align: top;">Mays is the only guy unblocked and he takes a nice angle, but he's coming from the middle and can't run down Pittman.
Holmes engages Richardson, hand-fighting as Richardson tries to shed the block.
</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="vertical-align: top;">
</td> <td style="vertical-align: top;">Pittman outruns Mays while Crum and Richardson are held up.
</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="vertical-align: top;">
</td> <td style="vertical-align: top;">And finally here's Ginn fighting off Wooden, while Holmes gets a last shove in on Richardson. Pittman pops through the hole.
</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="vertical-align: top;">
</td> <td style="vertical-align: top;">Once he's past the corners, it's nothing but daylight for Pittman.
</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="vertical-align: top;">
</td> <td style="vertical-align: top;">Touchdown Buckeyes.
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
And here's the
video.
Unlike the other three touchdowns we've looked at, there is absolutely nothing fancy about this play call. Ohio State is playing ball control on offense at this point in the game and is simply trying to run down the clock, and what they call is a staple running play: hand the ball to Pittman and let him run left. Yet we're caught in a first-down blitz, and once again the Buckeyes prove adept at blocking downfield. A simple run that our defense would usually stop cold instead turns into a 60-yard romp, and the game is effectively over.
As for our defense, this is a tough play to analyze without knowing the details of how exactly it was drawn up. Was Talley supposed to make an inside move? And if so, was another DL or one of the linebackers supposed to fill the gap on that side? How about Ndukwe: is he supposed to engage the FB if they run right at his blitz, and let someone else fill the gap? Finally, are we sure everyone stuck to his assignment, or did desperation creep in in an effort to force a turnover?
There's no question that our backs were up against the wall, and there was still a sliver of a chance to tie (and possibly win) the game. We just needed the ball back, and much like pulling a goalie in hockey, we sold out, bet big on a double blitz and got burned. That happens. Sometimes you roll the dice, and sometimes you roll snake eyes.
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Antonio Pittman [/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Pittman was slowed some this spring with a hamstring problem, but now says his hamstring is 100 per cent healthy. He worked dilegently this summer doing the things that will make him better, and says that the time he missed in spring practice did not really set him back as much as it may have, because despite his limited physical participation in spring drills, he did everything he could to continue to get better.
