OSU Analysis Thread...

B1GTide said:

We brought in Ash, who runs a 4-3 Over, Quarters defense very similar to the MSU defense. Our secondary plays close to the LOS, tries to make contact with the receivers on every play, and we then switch off as the routes mature. We play almost no man defense. This is a defense that the QB has to have time to read, so we will need to get some pressure on Sims to disrupt that. The quick screen is a dangerous pass against our defense - dangerous for the QB.

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That what I thought. Good thing about the long layoff is that we can focus on some c-3 and c-4 beaters. I've read a bit about what y'all do on another board before this was even a matchup. I was impressed from a schematic level because it is pretty sound against a lot of things assuming the DBs and LBs make their reads. In a sense, very similar to our defense where a great deal is put on the defenders reading the same keys and adjusting to the routes. Of course, Alabama is more about cover-1 robber and 3-3 zone blitz.

And don't let BigTide fool you. They will play zone almost every "regular situation" down but this is not to say that they sit back and drop 7 into coverage. They have a pretty comprehensive blitz package. Not as thick as the Alabama playbook but they fit against their typical coverages well.

B1GTide said:

They will do neither unless they decide to play man, and they won't.

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They did it with Lippett against MSU. Grant shadowed him all night. But Cooper is another animal

bamaga said:

I tried to go to 11W. But found several similar comments to the one I will share. I guess if their vocabulary is limited, and lack the ability to make an intelligent retort. They result to ignorance.



Yessir, I figur'in we jest toothless drunks!!!

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Try Buckeyeplanet.com

rgw said:

Didn't Indiana look pretty solid early but have a calamity of injuries that derailed potential for a decent-ish Minnesota type season?

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Indiana had a fourth and long in the last minute of the game, the pass was incomplete, but a ticky tack PI bailed out the Hoosiers . They went on to score. You can hang your hat on that game I guess, but it wasn't much different than TCU / Kansas or Nebraska/ Mcneese state except the heavily favored teams made plays in the last minute to win.

This is for all the Buckeye faithful...

I don't follow the Big 10 that close. I do follow the SEC. If you want to try to use the transitive property with the SEC don't. You can crumple that logic like unwanted paper and throw it in the trash can. It doesn't apply. What one team does to another most often has ZERO to predicting games. It is very much like the NFL in that matchups are what your focus needs to be on.

Just giving you a heads up on some of the strategies you might want to use to convince yourself the acorns stand a chance against the Tide

Transitive property is a joke. They have websites for it. What matters is Alabama's players and schemes v. Ohio State's players and schemes. All the other stuff is for the fans and alumni of each program trying to read tea leaves.

I think the MSU game is a good one to look at for tape on how Alabama will try to defend the Buckeyes. There are some differences in personnel, of course, but philosophically you can find some themes in what MSU does and how Alabama reacts. I bet Mullen and Meyer are going to have some chats if they haven't already. I will say that Alabama defended the deep pass as good as they have all season in that game. Prescott seems like a similar type of player to Jones too. Dak may have a bit more get up and go but similar nonetheless. Anyway, Mullen clawed back in with more short passing concepts predicated on overloading an area then clearing it out. Dak made some clutch runs too.

Ohio State isn't a clone of MSU though...and I'd just assume there is no way that State compares athletically. Their RB is a different kind of back. Robinson was more of little bowling ball that could dart around but get through contact. Elliot is closer to Yeldon...his moves are reminiscent of our guy too. They've gelled on the OL late in this season, so I think we should be able to limit the run but they aren't likely to abandon it. If Jones is more containable on the ZR then that will definitely help.

I know this is an analysis thread....but I was overcome with emotion on reading about Meyer/OSU players and their relationship with Jacob Jarvis. He is a little boy with muscular dystrophy....his brother has it as well.


Here is a great video to show the type of team we are playing. Total class.








There is another video I just saw on twitter called "The journey- Jacob Jarvis" but I can't figure out how to link it here. Worth the watch.

I hope 'The Ohio State University' keeps in mind what a 'Bad Team' they seem to believe we are. I want em to concentrate on every bad game we ever played, and prepare for a walk over on us. (They think they are that good, and we are that bad)

Meanwhile we will prepare for them, and prepare to play our best...
(Guess that is why we are a double digit favorite over the 'Nutts' from Ohio)

Somebody take out more Insurance on Urban in case he can't take it AGAIN...

B1GTide said:

There was a time, early in the season, when a team like Ole Miss or Arkansas could really limit your offense by playing zone and assigning an extra safety to Cooper. Sims really struggled reading zone defenses early in the season. It took him much longer to go through his progressions. But both Auburn and Mizzou played zone almost exclusively and Sims/Cooper torched them. Sims has it figured out and it is no longer a weakness. If there is a weakness in Alabama's offense this year, it is in your ability to run the ball between the tackles. That is it. Not sure how Meyer will turn that into something that could beat you. IMO, the Buckeye's only chance in this game is to outscore Alabama - win in a 42-35 type game. I just don't think that we will be able to beat Alabama in a low scoring game.

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I'll add our other weaknesses are kicking FG's and defending deep balls. If OSU can limit Cooper, While stuffing the run, and forcing FG's in the Redzone then you guys have a very good chance to win.

We have to score TD's in the Redzone in the next 2 games or we are toast. I'm for going for it on 4th down everytime once we reach the opposing teams 35-40 yrd line...otherwise punt.

Also when we give up huge plays we have to tackle you before giving up a TD and then holding you to FG try's.

That has become our path to victory lately. We are being forced to win Redzone battles on both sides of the ball.

B1GTide said:

They will do neither unless they decide to play man, and they won't.

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Not sure about that B1G.....watch the MSU game, they departed from script by having Grant follow Lippet all over the field and largely shut him down. Wouldn't be surprised to see them do something very similar......Sparty's offense reminds me alot of Bama's - in the sense that they have good balance, strong running game with solid QB play and a great WR on the outside.

Tbux said:

Not sure about that B1G.....watch the MSU game, they departed from script by having Grant follow Lippet all over the field and largely shut him down. Wouldn't be surprised to see them do something very similar......Sparty's offense reminds me alot of Bama's - in the sense that they have good balance, strong running game with solid QB play and a great WR on the outside.

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I agree, but remember what it cost us - we gave up 358 yards in the air in that game, and not because they just threw the ball. They also ran the ball 34 times for 178 yards. That was our worst defensive proformance this season. We won because of our offense, not our defense.

Ole Man Dan said:

I hope 'The Ohio State University' keeps in mind what a 'Bad Team' they seem to believe we are. I want em to concentrate on every bad game we ever played, and prepare for a walk over on us. (They think they are that good, and we are that bad)

Meanwhile we will prepare for them, and prepare to play our best...
(Guess that is why we are a double digit favorite over the 'Nutts' from Ohio)

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I'm not sure who your sources are but I don't think any sane person in the country thinks Bama is a bad team. And certainly no team goes into a game against Bama/Saban expecting to walk over them. Urban knows better

B1GTide said:

I agree, but remember what it cost us - we gave up 358 yards in the air in that game, and not because they just threw the ball. They also ran the ball 34 times for 178 yards. That was our worst defensive proformance this season. We won because of our offense, not our defense.

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A lot of the passing yards were in garbage time. We played well against the pass overall that game, but Langford shredded us on the ground. I'd rather not see that again

BuckeyeAlumnus said:

A lot of the passing yards were in garbage time. We played well against the pass overall that game, but Langford shredded us on the ground. I'd rather not see that again

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In the first half, they destroyed us on the ground. In the second half, they destroyed us in the air. Nothing positive to take away from that defensive effort. We gave up over 500 yards and 37 points, and that was not a result of slacking off with a big lead in the 4th. They moved the ball on us at will the entire game. Had the defense played like that the entire season, we would have many more losses. If we play man against Alabama, we will get crushed.

B1GTide said:

I agree, but remember what it cost us - we gave up 358 yards in the air in that game, and not because they just threw the ball. They also ran the ball 34 times for 178 yards. That was our worst defensive proformance this season. We won because of our offense, not our defense.

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What is cost us? Help me out here bucky Are you pulling for Bama or OS on January 1? After a season of reading your comments for Alabama, I need to now adjust my lens depending on who you are rooting for. If you tell me all you want is a good game I'll ignore you until the cows come home!

B1GTide said:

In the first half, they destroyed us on the ground. In the second half, they destroyed us in the air. Nothing positive to take away from that defensive effort. We gave up over 500 yards and 37 points, and that was not a result of slacking off with a big lead in the 4th. They moved the ball on us at will the entire game. Had the defense played like that the entire season, we would have many more losses. If we play man against Alabama, we will get crushed.

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Gotta disagree B1G...take a closer look. Cook was 25-45 for 358 and Lippet had 5 catches for 64 yards. Looking at the drive charts, of those yards, more than half - 183 - came in the 4th qtr after MSU was down 3 TD's and the game no longer in doubt. Cook was 14-19 for 183 yards in garbage time and Lippet had 3 catches for 39 yards.

That means that through 3 qtrs when the game was on the line, Cook was 11 of 26 for 165 yards and Lippet had 2 catches for 25 yards. Clearly we took Lippet out of the game and Cook struggled.....don't get me wrong, Lippet is no Cooper - there aren't many of those guys around - but he is a fine receiver that will play on Sunday and Cook is an excellent QB and is quite comparable to Sims. I wouldn't be surprised to see Grant follow Cooper all over the field ala Lippet.....the test will then be can our front 7 handle the running game without putting a safety in the box.....I'm not sure, but I'm sure you'll see it or some derivative.....

Umm not sure if I agree with this, but I would need to see the link to whom what you're talkinga bout.

Tbux said:

Gotta disagree B1G...take a closer look. Cook was 25-45 for 358 and Lippet had 5 catches for 64 yards. Looking at the drive charts, of those yards, more than half - 183 - came in the 4th qtr after MSU was down 3 TD's and the game no longer in doubt. Cook was 14-19 for 183 yards in garbage time and Lippet had 3 catches for 39 yards.

That means that through 3 qtrs when the game was on the line, Cook was 11 of 26 for 165 yards and Lippet had 2 catches for 25 yards. Clearly we took Lippet out of the game and Cook struggled.....don't get me wrong, Lippet is no Cooper - there aren't many of those guys around - but he is a fine receiver that will play on Sunday and Cook is an excellent QB and is quite comparable to Sims. I wouldn't be surprised to see Grant follow Cooper all over the field ala Lippet.....the test will then be can our front 7 handle the running game without putting a safety in the box.....I'm not sure, but I'm sure you'll see it or some derivative.....

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VirginiaTide57 said:

What is cost us? Help me out here bucky Are you pulling for Bama or OS on January 1? After a season of reading your comments for Alabama, I need to now adjust my lens depending on who you are rooting for. If you tell me all you want is a good game I'll ignore you until the cows come home!

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I have tried to make myself clear since the day that I joined - I love Alabama football, but I went to OSU and am a Buckeye through and through. My love for Alabama comes from my wife's side of the family - particularly her father, whom I love dearly and have missed every day since his passing.

We are a split family - my side all Buckeyes, her side all Crimson & White. Most of us have learned to love them both. But on 1/1/15, for about 4 hours, there will be room in my heart for only one team - OSU.