I remember our D being especially successful when we had great DBs who could play man and press at the line often. This would free up the LBs and safeties to blitz more often, and it worked very well.
Why don't we do this now? Are Roby and Howard not physical enough? Not technically sound enough to stay in good position with good receivers when pressing? Or are the DC's just more conservative by nature?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Uhm... Not sure where you've been, but we played a soft zone even when we had Tressel.
I had a notion to call in on the Meyer call in show and ask what his philosophy is on defense. He has already mentioned he wants pressure on the q.b. so my question at this point is what does he prefer as far as the db's go. Does he want man press with zone for spread teams? Or does he want a zone with man sprinkled in?
We know Howard can't cover..Roby seems good enough for press coverage though. We've seemed to play soft coverage for the most part for as long as I can remember.
Run_Fido's favorite word is strawman.
I believe Ross' latest article observed that we played more man than usual last game to go with our blitzing, and our LBs and safeties got burnt several times. We probably have the corners to press, but if our LBs and safeties struggle to cover then we would get ripped to shreds.
When Urban took over he said his corners would play 7-10 yards off and read the qb to create more ints. But it doesnt seem that is happening. I remember reading that somewhere when he took over and I was a little dissapointed.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1312225-ohio-state-football-what-to-expect-from-the-buckeyes-opener-under-urban-meyer
My guess is that part of the reason is to prepare for games later in the season as well as the future. They want to play aggressively, yet also be effective against athletic QBs. In theory, an aggressive "cover 4" is a good way to accomplish both goals.
In the Big Ten this year, they'll face Taylor Martinez, they thought Roberson (but he got injured), Purdue's QBs (Marve injured), Scheelhaus, and obviously Denard. It's a bad idea to play man against Denard.
When I was a small boy, I listened as my Grandfather shouted strange words at the television when opposing teams caught passes against the buckeyes. Many times I can recall my Father turning the television off after a busted coverage by tOSU defense; only to get up seconds later, walk to the t.v., and turn it back on. I'm pleased to say that I carry on these proud family traditions today, and hope to pass them on to my own son. The appearant "bend don't break" coverage philosophy that seems to be ingrained at tOSU has brought my family years of "bonding" through anxiety, frustration, and hostility. Please Luke, don't ruin my saturdays. Continue to give up the slant, the flat, short curls, quick out, etc. It is a family tradition.
An angry fan...rooting for an angry team...led by angry coaches
Thanks to Luke and tOSU defense for keeping the tradition alive and well
An angry fan...rooting for an angry team...led by angry coaches
Well when we did play press so far this year we got burned so I would think that would be the reason. They probably just don't trust the safeties any so they figure that an easy 5 yards is better than an easy 80.
a 5 yard dink pass can turn into 10, 20, 80 yard gains very easily against our D becasue we can not tackle for crap and it doesnt matter if we dont give up the big plays because they will just drive down the field with short passes, eat up the clock, and score... this style of D will get us beat a few times this year.
The worst thing yesterday was they continued to play soft even as the wind blew. I was not at the game but was watching outside and the wind was crazy, there was little chance of getting torched deep in that wind.