So I was thinking after watching the game and seeing Indiana expose our defense how we could adjust and be effective with the personnel we have and get our best 11 on the field. My conclusion was a 3-4 similar to the Packers defense. Use Hankins and Simon as the primary ends/tackles with Bennett as a sub and Goebel as our NT. Spence and Williams as OLB like a Clay Matthews type that can be brought up in a 3 point stance if we want to almost give it a 5-2 look for short yardage situations. Have Boren/ Grant/ Klein play one MLB and the other one use Shazier with the option to rotate Shazier as an OLB as well. Out of this use a variety of blitzes to create a pass rush, stop the run, and tighten up coverage to help the blitzes be effective. Any thoughts?
Boren/Grant/ Klein Shazier
Williams Spence
Simon Goebel Hankins
I think you might see something similar but technically out of the unbalanced 4-3.
no... to play a tru 34 defense we would have to change our entire defensive philosophy...which is hard to do mid season...our base is a 43 under front..meaning we are prodominatley a 1 gap defense....34 requires 2 gap players up front...this will limit the production of guys like simon and hank..theyll get doubled more often and will have less 1on1 oppurtunites..they are too good to be just space eaters......and this is completely different from what we are acustomed of doing for the past ...idk....10 seasons..... the scheme isnt the problem...the problem from what i can see is players are not as fundementally sound as years past...and 2 get lazy and lose focus....these group of defenders arent as discipline as the guys from the past ala laurinits/hawk...the only thing i really would change as far as schemes goes is play more press technique on the outside like we use to do under tress
Brutus is........The People's Champ!!!!
Did we really play much press coverage under Tressel?
Not an expert on defensive schemes but seems to me Ohio states problem started a couple of years ago when we started switching to more of a nickel package with someone playing the star position. I understand trying to make adjustments for spread teams but let's stick with a 4-3 and just put the 3 fastest linebackers on the field and play more press coverage.
rewatch that arkansas game for starters...then come back to me and tell me how much press cov we played...theres a reason why tress would start 6'1 200 pound corners...i havent seen our corners press not once this year
Brutus is........The People's Champ!!!!
We already have a problem with getting 3 linebackers out there. Let alone 4, but the idea sounds a bit exciting. I think 4-3 defenses are better for college football though.
It's 5 o'clock somewhere, & Michigan still sucks
^^Agree!
"Did you push yourself to be great today? If you didn't do it you lost a day. We ain't got many days to lose. We're going to push your a$$ like its never been pushed because what you've got in you were going to find out" UFM
@ Buckeye beast the idea was to get our best 11 guys out there and creating 2 stand up end/ OLB position would be the ideal way to get our best 11 out there. I wouldn't necessarly say 4-3 are better for college football Bama seems to be doing just fine with a 3-4. Again it was just a thought with our depth issues and people trying to figure out how to get Spence and Williams out there at the same time
What I was saying was we continue to play our 4-3 under with Nathan Williams as the OLB on the line of scrimmage (SAM) and Spence at Viper on the other side with Simon as a 5 technique end. Or you could keep Simon at Viper and put Spence at 5 technique if Spence can't handle the responsibilities on the weak side.
^ not a bad idea either I feel like were almost saying the same thing your just calling it an unbalanced 4-3 and I'm calling it a 3-4
Not sure what you want to call that defense but those are the 7 I want to see starting and getting the most snaps
This certainly was the next logical step in criticism for the D-"Scrap the whole thing and put in a new scheme". If I can nerd out a bit-I am a huge 3-4 buff. I LOVE the defense and patiently await the days until my beloved Chicago Bears switch to it.
First and foremost, switching to it now is a recipe for disaster. Few teams at the professional level can adjust to it from a base 4-3 over the course of an off season, let alone amatuers doing it mid season.
The whole point of Marotti's regime was to streamline the players and make them faster-sort of throws the principles of a 3-4 out. Hankins would be your ideal 3-4 nose, but is probably 30 pounds light for the spot. You build the defense from the inside out-DT, MLB's, and SS all have to be really solid. OSU can't find one MLB, let alone 2.
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
We play a hybrid defense. We won't have to change scheme just put Williams at 9 technique rather than 5. Look at ross's msu breakdown and put Williams at sabino's spot. And with Williams and shaziers athleticism I don't think we should play as much nickel. Just mix it up dropping 8 some and blitzing.
We're starting a FB at MLB...and Shazier...who else are you going to play there?
Plus, Purdue doesn't run a spread. It won't be a big deal this week (hopefully lol).
All this LB talk reminds me that the defense could have Trey DePriest and Jordan Hicks in it. Love me some Tressel, but those misses in recruiting are even more glaring now.
VasanthAnanth I didn't even think about Hicks and Depriest they'd be looking real good right now
If I remember correctly we missed on Hicks but picked up Shazier. When Depriest went south Grant came north and was rated higher in the national recruiting services. Has anyone watched Texas play this year. I've them a couple of times and I think Hicks isn't getting much playing time. In addition their defense sucks.
I for one would like to see Simon back in the inside. I don't think his talent is well served as a DE. With his strength and quickness he'd probably blow by slower guards and be chasing the QB before they could hand off the ball or drop back to pass. Moving him back to DT would put someone like Spence or Moore on the outside to use their speed to stretch runs and blindside QB's.
jerryt-go bucks
The reason Simon hasn't been doing well is he's been getting double teamed every play. Nebraska got cocky on him and put the tackles in a 1 on 1 matchup vs him for most of the game and he had 5 TFL. I will admit he has missed a few tackles but he's been very disruptive
Just to clear up a couple things:
Purdue does run a version of the spread,
We already run a 3-4 package for some portion of almost every game (and we may run more of it this week for the very reasons that have been touched on).
"The revolution will be televised."
Watched a few plays from this video, not the whole thing but from what I saw only one of these plays looks like press coverage to me and it was a running play. Again, didn't watch every play from this video.
I know Meyer had a multiple defense at Florida. 3-4 would be nice, but I perfer 4-3.
@Jerry Hicks has been out the last three games with an injury thats why you haven't seen him
If we had a coaching staff that could teach and instill the 3-4 effectively that would be great, but that is not something easily done during the season. It's not as easy as people think trying to get a defense to work, especially if it is one you haven't coached / ran before.
JT
Dear god, Cam Heyward and Devon Torrence played lights out in that Sugar Bowl. That game happened, I don't care what the record books say.
@Brewster, right on about needing 2 solid ILB's for the 34. The 34 would also turn Shazier into a man without a position.
Sadly, I don't think moving Williams over to Sabino's Sam spot is going to even begin to solve any of our problems. As of right now, Williams is our best (only?) pass rusher, with limited coverage ability. I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense to move him to a position with more coverage responsibility and less pass rushing. FWIW It also doesn't seem clear that spence is one of our best 11 right now.
edit: Just to add, look at the struggles we've had installing a new coverage with a full offseason and preseaon. Changing fronts means new alignments, new language, new techniques, new reads, etc. Its just not do-able.
Agree with many above about the lack of LBs....in order to play a 3-4 you have to more than OSU does. Healthy and plentiful LB's...not at the moment. Spence is a DE...not LB. He could play there but he's not truly ready for DE let alone switching to a new position.
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."
"I love football. I think it is most wonderful game in world and I despise to lose."
Woody Hayes 1913 - 1987
I don't think changing to a 34, at least not right now, is a good idea. Plus I would hate for Spence to become an OLB. That would mean on occassion he would have to drop back in coverage and Spence is not a coverage guy. Not to mention he is the future pass rush stud, why would you put the #1 pass rusher in a position that could take him out of that. No.
I think Williams could be moved back to SAM. He won't replace Sabino but he sure as heck couldn't do worst than what has been the replacement. With that said, Perry wasn't out there last week and he didn't do horribly against Nebraska.
I think this would be more to my liking,
Williams Klein/Boren Shazier
Spence Goebel Hankins Simon
With Williams and Spence they could tag team the tackle with one going outside, one going inside or vice versa. That would be tough to stop both of them. Williams is much better at dropping into coverage (not awesome but better) and he is pretty good at sniffing out the screens. Plus this would get 4 great pass rushers on the field together.
Truly I just think that the Mike needs to get some leadership and do some presnap reads!