Hello all, I rewatched every snap the defense played against IU, out of morbid curiousity to see exactly what is ailing this defense. I paid particular attention to how Zach Boren did at LB vs. Storm Klein, and how Noah Spence did in general. Observations below - please keep in mind that I'm not a real football coach, I just play one on TV.
- Noah Spence should be playing every snap. I'm not sure why he isn't. He didn't fill up the stat sheet, but he was disrupting plays, and was generally very active at DE. You have to wonder if our best D-Line rotation isn't Nate Williams at Leo, Spence at SDE, and Simon and Hankins at tackles. At least on passing downs.
- Zach Boren shows better lateral quickness than Klein.....he moves his feet well. Even after 1 week of practice, I think he takes better angles than Storm. In space, any RB/WR can juke Klein out of his shoes.
- There were times when IU played hurry up, and the Buckeyes simply couldn't get set and lined up on time. I think this has much to do with what the coaches said about "leadership" at the MLB spot.
- Generally, the linebackers didn't play as bad as I initially thought in pass defense. To the contrary, I think Coach Coombs may have made a fatal mistake in having our secondary play so deep......this is leaving the linebackers out on islands, so to speak. They say in basketball that "spacing" is extremely important, as you don't want your players too bunched in, nor too spread out. It seems like the secondary is so deep that our linebackers are put in situations they can't succeed, there is too much grass around them that allows the underneath receiver to make a move and gain YAC. Time after time, the IU QB consistently found open receivers behind the linebackers, in front of the safeties on in-routes/post routes of intermediate length.
- Related to #4 above......in past years, our corners seemed to lock on visually onto their primary receiver, which allowed them to keep decent coverage with them down the field (this is where you are reminded of Chimdi Chekwa running neck and neck on a fly route with a wide receiver, not looking back, and the receiver making the catch even though Chekwa had blanket coverage). This was sometimes infuriating, but it seemed to work more than it failed, as it would require a perfect throw by the QB and excellent concentration by the WR to overcome. This year it seems totally different....the cornerbacks and safeties are locked onto the QB's eyes, keep everything ahead of them, and because they are at least 7 yards (if not 10) off the receiver, give up too much of a cushion. And if the QB makes a decent throw, the receiver is always open. I think the biggest coaching loss this past year was Taver Johnson.....he is considered one of the best secondary coaches in the country, and I'm wondering if Coombs needs to re-think his philosophy. Lather, rinse, repeat.....
There was an interesting post on this forum about how teams have broken their tendencies to pass more against OSU than they have against other teams (by a wide margin). They've clearly found certain flaws in our pass defense and done a good job in exploiting them. Hope Meyer tells the defensive coaches what's what.
^ good post. Still find it hard to believe Boren is our best choice, I understand the leadership thing, but it doesn't help our future.
Excellent observations! I have been troubled by the large cushion given to opposing receivers. This allows for the quick pass, making it difficult to get to the QB for sacks.
Buckeye in PA purgatory
Great observations. I didn't pay much attention to Boren during the game, but he just seems like a natural leader. I'll be sure to pay more attention to him this week.
I think a huge part of our problem against IU was the hurry up offense. The defense had trouble getting set, Coffman got passes off very quickly to open receivers (due to the cushion you mentioned above), and because of that we weren't able to get ANY pressure on him.
I'm just ready to put the IU game behind us and work the other team from Indiana this week. Nice post.
"As long as we're keeping score, we're gonna try to win this thing." - UFM
I thought Boren Played great all things considered. I may be completely wrong but I think we should be using this year to get Grant Ready. I know he isn't playing well but he needs to see time to develop.
"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
The one thing I noticed was as soon as Joel Hale entered the game (and perhaps Bennett was on the same side) they were able to exploit that side of our defensive line... And I believe points were involved. I see on their depth chart that behind Big Hank is Diesel W., then Tommy Schutt (where has he been, btw, Mr. Start the Second Game?). Perhaps one of these guys could be Goebel's backup? I'm really interested to see if anyone followed the play of Goebel, then his backup... I agree w/ the OP, his D-line line-up might be a little on the small side w/ Simon playing tackle (which I think he's done before), but he hasn't been getting much pressure in the backfield and perhaps would be better served to play the run/play off the attention Big Hank demands, and let the speed guys do the edge rushing...
Regarding number 4, I'm not so sure the basketball analogy applies. I think the corners are playing deep more specifically because of the issue at LB. They are playing zone more frequently, and not the cover 4/match type zone, because that actually limits the LB responsibility. If they pressed the corners and matched up more, that means a LB might get matched up on aTE, RB, or even slot receiver. In that scenario the LBs actually have to potentially cover much more ground than they would with the zone schemes where they have a hook or flat zone to cover. Another option would be a cover 2 zone, so you could press the corners, and the LBs still have smaller zone responsibility. However, I think they may have tried a Tampa-2 style cover 2, in which a LB has responsibility for the deep middle while the safeties have the deep halves, and they got burnt on it.
I know in at least one of the defensive breakdowns Ross discussed (and I'm quite sure Meyer has discussed the issue in a press conference) how they are playing less aggressive with their corner specifically to limit the burden and responsibilities of the LBs.
Is there a middle option for the corners? Instead of playing the line or 10 yards back, play maybe six back, give up the 'jump the route' philosophy of high risk/high reward, and just cover the receiver while letting the safeties play in slightly? We're trying to avoid the 'plays in space' and it always seems like perhaps 1-2 yards closer play would help? We have the athletic corners in Howard and Roby to keep up w/ the deep route on almost any receiver...
Wow the point on our secondary playing too soft on behalf of coombs coaching makes the most sense ive read / heard about our defensive miscues. Sure the pure deep vertical passes are covered but now theres a ton of stress on everyone to cover underneath and subsequently tackle in space. Play tight. Play smart.
I agree we need to play tighter coverage, a 10 yard cushion doesn't cut it sometimes. Don't forget about Goebel too, even though he doesn't produce on the stat sheet he consumes double teams and holds the guys at the LOS so our D can make plays its not a glorious job but someone has to do it.