I know this subject often comes up elsewhere but it seems worth a dedicated thread. I dont want this to be a "Day sucks" or "look what Stud did to us" thread. What I'm hoping for is some serious discussion with good input from people who understand this subject. There must be people here who played oline, or coach at some level, or at least understand what it takes. So, give us your thoughts - why do we suck at short yardage plays?
Blocking scheme/technique - we are generally a zone blocking team. Guys pull or slant and look for someone to block. Is it really impossible to be good at zone blocking (although that's a different topic) and also be good a straight ahead, drive blocking?
Power - I also don't want a Pantoni sucks discussion either, but it does seem clear that our linemen get outmuscled by other teams, even ones we should be much better than. Why is that? I watched a couple games from a team I can't mention here and I watch their line get no initial push and the runner run straight into the back of his oline. For us, that kind of play ends right there. For them, they seem to downshift to a power gear and the entire pile moves forward a few yards. Honestly, when was the last time you saw us having a massive pileup but in a moment our guys just drive the whole pile forward? If we are not lacking in pure leg drive than what is it? How hard is it to line up your 7 (or 8) best blockers and tell to pretend the defense is a blocking sled (do olines even practice driving g a sled any more)?
Identity - some teams know what they are in short yardage situations. Lots of examples. Bama with its big backs and big line, Patriots with Brady qb sneaks, ttun with runs between the tackles. Teams know those plays are coming but just can't stop them. Not so long ago that was us. We would have a 3rd and 15 and complete a 14 yard pass and the offense would run to the new spot as quickly as possible for the inevitable JTB run. No checking with the coach to see what to run. No giving the D a chance to get set. It was just " we're running our qb" now try and stop it. So what is our "go to" short yardage play? We don't have one! Jet sweep- really? A couple weeks ago we ran a toss sweep on 3rd and 1and turned it into a 4th and 3. Quick screens? Short slants or quick outs? We try them all. And more than once this year we took a TO to think about it. Why in the world do we need a TO on 3rd or 4th and one. Why don't we already know what we want to run if that situation comes up?
Heart/Confidence/We Believe - we all know there are things we have done things that we didn't think we could do because "we believed". We try to teach that lesson to our kids. But where are the Buckeyes using this measure? Whenever I saw the Patriots with less than a yard to go I had zero doubt that Brady would run a successful sneak. Is there any one here who watches us come up wirh 3rd or 4th and 1 and just feels absolutely certain we are going to make it? Truth here - don't you sometimes feel just the opposite? But my real question is - do you think this team believes, I mean deep down in their very core, that they can make a yard when they need to? Isn't there some chance that trying every possible "cute call" in that situation just undercuts the confidence of the team. I've made this point before about Coach Day trying to "out-think" the defense rather than simply out-execute them. Isn't there a chance that by doing that all the time he is somehow subtlety sapping the confidence of the team? Do you think they feel any more confident of making that yard than we do at home watching? Do they "believe"?
