Whew that was sorta fun for most of 33 minutes and then 27 minutes of game time misery.
With 12+ minutes left in Q3 we had a 4 score lead and had compiled about 500 yards of offense and 35 points, while holding IUs opportunistic hustlers to a measly 7.
Then the rest of the game happened. As I posted a few weeks ago taking a quote from an old cartoon "We have met the enemy and he is us".
Frankly, and thankfully the team has fixed a number of the problems which have been hurting us in the first three games, but some clearly remain. Otherwise we lose yesterday. When you outrush a team by 300 yards you should win easily... and we did but we didn't.
The team answered the question "Can we win a game against a quality opponent if Justin Fields has an off day". The answer is yes, but just barely.
I have now watched in live on TV and then two replays. I haven't gone to stop action as I would with film and look forward to @Justin Whitlatch for some more detail, although some of the issues are obvious.
First Hat's off to IU and Tom Allen and his staff. He is building a credible program at IU and his style fits perfectly with the season of Covid. He has schemed and motivated his team to play above their grade level and use the talent on hand to it's full advantage.
Ohio State has not and hence the game ended up being far closer than it should have.
My Summary
The absence of Spring and Fall and lack of usual routine during the season have limited our ability to reload... anywhere. And the staff is scheming as if we have, or are at least closer to reloading than we are.
We have so much raw talent with the bulk of the team that was loaded from the past season, and the base scheme is so good that we can dominate any team in the B10 and we know it....until we lose focus and energy and the teams we're playing refuse to quit and continue scheming and adjusting until the game is over.
All of our opponents have had some excellent schemes to attack our weaknesses, or shortcomings relative to previous talent/experience, and the staff isn't making sufficient adjustments especially when we get a lead. IU is playing at the highest level of any team in the B10 relative to their talent and better overall than any team besides OSU. That said they aren't that good, which is why we had a 4 score lead early in Q3. There is no reason besides stubbornness, and a bit of human nature that prevented that game from ending 60+ to 20 or 24 max. Even with Justin being off.
When the Bucks Were On O
Clearly, the Bucks came in with the idea that this would be Justin's Heisman moment game and IU was going to have NONE of it. After the first series, IU saw all they needed to see and went into a two high shell and used their standard D scheme that mixes fire blitzes with soft zone under. As I've thought all season, if a team actually unloads the box and tries to stop our passing game we'd be able to run effectively, without relying on the QB option. IU obliged and we did. PSU did this in Q1 and we showed some signs of life in the base run game then too, but PSU is a basket case this season.
What was frustrating throughout was that Day refused to adjust the play calling to IU's scheme, pound the ball and use short underneath passes to get our athletic WRs in space. We also decided to forget the chapters in the playbook with screens and RB/TEs in the passing game to punish IU for the inside blitzes.
And of course Justin just had a bad day, and made very uncharacteristic mistakes. Most of this IMO was that we refused to take what IU was giving us to force them to give us what we wanted.
The few times IU went to a single high safety and laid off the blitz the passing game was fine.... but IU did this very seldom.... especially as the game wore on. They banked on complacency and we were happy to accommodate.
The play that showcased this to me was on 3rd and 8 late in the game. We ran Wilson on a quick inside slant after rotating him pre snap (as he went in motion I told my wife watch he'll be wide open), and he WAS WIDE OPEN. Of course due to down and distance and Justin's pressing he put too much mustard on the ball and threw it too early. Wilson was surprised the ball came too soon and so hot, and had an uncharacteristic drop. But that play should have been featured early and often.
We also should have been running more inside POWER. The outside zone was working but pounding inside would have slowed the blitz down and tired out the DL, as would using the TE on block and release. Again we did this and Justin made a bad throw early in the game on 4th down in the RZ, but one try on a must make down wasn't enough.
Instead we tried to push the ball downfield into the teeth of a mix and match two deep zone with a hungry and well coached blitz scheme. There was simply no way IU was going to give us those tear drop bombs. And our interior OL is still not fully in sync so the mixing of stunts and blitzes causes some confusion.
We'd better work on those easy air raid plays this week, because Memorial Stadium on November is going to be a freezing wind tunnel... and UI will have watched the IU film,
When the Bucks were on D
We all like to think we reload in Buckeye nation, and in a normal season I expect we might have... but it isn't and we haven't. The Bucks don't have a replacement for Young or Okuda, and we haven't adjusted the scheme. What we do have is a group of LBs who are playing FAR ahead of where they were in 19, and very solid play from the DTs
I was never expecting that the young DE's would be ready to replace Young, and he was the GIANT X factor in the D last season.
You can be simple when the other O can't throw deep without risking bodily damage to their QB. We don't have the X factor this season, .and have struggled to make the adjustment.
I wasn't sure the LBs would make the adjustment to Werner inside and Browning outside, but they have and Tuf is playing with more fluidity than I've seen him before. Add in Gant and Hilliard who have shown some flashes in limited action, and there would seem to be an opportunity to use some assets we didn't have last season.
The DTs have been a strength since game one when they were on roller skates. Make No Mistake. Stevie Scott will play on Sunday somewhere and he could do nothing inside running the ball yesterday.
The back 4 have struggled... especially when the game gets out of hand and the opponent just starts hucking it, and the limited pass rush as it is doesn't get home. And that's exactly what happened yesterday.
No Doubt IU has some weapons, but c'mon folks they had -1 yard rushing and with 12:43 left in the 3rd Q down by 4 scores... and we stay with a single high safety with man.
Hey I think I know what might work.... how about a 2 high shell with hard sell blitzing. Where have I seen that.. hmmmm. I get the fact that we've been gashed by the QB run when we've tried C4, but every time IU ran the ball yesterday was a victory.
So I'm not saying we abandon the scheme we came with, but we need packages that leverage our strength at DT and LB. This is true situationally throughout the game IMO, but critical once we get a lead and the opponent has to become one dimensional. Otherwise a team is going exploit our teething DEs and DBs, where like it or not we are rebuilding.
Since pre-season, I've been calling for Baron to play the role of OLB in a 3/4 or stand up DE. He is great in that role and has proven he can also cover in space, so the QB can't be sure what's coming.
An obvious move to me would be to drop a DE for another LB. I'd bring Hilliard in and use him with Werner and Baron with varied blitz and zone under. Frankly I'd leave Tuf in. He can fit the run if the team tries a draw and has been really good in zone.
I'd basically Bring Baron off the edge most of the time especially early in the game to put some fear into the play caller and the QB.
It almost was almost comical in H2 as we'd fake the blitz and drop the LBs into coverage while IU would just sit back and throw over the top. On one one long TD we got to watch all 3 LBs turn and chase the receiver into the endzone from about 20 yards behind the play.
Once we get a two score lead I'd consider some form of this as a base set. It requires one of the DTs to be play a two gap style, but I think they can.
Final Thought
We're undefeated. No one in the B10 can beat this team on paper. But we've all seen in the past what can happen with NASTY weather if we come in and stay flat for a whole game.
I truly hope the staff have a wake up call and make some changes schematically on both sides of the ball. Perhaps those might energize the team as they'd know the staff were amping things up.
With 12+ minutes left in Q3 we had a 4 score lead and had compiled about 500 yards of offense and 35 points, while holding IUs opportunistic hustlers to a measly 7.
Then the rest of the game happened. As I posted a few weeks ago taking a quote from an old cartoon "We have met the enemy and he is us".
Frankly, and thankfully the team has fixed a number of the problems which have been hurting us in the first three games, but some clearly remain. Otherwise we lose yesterday. When you outrush a team by 300 yards you should win easily... and we did but we didn't.
The team answered the question "Can we win a game against a quality opponent if Justin Fields has an off day". The answer is yes, but just barely.
I have now watched in live on TV and then two replays. I haven't gone to stop action as I would with film and look forward to @Justin Whitlatch for some more detail, although some of the issues are obvious.
First Hat's off to IU and Tom Allen and his staff. He is building a credible program at IU and his style fits perfectly with the season of Covid. He has schemed and motivated his team to play above their grade level and use the talent on hand to it's full advantage.
Ohio State has not and hence the game ended up being far closer than it should have.
My Summary
The absence of Spring and Fall and lack of usual routine during the season have limited our ability to reload... anywhere. And the staff is scheming as if we have, or are at least closer to reloading than we are.
We have so much raw talent with the bulk of the team that was loaded from the past season, and the base scheme is so good that we can dominate any team in the B10 and we know it....until we lose focus and energy and the teams we're playing refuse to quit and continue scheming and adjusting until the game is over.
All of our opponents have had some excellent schemes to attack our weaknesses, or shortcomings relative to previous talent/experience, and the staff isn't making sufficient adjustments especially when we get a lead. IU is playing at the highest level of any team in the B10 relative to their talent and better overall than any team besides OSU. That said they aren't that good, which is why we had a 4 score lead early in Q3. There is no reason besides stubbornness, and a bit of human nature that prevented that game from ending 60+ to 20 or 24 max. Even with Justin being off.
When the Bucks Were On O
Clearly, the Bucks came in with the idea that this would be Justin's Heisman moment game and IU was going to have NONE of it. After the first series, IU saw all they needed to see and went into a two high shell and used their standard D scheme that mixes fire blitzes with soft zone under. As I've thought all season, if a team actually unloads the box and tries to stop our passing game we'd be able to run effectively, without relying on the QB option. IU obliged and we did. PSU did this in Q1 and we showed some signs of life in the base run game then too, but PSU is a basket case this season.
What was frustrating throughout was that Day refused to adjust the play calling to IU's scheme, pound the ball and use short underneath passes to get our athletic WRs in space. We also decided to forget the chapters in the playbook with screens and RB/TEs in the passing game to punish IU for the inside blitzes.
And of course Justin just had a bad day, and made very uncharacteristic mistakes. Most of this IMO was that we refused to take what IU was giving us to force them to give us what we wanted.
The few times IU went to a single high safety and laid off the blitz the passing game was fine.... but IU did this very seldom.... especially as the game wore on. They banked on complacency and we were happy to accommodate.
The play that showcased this to me was on 3rd and 8 late in the game. We ran Wilson on a quick inside slant after rotating him pre snap (as he went in motion I told my wife watch he'll be wide open), and he WAS WIDE OPEN. Of course due to down and distance and Justin's pressing he put too much mustard on the ball and threw it too early. Wilson was surprised the ball came too soon and so hot, and had an uncharacteristic drop. But that play should have been featured early and often.
We also should have been running more inside POWER. The outside zone was working but pounding inside would have slowed the blitz down and tired out the DL, as would using the TE on block and release. Again we did this and Justin made a bad throw early in the game on 4th down in the RZ, but one try on a must make down wasn't enough.
Instead we tried to push the ball downfield into the teeth of a mix and match two deep zone with a hungry and well coached blitz scheme. There was simply no way IU was going to give us those tear drop bombs. And our interior OL is still not fully in sync so the mixing of stunts and blitzes causes some confusion.
We'd better work on those easy air raid plays this week, because Memorial Stadium on November is going to be a freezing wind tunnel... and UI will have watched the IU film,
When the Bucks were on D
We all like to think we reload in Buckeye nation, and in a normal season I expect we might have... but it isn't and we haven't. The Bucks don't have a replacement for Young or Okuda, and we haven't adjusted the scheme. What we do have is a group of LBs who are playing FAR ahead of where they were in 19, and very solid play from the DTs
I was never expecting that the young DE's would be ready to replace Young, and he was the GIANT X factor in the D last season.
You can be simple when the other O can't throw deep without risking bodily damage to their QB. We don't have the X factor this season, .and have struggled to make the adjustment.
I wasn't sure the LBs would make the adjustment to Werner inside and Browning outside, but they have and Tuf is playing with more fluidity than I've seen him before. Add in Gant and Hilliard who have shown some flashes in limited action, and there would seem to be an opportunity to use some assets we didn't have last season.
The DTs have been a strength since game one when they were on roller skates. Make No Mistake. Stevie Scott will play on Sunday somewhere and he could do nothing inside running the ball yesterday.
The back 4 have struggled... especially when the game gets out of hand and the opponent just starts hucking it, and the limited pass rush as it is doesn't get home. And that's exactly what happened yesterday.
No Doubt IU has some weapons, but c'mon folks they had -1 yard rushing and with 12:43 left in the 3rd Q down by 4 scores... and we stay with a single high safety with man.
Hey I think I know what might work.... how about a 2 high shell with hard sell blitzing. Where have I seen that.. hmmmm. I get the fact that we've been gashed by the QB run when we've tried C4, but every time IU ran the ball yesterday was a victory.
So I'm not saying we abandon the scheme we came with, but we need packages that leverage our strength at DT and LB. This is true situationally throughout the game IMO, but critical once we get a lead and the opponent has to become one dimensional. Otherwise a team is going exploit our teething DEs and DBs, where like it or not we are rebuilding.
Since pre-season, I've been calling for Baron to play the role of OLB in a 3/4 or stand up DE. He is great in that role and has proven he can also cover in space, so the QB can't be sure what's coming.
An obvious move to me would be to drop a DE for another LB. I'd bring Hilliard in and use him with Werner and Baron with varied blitz and zone under. Frankly I'd leave Tuf in. He can fit the run if the team tries a draw and has been really good in zone.
I'd basically Bring Baron off the edge most of the time especially early in the game to put some fear into the play caller and the QB.
It almost was almost comical in H2 as we'd fake the blitz and drop the LBs into coverage while IU would just sit back and throw over the top. On one one long TD we got to watch all 3 LBs turn and chase the receiver into the endzone from about 20 yards behind the play.
Once we get a two score lead I'd consider some form of this as a base set. It requires one of the DTs to be play a two gap style, but I think they can.
Final Thought
We're undefeated. No one in the B10 can beat this team on paper. But we've all seen in the past what can happen with NASTY weather if we come in and stay flat for a whole game.
I truly hope the staff have a wake up call and make some changes schematically on both sides of the ball. Perhaps those might energize the team as they'd know the staff were amping things up.
