Well that sucked... just about everything I thought would happen didn't and because of of that did anything I hoped would happen didn't either.
Day was out coached by Saban. The OL didn't get off the bus. Our D coaches should be punished for putting the team and fans through what we watched last night. Sarks plan was made to look even better than it is, and it is great with just the right blend of talent. Our DL just couldn't replace the Covid kids. Golding who I thought was gonna be fired may get promoted. And last but not least the best player on the field had a miserable night and so the second best player had a showcase evening.
I'll rationalize that at least we had a season and there were a lot of positives in the balance, but last night was almost as miserable as the spanking we got from Urban in 2006.
In the end it was the same problem. A better prepared team dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage, came in with a better plan and made a great team look below average.
My concerns about a post Clemson hangover were real. Just too damn bad that Day and the team leaders couldn't reset. He's a young HC and even the seniors are still young kids. There are other full adults on the staff and clearly whatever they did.....,collectively didn't work.
You can almost always tell which team is focused and prepared by the way the OL plays, and our OL didn't get off the bus and Bama's owned the game. More on that in the O breakdown.
I was explicit in my pre-game post on the D, and in the schematic discussion with @Justin Whitlatch, that we had to be in Nickel to win. When we came out in base I thought goddam it we can't waste any drives. When we came out in base on drive two, I told my wife the game was over... and it was.
Sorry folks but this was my signal that the staff was taking the cowardly lion approach to a game that needed TAKE NO PRISONERS. This mentality is infectious, and IMO was the root cause we lost the game.
What the hell happened on Offense
I'll start on O since it's a bit easier. The OL got whipped, and on paper they should have been able to clearly win the LOS.
BAMA came out in a defend the pass first scheme and dared us to run... and when we couldn't there was no way we could win a track meet. Trey Sermon getting injured didn't help things and Master Teague not being 100% also were a handicap, but they weren't opening holes for most of the game regardless of who had the rock.
Bama sat in a two high zone all game, which means they only had 7 in the box and there were only a small handful of plays where our backs got more than 1.5 yards before contact.... and Bama rush D isn't that good this season.
I think Day was surprised by that as running effectively against that scheme was certainly part of the game plan. That said there was still hope, because unlike against NW and Indy Day adjusted quickly. He had some perfect play calls that might have knocked Bama out of the two high zone with some crossers and screens. But Justin just flat out missed. They were easy throws. A crosser, a screen and the corner in the EZ all come to mind.
The only other option was to run Justin, which they did when the game was about out of reach. Clearly doing this before that would have been too risky as it was pretty clear the injury was already bothering him.
No other way to say it but Justin was off to start the game - maybe due to the ribs- and we needed him to have a cape on to win and play at his normal level to keep it in reach. With him being off there was no hope and the score is a clear indication.
At least one member of the D staff needs to be fired
There is just no excuse for what happened last night, but the problems/symptoms have been evident all season.
The visual for their failure is Tuf Borland trying to cover Devonta Smith on a seam route.
The best 3 LB's on this team are Werner, Hilliard and Browning. The fact that the staff stayed with Tuf all season is criminal, and I'd take both of the transfer coaches from TTUN and summarily dismiss them. One coaches the LBs and the other is the Co-DC. Sayonara!
Coombs is too good of a recruiter and has proven he can coach up the position, so I'd give him a pass.
But as co-DC he had to approve, or was at least witness to, the scheme where we tried to play a 4-4 and blitz the BYU/SC RPO offense. There aren't enough drugs in the universe to have this make sense.
It was like watching a 10 year old play Madden for the first time. If the scheme itself weren't bad enough, they stayed with Tuf at Mike. If they'd used Gant, then the drugs might have given some clarity. But as it was there is just no explanation.
Well actually there is and explanation. The staff went with experience and were afraid to use their young (or less game experienced) DBs in a nickel. Arguably they did run a couple of plays but they left Tuf and replaced the other LB who could possibly match up. This is chickenshit. Period. Against Clemmy they did use Nickel a bit with Tuf off, so I had hope.
The BALLSY move which I called for pregame was to play Ransom or Williamson at SAM/STAR with Hilliard and Werner in the middle and Browning subbing in at DE/Star ... BTW this was the ONE LOOK (minus the STAR) where the D got not only a stop but a TO.
It actually wasn't that ballsy. In so far as there was clearly no way Tuf could match up with the scheme let alone players on the Bama O, and any mistakes Ransom or Williamson (who is a senior but said he's coming back) made would go to experience next season.
There isn't much beyond that. Bama is a great O, and with our two most dynamic DL out with Covid we needed a fantastic scheme and a bit of luck to win. But a better scheme would have at least given the kids a chance to compete. The TO was an indication it could have happened.
Final Thinking
I'll always remember this season, which is too bad because I'd like to forget most of it. At least we had a season, OMG the stress of the cancellation was so bad and so badly handled.
But we played half a season and that half a glass was far more than half full.
We played really well in parts of all of our games, won the B10 half season and avenged our loss to the other runner up to Alabama as one of the three great teams of the past 10 years.
Ryan Day is a hell of a coach and he is continuing the trajectory started by Tress and taken to another orbit by Urban. Day's offense is perfect for the current era and I'm sure he can find a like minded DC.
I'm really proud to be a Buckeye fan who gets to root for these kids. This team went through the tortures of the damned this season. They went through hell just to have a season. They represented the program well. The look on the face of Tuf (who l really like just not against this offense) and Coop after the game said it all. They left it all on the field. Neither of them had enough but they put it all out there.
It hurts to lose and hurts worse to lose like this, but next year will be better. Hopefully, the stands will be full. The band will play and we can work on another chip.
Go Bucks
Day was out coached by Saban. The OL didn't get off the bus. Our D coaches should be punished for putting the team and fans through what we watched last night. Sarks plan was made to look even better than it is, and it is great with just the right blend of talent. Our DL just couldn't replace the Covid kids. Golding who I thought was gonna be fired may get promoted. And last but not least the best player on the field had a miserable night and so the second best player had a showcase evening.
I'll rationalize that at least we had a season and there were a lot of positives in the balance, but last night was almost as miserable as the spanking we got from Urban in 2006.
In the end it was the same problem. A better prepared team dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage, came in with a better plan and made a great team look below average.
My concerns about a post Clemson hangover were real. Just too damn bad that Day and the team leaders couldn't reset. He's a young HC and even the seniors are still young kids. There are other full adults on the staff and clearly whatever they did.....,collectively didn't work.
You can almost always tell which team is focused and prepared by the way the OL plays, and our OL didn't get off the bus and Bama's owned the game. More on that in the O breakdown.
I was explicit in my pre-game post on the D, and in the schematic discussion with @Justin Whitlatch, that we had to be in Nickel to win. When we came out in base I thought goddam it we can't waste any drives. When we came out in base on drive two, I told my wife the game was over... and it was.
Sorry folks but this was my signal that the staff was taking the cowardly lion approach to a game that needed TAKE NO PRISONERS. This mentality is infectious, and IMO was the root cause we lost the game.
What the hell happened on Offense
I'll start on O since it's a bit easier. The OL got whipped, and on paper they should have been able to clearly win the LOS.
BAMA came out in a defend the pass first scheme and dared us to run... and when we couldn't there was no way we could win a track meet. Trey Sermon getting injured didn't help things and Master Teague not being 100% also were a handicap, but they weren't opening holes for most of the game regardless of who had the rock.
Bama sat in a two high zone all game, which means they only had 7 in the box and there were only a small handful of plays where our backs got more than 1.5 yards before contact.... and Bama rush D isn't that good this season.
I think Day was surprised by that as running effectively against that scheme was certainly part of the game plan. That said there was still hope, because unlike against NW and Indy Day adjusted quickly. He had some perfect play calls that might have knocked Bama out of the two high zone with some crossers and screens. But Justin just flat out missed. They were easy throws. A crosser, a screen and the corner in the EZ all come to mind.
The only other option was to run Justin, which they did when the game was about out of reach. Clearly doing this before that would have been too risky as it was pretty clear the injury was already bothering him.
No other way to say it but Justin was off to start the game - maybe due to the ribs- and we needed him to have a cape on to win and play at his normal level to keep it in reach. With him being off there was no hope and the score is a clear indication.
At least one member of the D staff needs to be fired
There is just no excuse for what happened last night, but the problems/symptoms have been evident all season.
The visual for their failure is Tuf Borland trying to cover Devonta Smith on a seam route.
The best 3 LB's on this team are Werner, Hilliard and Browning. The fact that the staff stayed with Tuf all season is criminal, and I'd take both of the transfer coaches from TTUN and summarily dismiss them. One coaches the LBs and the other is the Co-DC. Sayonara!
Coombs is too good of a recruiter and has proven he can coach up the position, so I'd give him a pass.
But as co-DC he had to approve, or was at least witness to, the scheme where we tried to play a 4-4 and blitz the BYU/SC RPO offense. There aren't enough drugs in the universe to have this make sense.
It was like watching a 10 year old play Madden for the first time. If the scheme itself weren't bad enough, they stayed with Tuf at Mike. If they'd used Gant, then the drugs might have given some clarity. But as it was there is just no explanation.
Well actually there is and explanation. The staff went with experience and were afraid to use their young (or less game experienced) DBs in a nickel. Arguably they did run a couple of plays but they left Tuf and replaced the other LB who could possibly match up. This is chickenshit. Period. Against Clemmy they did use Nickel a bit with Tuf off, so I had hope.
The BALLSY move which I called for pregame was to play Ransom or Williamson at SAM/STAR with Hilliard and Werner in the middle and Browning subbing in at DE/Star ... BTW this was the ONE LOOK (minus the STAR) where the D got not only a stop but a TO.
It actually wasn't that ballsy. In so far as there was clearly no way Tuf could match up with the scheme let alone players on the Bama O, and any mistakes Ransom or Williamson (who is a senior but said he's coming back) made would go to experience next season.
There isn't much beyond that. Bama is a great O, and with our two most dynamic DL out with Covid we needed a fantastic scheme and a bit of luck to win. But a better scheme would have at least given the kids a chance to compete. The TO was an indication it could have happened.
Final Thinking
I'll always remember this season, which is too bad because I'd like to forget most of it. At least we had a season, OMG the stress of the cancellation was so bad and so badly handled.
But we played half a season and that half a glass was far more than half full.
We played really well in parts of all of our games, won the B10 half season and avenged our loss to the other runner up to Alabama as one of the three great teams of the past 10 years.
Ryan Day is a hell of a coach and he is continuing the trajectory started by Tress and taken to another orbit by Urban. Day's offense is perfect for the current era and I'm sure he can find a like minded DC.
I'm really proud to be a Buckeye fan who gets to root for these kids. This team went through the tortures of the damned this season. They went through hell just to have a season. They represented the program well. The look on the face of Tuf (who l really like just not against this offense) and Coop after the game said it all. They left it all on the field. Neither of them had enough but they put it all out there.
It hurts to lose and hurts worse to lose like this, but next year will be better. Hopefully, the stands will be full. The band will play and we can work on another chip.
Go Bucks
