POWERSPREAD

PREGAME

 

DREW IS EARLY, WAITING FOR KURT AND CRAIG AT 121 FULTON STREET!

 KURT AND CRAIG HAVE ARRIVED! 

ALL HERE!

 

IN THE END WE ARE ALL TOGETHER IN THE OSU RUN INTO HISTORY!!

Indiana at OSU

1st Quarter

RIGHT DOWN THE FIELD! QB Draw for a big gain Miller, then Zone Read Sweep Left Hyde TD!! Great block by Fields. OSU WRs blocking great this year!

 

SNOWING!  🙂

 

Read Option down the field. Miller big run on keep off the ZR Power Sweep TOUCHDOWN! Too Easy. This is why the Power Spread works. Get some speed – put them in the right Space at the right Time and all good.

 

 Conservative Screens and Read Option Power. Fumble Miller on Sack. Indiana ball deep in our territory.

 

As we have seen throughout the year, OSU gets up big then gets conservative. Everything Short Middle or Short Wide with same deliberate Tempo. This worked 10 yrs ago. Not now. Perhaps Coach Meyer wants the Repetition for Perfection sake – but the Perfection is in the Simple Variety of the Power Spread. KISS – keep it simple – but not at the expense of Variety. 

OSU 14-0

 

2nd Quarter

 GREAT DEFENSIVE STAND! Bosa, Spence shutting down Pistol. Roby good coverage. Fickel threw in surprise blitz. Indiana Misses the FG. Our D has been better than people think. Tough to stop these PS Offenses. Plus, too much conservative designs once we are up by a lot of points. Same as Offense. 

 

OSU may have just accomplished the All-Time Record for Points, but we are all short middle and wide right now. This isn’t going to get it done. Punt.  Coach may want to practice some things, but this is like some version of Woody Hayes PS, which is in direct conflict with each other. PS is aggressive, simple, flexible variety. This is simply simple – nothing more. 

 

Great pass coverage, first Shazier, then Dorian Grant. BLOCKED PUNT ROBY! One thing about Meyer- he always stays aggressive on the Punt Team.

 

Miller somersaults into the Endzone on a QB keep sweep right TOUCHDOWN! He landed on his head – not smart. I think the frustration of the limiting Meyer/Herman offense has Miller about to explode! Take the chains off guys! MILLER WANTS TO FLY – let him go a little. It’s not just about Turnovers and mistakes! Power Spread!

 

Mixing in some Blitz schemes on D! Conservative on 3rd and long, but bad screen pass called that gained a few. 4th dn – Shazier blitz, Sack Bennett! Bennett having a great half!

 

UP TEMPO – finally! Down field pass Heureman down the Seam! YES! Hyde up gut TOUCHDOWN! A little Variety and instant score! That’s PS Football. 

OSU 28-0

 

HALFTIME

Some disappointment with OSU. A lot more with Indiana.

 

I’m still waiting to see the Inherent Variety in PS Football on a consistent basis from the Buckeyes. Lead = Conservative throughout most of the year. The last drive of the half is better. If you are going to run Hyde middle, Braxton middle and wide, Wilson wide, Wide screens – WHY NOT MIX IN THE DEEP MIDDLE AND DEEP WIDE?  Example – how about after a few short plays, unleashing Wilson deep down the middle from the RB position. Herman knows all of this I’m sure. Is Meyer just hiding his cards until the big games at the end of the year. For sure there isn’t much film on our variety for the Michigan.

 

Against the bad teams in the Big 10, is Meyer holding back the reigns, leaving OSU to chomp at the bit until finally exploding in the stretch run? We will see…

 

As for Indiana, Kevin Wilson is becoming one of those PS Dinosaurs. Like Meyer and his former staffs, Wilson was a PS originator – first at NW, then at Oklahoma. He seems to still be doing a lot of the same stuff now. PS football is progressing so fast, it’s starting to pass a lot of the original gurus. Kind of sad actually. Wilson’s Defenses are terrible, which is even a bigger problem. PS Football works on all parts of the game – even off the field.

 

Let’s see if there are any surprises from Wilson in the 2nd Half and whether OSU continues it’s 2nd Half Letdowns.

 

 

3rd Quarter

Frantic Tempo by Indiana. Good call. Much more crisp – a mix of short wide passes and a variety of pistol and zone read runs. A couple of good plays by the Buckeye D. In particular Barnett coming from his Safety position to crush a Pistol power run. But great 3rd down execution by QB Sudfeld to keep drives alive. Big play Roby breaking up a play action screen. 3rd+Goal – phantom blitz, pressure from front four with no one open, sack Bosa! Bosa a man possessed this year! FG hits upright -NO GOOD – SHUTOUT INTACT! 

 

I can’t help but feel bad for Wilson and the crew. They did everything right – Up Tempo, pass/run mix – execution – but good D the whole way by OSU and in the SNOW  the missed FG.

2 Screens in a row – the first works to Jordan Hall, the 2nd ends up in a tipped pass, interception Indiana. A perfect opportunity for a fake screen and the WR heads up the sideline – even in the snow. Disaster you say?? Well, what just happened. CONSERVATIVE PLAY HAS NO PLACE IN PS FOOTBALL!

More good D by the Bucks. Then on O, Miller an incredible scramble in the SNOW! Shovel pass Wilson crossing right to left and in the endzone in a blink of an eye. TOUCHDOWN! 

Indiana moving the ball again after Sudfeld gets knocked out of the game by Spence. The backup Coffman is quicker and busts a big gain on a quick hitting QB Keeper LT. OSU had an aggressive slant on, but someone screwed up leaving a big hole. Shazier possibly took the wrong angle. Roby’s speed prevented a TD. 

OSU 35-0

 

4th Quarter

Two more QB keepers by Coffman, but OSU ready now. 4th+Goal quick pass and nice man coverage by 2nd string CB Cam Burrows! SHUTOUT INTACT IN THE SNOW! 

Finally Heureman over the middle for a big gain. Deep ball Devin Smith TOUCHDOWN! Two perfect passes by Miller. Impressive considering the fact that he hasn’t thrown down the middle deep all game. Is Meyer forced to show his hand, because OSU needs the points for the BCS??

 

Sudfeld back in and short passes down the field against the OSU 2nd String D is the order of the day. Still, OSU makes some good plays and Defensive calls and almost makes another goaline stand again. Burrows another nice pass defense on 3rd+Goal, but on 4th Down, backup safety Von Bell let the slot receiver run right by for a Touchdown Indiana. We had a nice blitz call. Bell is a true frosh – he’s going to be a good one – not on that play. 

 

SNOW still on the field and Guiton finally in. Nice Speed Option keeper for a 1st down by Guiton, but a fumble at the end of the play and Indiana ball. A good play by S Mark Murphy as Kenny had both hands on the football.

 

Another nice play Burrows. Making a name for himself. Big Blitz by Shazier – still in there. On 3rd+long, Indiana finally got a screen pass off with OSU in a blitz. TOUCHDOWN INDIANA. All game they couldn’t get us in a Blitz on the Screen except for this one play. Meyer looks uptight – why?? – BCS Standings! Ridiculous.

 

OSU 42-14

 

WRAP

Good win. Great Defense. Meyer even opened it up some in the 2nd Half.  Craig is going home.

 

Still, two late TDs and more BCS questions? Silly. I really feel Meyer is holding back for the Big 3 coming next. My question is how good Miller will be with the deep stuff. If he throws like his last 2 passes today, then watch out! Our D is fine and has been, for the most part, this year. PS Offenses are not easy. Tempo also dictates a lot of plays per game. Hard to judge Wilson’s Offense today as OSU was very good.

 

Expect the Buckeyes to get through MIchigan for another undefeated regular season. A letdown or conservative scheme on either O or D against Mich State in the Big 10 Championship could be a problem. Winning a close game may not be enough. The BCS may be the dominant player again – at least for one more year.

 

~PS