As much as it pains me, this picture above of Charles White about to receive the handoff in the 1980 Rose Bowl out of the Power I says it all. It was the beginning of the end for my beloved Undefeated Buckeyes and their National Championship hopes that season.
This was also the beginning of my long running hatred for USC and teams that always seemed to have the Buckeyes number – even unto the present time. It took me a long time to understand why this happened repeatedly to my Buckeyes. I was so excited for the 2008 revenge of the Buckeyes. The debacle that followed fueled even more hatred towards USC, which I finally channeled productively into discovering what was wrong with OSU!?
For the first time as a football fan and former player, I had some understanding. Studying this game finally made me realize the part that Concepts, Ideas and Schemes play in the Game of Football as well as the Game of LIfe.
It is appropriate that the Offensive mastermind of that ill fated Buckeye loss, Steve Sarkisian, was recently named the new Head Coach at USC. His schemes and game planning had more to do with my wake up call than any other coach out there.
Here’s my story…
Schemes for Football; Schemes for Life
I wasn’t always into schemes in football. In fact, I was always about the big hit, the big pass or the big catch when I played. Not paying enough attention to my involvement in the overall scheme of the team definitely hurt me as a player. It’s a big step towards being part of a TEAM – realizing your role and function as part of the greater whole. It is the job of a coach to have a vision and share it clearly with his players. Then, finally, to put his players in the best position to succeed both on and off the field.
As a fan I wasn’t much different than I was as a player. To me, football was first and foremost about Talent and Big Plays! I was the same as most fans – soaking up the the entertainment with fully invested emotion. Jumping for joy or yelling in anger. Almost all the focus on the players and the plays being made on the field. Talent is always the first thing that jumps out to anyone. For a fan, that’s many times where the thinking stays.
In today’s high tech world the fan has evolved along with everything else. Now there are numerous web sites and great access to all the action before the action. The behind the scene details that go into every play you see on gameday. From recruiting to game preparation. Even to extended funding and contracts that support the University. It’s all out there and available for reading.
Needless to say, there is a lot that goes into producing a top football program that also performs on gameday. Schematics are simply one part of this equation. But used as a starting point, schemes really say everything about this game and all that comes from it far from the gridiron.
All life as we know it takes place within Space and Time between living forces or energies that are constantly interacting. Any “Game” is played within these same parameters – only there are Rules to the Game that dictate the Space, Time and Entities that will be used. It’s not always confined to human entities, as in the case of Horse Racing. It’s also not always a full Team of players. Certainly there are many different ways to use all 3 of these elements to combine into the different Sporting Events we see in our society.
The Sport of Football has evolved over time and through space by the people who have taken part. It is now going through another big evolution as seen through the parameters of the game in Space, Time and Team. The innovations in the game have really exploded since the turn of the millennium and I finally woke up to this fact when watching my beloved Buckeyes being crushed by the ever hated Trojans of USC in 2008.
First, The Bengals
As a kid growing up, as I said, I was all about Talent. Usually talent prevailed, but not always. This was a very frustrating idea to me. Especially when I saw the brilliance of Bill Walsh on display vs my favorite pro team, the Cincinnati Bengals, in the 1982 Super Bowl.
Many fans just assume the more talented team wins – even when this is not the case. It just makes life easier. The truth of that 1982 Super Bowl was that the Bengals had more yards than the 49ers. The first time the Super Bowl loser actually out-gained the winner. The Bengals arguably were the more talented team. The 49ers, behind Walsh’s brilliant West Coast Offense, had the better team.
The 49ers did it again to the Bengals in the 1989 Super Bowl, when it could be argued that the Bengals once again matched the 49ers in Talent, if not Scheme. Actually, by that time, the Bengals had a new coach in Sam Wyche, who really developed some great schemes on Offense. Our Defense was also better equipped, scheme wise, than the 1981 team. But that last drive. THAT LAST DRIVE! ugh.
What does everyone say about The Drive? Two words… Joe Montana. But it was more than Joe. He was brilliant in the West Coast Scheme, but the Bengals played a horrible passive Prevent Defense that teams used so often during that time when ahead late in games.
The point of this Defense is to “prevent” big plays – keep everything in front of you – so the other team uses up the clock and doesn’t score. Before the innovation of the short to intermediate passing game, this actually worked. For the West Coast Offense – predicated on the intermediate passing game and running the 2 minute drill – this was disaster. Scheme foiled the Bengals once again.
Still, I could not see or accept this fact. It must be because Wyche simply lacked the motivational skills of Walsh, right? Wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth. If anything Walsh was more the analyzer, less the emotional leader. So then what??
Maybe Joe Montana is so great that he can beat all 11 players on the other side of the ball by himself (plus all the other players active during the game). Cmon…seriously?? Football is a Team game at its core. Montana was great, but there was never any “one man teams” out there in the history of the game. The closest would be the old Single Wing Tailbacks in the 20s led by Jim Thorpe, but that was a long time ago. Even then, it was still very much a team sport.
So then maybe it’s just Karma. Bad Luck. The Bengals are cursed and the 49ers just lucky. I HATE THE 49ERS! That’s usually what most fans are left with. The Hate.
USC vs OSU
This is what I was left with after USC ruined my New Years in 1980 when they beat the great ’79 Buckeye team by one point, 17-16. They ruined our National Championship run under our best ever QB to that point in Art Schlichter. (Never could spell that last name!).
My cousin and I were left crying and trying to understand, as young kids, what the heck just happened. Why couldn’t we stop the simple power running of Charles White. White never even turned out to be a great Pro!! What the heck!?? As Tressel would say.. FUDGE! I was left to think that the California kids must be more talented. More sunshine, so they run faster. Who knows!
It wasn’t the first time this happened. When I learned more about how USC ruined so many of our seasons throughout the 70s, I truly became a Hater of this Trojan Team. Even more than I hated Michigan. Until the 90s anyway when I went back to hating Michigan the most.
Throughout the 70s John McKay and John Robinson’s Power I Offenses burned through arguably more talented and fundamentally sound. Again, at worst, these teams were on the same level in this respect. But the “3 yards and a cloud of dust” of Woody Hayes and his protege Earl Bruce simply won’t producing consistent wins at the very top level anymore.
This continued through the 80s and 90s, first with Bruce as head coach, then with John Cooper. In the 00s. Jim Tressel finally got us that coveted National Title, in 2002. Then he created a string of great teams with the best recruiting in the business. But even he couldn’t get over the hump and win the big game consistently after his second season. Especially against the top schools from the South.
THIS is the setting I found myself in for the rematch against USC almost 20 years later in 2008.
OSU amazingly returned many of its top Seniors from 2007, who could have gone Pro. Plus they added in a great recruiting class led by their top QB recruit ever in Terrelle Pryor. This was a very talented team rivaling the super team of 2005. Probably the most talented in college football that season. This is not what people were saying after the USC game.
We lost 35-3. It was a complete debacle. Obviously the talk was the same as it always is – Talent, Talent, Talent. We didn’t have SEC and West Coast “speed”, even though our former coach John Cooper had already rectified this problem in the 90’s.
Coach Tressel continued to recruit speed when he got to OSU in the 00’s. We were told we weren’t fast enough to stay with Miami in the 2003 Title Game. Miami later said that our defense was the quickest they had seen all year. I knew this wasn’t a speed or talent issue.
I also knew it wasn’t motivation. Teaching fundamentals or “coaching up” our players to be the best they can be was never an issue at Ohio State. At least since the Paul Brown, then subsequent Woody Hayes era. The basic toughness and motivation needed to play this violent game has been at Ohio State for a long time. So what on God’s Green Earth was it??
Had it been a close loss, I would have gone back to my old standby – Luck and/or Karma. But cmon, I was getting too old for this now. I couldn’t continue to make the same lame excuses. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to admit we were so inferior in talent. That would have been more ludicrous than saying it was Karma. We were, at the very least, in the same ballpark athletically with this USC team.
So if it wasn’t talent or the overall coaching, I ask again – what were we all seeing on the field?? In the famous words of the coaching legend Vince Lombardi, “What the heck is going on out there!!??”
The Debacle
My hate for USC after that game had reached epic proportions and I had to find out for myself. I could no longer accept these losses without a further understanding of what’s happening on the field.
That’s when I finally decided to do it. I had to review every play of this horrid loss. Much to the dismay of my good Buckeye friend Jimmy Kimmel. He asked me “How can you put yourself through that??” I had to. I couldn’t let it go. I knew we were a better team than this. Gosh Darn It!
At the bottom of this post is the product of a 2 month study I did of this game during the fall of 2008. For the first time I finally realized how important schemes were to the game of football. We were thoroughly out schemed on both Offense and Defense. USC’s QB said as much when asked about the TD pass to the FB racing down the left sideline early in the game. Yeah, the Fullback. Mark Sanchez said point blank that he knew what defense OSU would be in – at least on that play. That is a big statement to make. One that we rarely hear uttered from opposing players or coaches. There is no doubt that USC was far ahead of OSU in this element of the game.
The key for me was turning a negative into a positive. There was something other teams were doing in their schemes that OSU was not. First step – who the heck was running these subtle, yet very effective schemes on the USC offense??
Steve Sarkisian – The First (for me anyway)
Steve Sarkisian. At the time I thought this was the greatest offensive mind in football. I wouldn’t say that now, but that’s not an insult to Coach Sarkisian. There are a lot of great offensive minds out there right now.
It’s true. I hate USC with a deep passion,. But I have to give respect where respect is due. I’m not 100% sure of his abilities as a Head Coach, but as an OC, Sarkisian is one of the best. No doubt about it.
With the naming of Steve Sarkisian as the new Head Coach at USC, the timing of this post fits perfectly into the scheme of this website. Sarkisian was a top QB for BYU in the 90s under OC Norm Chow, who later brought his young protege to the USC dynasty of the 00s.
Chow had already perfected the BYU offense by the time Sarkisian became the starting QB. BYU under Lavelle Edwards was one of the first passing spreads in the 70s. They were not a Spread Set team (4 WRs) the Run+Shoot scheme, in early development around the same time, But after the snap BYU spread the field very quickly, using mobile QBs and quick WRs to exploit the intermediate and short passing game. The hatching of this idea took place years earlier in the innovative offense of the grandfather of the modern passing game – Sid Gillman.
His West Coast Offense of the 60s was later perfected by Bill Walsh’s West Coast version in the 80s. Ironically, Walsh had ties to BYU, back in the 60s and 70s, while an assistant coach under Paul Brown of the Cincinnati Bengals. The same team and coach that later snubbed Walsh for the head job and incurred his wrath in the 80s as Head Coach of the SanFrancisco 49ers.
From this came Norm Chow, with his expertise, to USC. By the time Sarkisian came to USC as a QB Coach, Chow had combined his multiple quick pass attack with the great talent brought in by USC under Head Coach Pete Carroll. The results were fantastic. Once Sarkisian took over as OC in 2007, USC was already being recognized as the Offense of the Decade, if not Team of the Decade.
Sarkisian took the scheme one step further into the modern age as he experimented with quick snaps, quick huddles, and even some Power Spread Read Options in an attempt to expand the multiplicity of his offense. After becoming the head coach at Washington, Sarkisian wisely went full blast Power Spread football.
Once I learned about Sarkisian’s offensive brilliance it was time to move on. What was going on in the College Football world at large? What would I see now, with new eyes and a clearer vision.
Why not start at the top with the vaunted SEC.
SEC Dominance
After this analysis I went to work at a fever pitch. I started to wonder if all the talk about the SEC was really the coaches and their schemes rather than the “ultra talented” athletes at these Southern schools. I started by going back and reviewing the recruiting of many top teams to really determine who had the most talent, who was being “coached up”, and who had the best schemes.
With the help of Phil Steele’s great Magazine and, of course, the internet, I reviewed the recruiting for the top teams of the Big 10, Pac 10, Big 12 and most of the SEC.
For sure the SEC had the most depth and recruited the most players, but the top teams in the other big conferences were right with the SEC in terms of talent. In fact, the most talent in the 00s may not have even resided in the SEC. From my research, the best talent arguably belonged to OSU & USC with OU and Texas in the mix. LSU and Georgia were the 2 SEC schools right behind these four. Later in the decade during Urban Meyer’s reign, Florida was also at the top of this list. Surprisingly, Michigan was right up there early on in the decade as they are a very underrated school in terms of recruiting and talent.
Others can do their own research and may come up with a different analysis. I won’t argue over who had the most talent of the decade, but I will argue if someone says that OSU and UM weren’t even in the running. I will also argue with anyone who says that the SEC had the most talented conference and IT WASN’T EVEN CLOSE. No matter what – it’s close. The best schools in the Big Conferences are all close in recruiting.
The facts are that the SEC is a very talented conference and was winning more than the other Conferences, but it wasn’t just the talent alone. Where did the Decade Dominance come from then?
Seeing that the SEC had the highest paid assistants, combined with my newfound awareness of Schemes, I started studying film. I watched two things – the quality of the players vs their High School Recruiting rankings and the quality of the players being enhanced or diminished within the schemes being employed.
What I found was many lower ranked, but speedy recruits in the SEC having great careers. Especially on the Defensive side of the ball. Especially at places like LSU, who ran aggressive defensive schemes under top notch coaches. This was a win for coaching over rankings in the recruiting game.
Another important factor was the number of great assistant coaches in the SEC in both fundamentals and scheme. They recruited with their Schemes in mind – knowing they will find a place for these speedy athletes regardless of position or ranking.
Lastly, the vision by the SEC Head Coaches at these schools to put these staffs together in a single unified direction was second to none. Great coaching, players and schemes = national championships at the power conference level.
Therefore, this was not just about talent like so many thought. Nor was it all about speed. Yes, speedy recruits were the order of the day, but certainly other big schools in big conferences weren’t left without speed on their roster. Other schools simply did not use the speed they had as well as the SEC did – especially the Big 10. Nor did these schools recruit with these concepts in mind.
Thus the SEC teams tended to find a higher quantity of speedy, “lesser” recruits and let them RUN FREE on the field. Without the constraint of bad schemes and constant adherence to mistake-free football. Make mistakes. Just create more big plays for yourselves through the speed and the shackle free schemes.
Times, they are a changin’
Times are changing – everyone is catching up to these Power Spread ideas across the board. But just when you think the SEC is going down, they bring in top Power Spread Teams from the Big 12 and the best Power Spread coach out there in Gus Malzahn. So their reign isn’t quite over yet.
As for all this talk of Schemes, I have grown a lot since 2008. While I started out trying to understand the more intricate schemes of Sarkisian and others like Chris Peterson of Boise State, I soon realized the advantages of the simplicity of the Power Spread.
Soon after, I realized this wasn’t just about Offense, or even Defense, but everything that goes into a Football Team, both on and off the field.
Now, I’ve spread the power of my mind not only across the Game of Football, but across the Game of Life. The Power Spread is all about finding the Power thru the Spread of the Mind, not by the Punch of the Fist. True Power links directly to the Heart.
Once the heart is activated and spreading and everyone is on the same page – EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE. We are not only in the Age of Aquarius, but also the age of the Power Spread. Football is a great microcosm of where we have been and where we are headed as a human culture. In the end, it’s always about people. More so it’s always about Life.
Here It Is!
So, finally, here is that 2008 analysis from one crazed Buckeye fan.
Please excuse some of the less clear elements and my shoddy play calling at times. I was new to this whole thing, but I learned quickly. It didn’t take a genius to recognize OSU’s ineptness in schemes as a big part of the reason for this debacle.
Numbers in parenthesis under “Series” equates to the # of times that a set was used. If there are 2 numbers in parenthesis, the first is the # of times the set has been used, the second is the # of times that particular variation of the set has been used.
Numbers by a player’s name are the actual uniform number of that particular player for viewing purposes.
SG=Shotgun. LOS=Line of Scrimmage. QO=Quick Out. Etc… (I can’t remember if I had RO=Read Option in there yet?)
The original Microsoft Word version has many colors attached. Red for great plays by OSU. Grey for good schemes by OSU. Yellow (scared) for passive, conservative, ineffective sets and schemes. Green (sick to my stomach) for bad execution by OSU players. Light Blue (Wussy) for bad execution by the Refs.
The colors did not come through below and until the time I know how to link the original document to WP, anyone can email me at thepowerspread@gmail.com for the original version with color coding.
Enjoy.
2008 OSU at USC
1ST QUARTER
| SERIES | OSU | USC |
YDS |
DESCRIPTION |
| 1STOSU | KR – Slow wedge scheme | KO – Aggressive high risk extrahead hunter attack |
11 1st+10 |
USC playing high risk with their speed from the start sending a lot of guys right at the ball carrier creating an opportunity for a big play on either side! We did a conventional wedge not accounting or the USC aggression. The aggression and speed from future starters DB 27 Jones and LB 6 Smith flew by the slow developing wedge and Boom didn’t stand a chance. |
| 1-TRIPSr<2TEl>(1) | Counter R Boom (1) | 4-3 (1) |
2 2nd+8 |
Boom hesitant(1st play) and down to easy on hand tackle by Ellison;99 Spicer threw aside Cordle; Weak block Hartline on 4 Ellison; |
| 2-SPLIT WRr(1)(1) | Flat RSmall | 4-3 (2) |
1 3rd+7 |
New set-Def unsure. Typical Pre Read and slow motion by Boeckman = Easy read for speedy 58 Maualuga. Small almost broke it anyway with his speed, If Boeckman was going to pre read at least do it quicker and give OUR speed guy a chance! Cordle beat up by Spicer again! |
| 3-SPLIT RBl(TE Up)(2)(1) | Draw Boom (1) | NICKEL: 2LB Blitz!3 CBs Man Up4 Man Up on TE(1) |
4 4th+3 |
GREAT PLAY CALL, TERRIBLE SCHEME MISSING OUT ON A BIG RUN!! USC showed no respect for our wrs or our play calling and we would have burned them for a big play HAD Nicol simply been sent into the flat instead of staying in to block. Ellison was 1 on 1 with him and was the only player in between Boom and a big play that would have burned the overaggressive Trojans! As it happened, Nicol was wasted, blocking 75 Moala with Browning letting 84 Moore free to reach in and barely trip up Boom making for an easy tackle by Ellison who shouldn’t have been in the play in the 1st place!!! |
| 1STUSC | P – Scheme-Trap on sideline | PR – DangerousMcKnight |
3 1st+10 |
Our turn to show OSU SPEED! McKnight covered on all angles by speedy OSU who blew by the Trojan blocking scheme and forced McKight OOB. |
| 1-FBSlotl 2WRrMotion TB(2)l-WR(1) | 4-32 Man Up | Quick In R 18WRs – FlyFB Flat OutTE Out StopSL WR Quick In |
INC 2nd+10 |
MISCOMMUNICATION. 18 Williams ran a stop intstead of continuing into a skinny slant. Sanchez anticipated the slant. Freeman was on Williams and started to come off of him to run to the flat in his zone responsibility. Had Sanchez and Williams been on the same page this would have been a nice 1st play. Had we started aggressive with pressure and man to man Freman could have used his speed and been in position for a great opening turnover instead of “thinking” too much in our zone. We have smart players and coaches but may be making it too complicated – let these guys fly like the “dumb,fast” SEC. |
| 2-2TEl Motion WR(8)rXD(1) | 4-32 Man Up | Fake Reverse(8)RB Slam 4 |
1 3rd+9 |
Great preparation and read. CB(2) blitzed off the WR motion. Jenkins almost too quick but made the shoe string tackle. The rest of the front 7 (except for a good read by Holman) followed the reverse making it easy for the oline and a big gain if not for Jenkins. |
| 3-SG TRIPSr Motion RB(4)rwide(1)(1) | NICKEL(90OLBrush)33 Blitz Look(drops)2, 7(5B) Up (Off) | Middle Screen 8 |
Inc 4th+9 |
Oline slow executing, banged into Johnson attempting to catch the screen. Good push from Worthington and Abdallah tied up the blockers O’Dowd and Heberer just long enough to cause the confusion. |
| 2NDOSU | PR – No Return | P – High Deep Punt |
0 |
Good Punt |
| 1-SG 2TEr 2WRl(1)(2)(1) | QB OptionR – KeepBoeckman Slashes | Safety up (2)CBs Man Up |
4 2nd+6 |
Good run blocks Browning(on93) and Ballard(on58!). Bad block Nichol on 43 Maiava who forced Boeckman into easy tackle for 2 Mays. Nice call to set up the idea of option without Prior on the field. |
| 2-2TE 2WRl (3)(2) | Play ActionrRollout Runl | 10 LOSSafety Up (4)CBs Man Up |
4 3rd+2
|
Good call to start Prior off. Defense played it safe with 1st look at Prior. Great finesse fake by Prior pretending to let up and be going out of bounds then put on a burst for a couple of xtra yds. 4 Ellison let up thinking he was going oobs as Prior burst past him. Magic – can’t teach this kind of creative intuition. |
| 3-SLOT RBr(TE Up 3pt) (1)(1) | Quick InL RoboWRs/RB Downfield | 10 on LOS (backsoff); CBs Man Up |
4{5} 1st+10
|
New set–Def unsure. Boeckman pre read, but good pass. 24 Wright aggressive, just misses deflection. 75 Moala too aggressive, jumping early, inducing 93 Griffen to start his outside rush to quick – offsides. |
| 4-TRIPSr(2) | Slam R BoomNICE RUN! | 5-2 (10 LOS, 47- Standup RushE); 24 Man up (off) |
6 2nd+4 |
Defense had an aggressive run slant on where the LOS slants into the gaps (similar to what OSU does). Rehrig made a quick adjustment sealing off 44, but Boone brain cramped and froze after getting by the dline. Boom hit the hole quick smacked into Boone who finally used his big body to seal off 58 AND 43. Boom’s SMASHMOUTH running made this a nice gain, but could have been more with a lucid Boone. |
| 5-PISTOLl 2WRr(1)(1) | PAlRollr– Hart QOR UpBack(3) Flatr; SL WR deep outr; TE DeepCrossr | 5-2 (10,47) |
5 1st+10 |
New set – Def unsure again. Great call for 1st PISTOL an great scheme flooding one side of the field with QB rollout, UpBack(3) crossing into right flat, TE(86) crossing into the deep middle of the right side of the field, the inside WR(Robo) a deep out and our outside Wr(Hart) a quick out to completet it. Boeckman pre-read AGAIN. Had Ballard wide open for big gain and Saine also open with room to run underneath. Elected to go conservatively to Hartline (OutWR) on the sideline for minimal gain reducing the effect of a great set, scheme and play call! |
| 6-SLOT RBl(TE Up 3pt) (2)(2) | Rolll-Sanzo SqOut LSL WR Deep SeamRB Hook; WR Cross | 5-2 (10,47)4 up; 24 Man Up |
14 1st+10 |
Another nice call with USC watching for Prior run. Prior’s genius uses that to his advantage by showing “run” for the briefest of seconds, bringing the lbs up and creating space to fit a pass into a wide open Sanzo on the sideline. Good composure, smooth roll, quick release. He makes it look easy |
| 7-TRIPSl(3) | Counter L BoomHard Run Again BULLDOZER! Boom pumping up the team! | BEAR Defense(2 Ends(47,10) on same side with S(4) in the Box.8 men in the Box. CBs Man Up) |
5 2nd+5 |
Same run out of same formation 3rd time – this time USC puts 8 men in the box. The only reason we gained 5 yds instead of a loss was the over aggression of Carrol’s D which slanted the wrong way again, tough blocking by our line[including a great block by Ballard(47)], and pure SMASHMOUTH by BOOM! Boone is great as long as its simple – he went right for 43 and dwarfed him at least 5 yds away from the ball while Nichol fought with Cushing keeping him sealed to the outside. Boom not only ran hard but made a nice initial move to avoid 58 Maualuga who easily read this now predictable scheme and filled the hole quickly. Boom faked outside, darted inside of the onrushing 58, banged into Ballard,Person and Mathews then pushed a gathering pile for 4 yds!! |
| 8-SG 3WRr(1) | Draw orPlay Action? | 5-2: 43 Blitz! 4 up;CBs Man up (Off) |
{5} 1st+10 |
43 Moala over aggressive jumped offside when trying to time the blitz! Carroll doesn’t seem to upset. I think the energy is so good its better to have mistakes out of aggression, than caution. The attitude of the SEC, BIG 12, and PAC 10 is “flying around-cutting it loose” and other conferences are following. OSU is too much about PERFECTION and that’s why our fast athletes look slow at times. |
| 9-SLOT RBr(TE Up 3pt) (3)(3) | Fake Rollr QB DrawLNice Run – Prior faked out 43 and buckled 47 who’s still looking for his jockstrap! | 5-2; 4 upCBs Man Up |
4 2nd+6 |
GREAT FORMATION, SCHEME AND PLAY CALL, using USC’s overaggression against them-especiallly effective on the road.Set up beautifully because of USC’s worry of Prior passing from his last play. This made it easy for our Oine this time, taking a page out of the USC book. If Ballard and Rehring hadnt been picking their butts and laid a body on the 2 ILBs(58,43) then would have been another big gain!! OSU’s Oline doesn’t seem to be versed in how to get after the 2nd line (linebackers) and it certainly isn’t a matter of athleticism, for while Rehrig may certainly be overweight, Ballard is a good blocker and athletic enough to get a body on someone in space! This could also be another sign of trying to be to perfect instead of getting aggressive and just get after someone! Space certainly isnt a problem for Prior who’s ability to get 4 yds from nothing is a tribute to his great talent. Spicer continues his great play, mauling 64 again and coming back to get Prior from behind. |
| 10-TRIPSl(4) | Counter L Boom4 in a ROW! This isnt the 60’s – this doesn’t work anymore! | 5-2; 7 Man Up4 Moves Up to LOS!!! |
5 3rd+1 |
This time USC slants their Dline the right way but amazingly they over shoot and Boom makes a quick cutback! OSU runs the same play out of this formation 4 TIMES IN A ROW to start and it keeps working because Caroll’s defense is playing TOO aggressive!(!) And also because Boom is making quick cuts and running hard since after his first carry. Unlike Boom, Boone isn’t aggressive enough – at least this time he gets a body on 58, but he’s stood up and gets blasted from behind again by Boom! Again, we are so close to a big gainer, because Rehring ENVELOPED Spicer while 75,43,47 ran themselves out of the play creating a huge hole except for Boone’s “shield” of 58. And, again, we prove more adept when it’s a simple block than in space! Not necessarily because of speed, but more because of a lack of aggression. |
| 11-2TE 2WRr(4)(3) | QB Sneak | 10 LOS; 2 In Box24 Man up |
1 1st+10 |
Nice call – USC seemed confused by the 2WR set. Quick call Boeckman –LBs not set – easy 1st Down. |
| 12– SLOT RBr(TE Up 3pt) (4)(4) | QB Draw L?70 Offsides | 5-2; 4 UpCBs Man Up |
{-5} 1st+15 |
Browning and Rehring both flinched at same time so it wasn’t just the rookie-definitely a team thing.False Start. Person was pulling and Browning was blocking down. Looked like another QB Draw. |
| 13-PISTOLl 3WRr(2)(1) | Quick Out L RoboSLWR Deep;WR QSt | 4-3; 2 UpCBs Man Up |
5 2nd+10 |
Boeckman Pre Read, though this was probably the correct guy to hit. Cushing racing to Sanzo sitting near other sideline–may have been an interesting one on one, but too much of a risky throw at this stage of the game. |
| 14-SG 3WRr(2) | Draw BoomHard Run Again | 4-3; 10 LOS Blitz! CBs Man Up |
2 3rd+8 |
Almost caught Carrol’s overaggressive D again, but we are starting to already get a little too predictable. 43 read draw all the way(though 58 didn’t!), but still could have been a bigger gain if Browning was more aggressive with 84, who pushed Browning into the pulling Rehring causing him to stumble and get blown up by 58. Boom running hard, up a lineman’s back again!! Too bad Boom can’t block for himself! |
| 15-SG TRIPSr(1)(5) | Midde Screen BoomGreat Set up by Boeckman and Set Up Block Boom!BOOM SMASH- MOUTH AGAINLOST HELMET! | BLITZ LOOK! FAKE3 DL, 3 LB, 5B(36)All on LOS! All drop except DL + 47!! |
12 1st + GOAL at the 5 |
Great Defensive Scheme (84 joins 75 at DT with 93 at DE + 47 Stand Up w/ 2 LBs!) But a BETTER PLAY CALL! Adding SG after 4 boring TRIPS looks, then pulling off a middle screen borders on Genius! Great call by USC to FAKE, for had they come full blitz this may have been a TD! Great Scheme to have Nichol/Hartline run deep with Ballard to the flat. Clears everyone out for BOOM! Great “touch” block Boom on over aggressive 93 Griffen who stumbles over his own feet while Boom takes the screen and rambles! Nice seal block by Browning(84), but again IN SPACE its Person’s turn to Pick His Butt!!! He wasted time “thinking” about 43 who Boom was flying by anyway, while he could have helped Nichol who was getting beat up by 58 who made the tackle. Maualuga has stood up all of our Oline and TE’s so far, yet BOOM smashed into him and STOOD HIM UP!! BOOM IS LEADING THIS DRIVE-JUST LIKE OHIO!! HE AND PRIOR THE ONLY AGGRESSIVE ONES ON OFFENSE!! |
| 16-4WR TEl(1) | QB Draw | 5-2 (93 Stand Up)CBs Man Up |
-4 2nd+ GOAL |
100% knew this was coming. Spread the field and run Prior. 93 stayed outside for contain, while the 2 LBs just keyed Prior. Dline slanted left. Boone + Rehring cleared out(again, good as long as its right in front of them), but the aggressive slant slowed our pulling G again and Person late for 43+58 who knew what was coming. |
| 17-SG 3WRr(3) | QB OptionL- KeepUGLY – we already showed this earlier in the drive | 5-2 (93 Stand Up)58+10 Blitz!Man on Man |
-4 3rd + GOAL (13) |
Again – making it easy for USC. They didn’t know pass or run, but they were not afraid of single coverage on us at the goaline so they attacked the LOS to blow up a run or short pass which is our tendency. The QB Option fooled no one and on it was run to the short side of the field which made it even tougher. Rehring tried to pull but attacking Moala quick enough to blow him up into Boeckman before he could pull. Krenzel ugly! |
| 18-SPLIT RBr(TE Up 3 Pt)(3)(2) | Draw BoomThank God for Penalty! (75!) | 4-3; 10 LOS58+10 Blitz!Man on Man |
{-5} 3rd Dn (18) |
USC FEELING IT AS CROWD GOING CRAZY after 2 terrible play calls. 58 bouncing around threatening blitz at the LOS. 93 jumps, which makes Boone flinch. Crowd noise and nerves=False Start! Not only that, but we were going to RUN ANOTHER DRAW!! Oline error as Boone and TE blocking 93 letting 75 with free shot at Boom! |
| 19– TRIPSr(6) | Counter R BoomWHAT ELSE! | 4-3: 10 LOS24 Man on Man7 Man Up |
6 4th + GOAL (12) |
Not that this is a horrible call-its no time to panic, but the same formation and run 5 times in one Qtr alone!! The only wrinkle with this formation was the SG which produced a big play! Good push Cordle, Browning, pulling Rehring and again quick move then smashmouth Boom! USC almost seemed surprised that we ran there. We can almost be tricky with our ineptness! And once again our Oline seems built for smashmouth , not for space – at least this particular one led by big mooses Boone and Rehring. |
| 20-FG | GOOD | ——– |
29 Yd FG |
Herbstriet points out the time we consumed time off the clock. Agreed-good clock management, but doesn’t excuse the terrible goaline offense which cost us a TD! Its like we think we are dealing with 80’s HS coaches. We are playing Tiger Woods and leaving the Birdie Putts Short!! |
| 2NDUSC | KO – Only to 8 | KR – Wedge also. Shorter KO easier. |
18 1st+10 |
USC also tries to use a wedge scheme – it works a little better for 2 reasons – the set it up closer to the runner and the KO wasn’t to the goal line this time. Holding on 45(10),47(38),21(24)- NOTHING CALLED! 38 Spitler fights off the hold and makes the tackle with speedy Gant! |
| 1-TRIPSTr(2) | 4-3; 1 LOS;2 Man Up; 21 Up | Quick Ct! PAlRollr Flat R 18; WRs DF |
8 2nd+2 |
Nice Play Action and Rollout. The In Trips WR and far WR went deep. Sanchez took a peek then fires a strike on the move to Williams on the sideline. Definitely a better talent than Boeckman with his legs, release and decision making. PA held Freeman from getting out to the flat. |
| 2-3WRl RBSlotrMotion RB(4)TB(1)(1) | 4-3; 2 Man Up | Slam L 4 |
9 1st+10 |
The RB starting off in the slot kept Holman too far off the LOS. What looks to be no one behind Sanchez keeps the safeties deep. It also seemed to give OSU a slight hesitation to help out the Oline again. Holman was easy pickings for O’Dowd, Brown aggressively went after Laurinitis and no help from the Safties. With the Dline slanting the wrong way and Freeman out on the slot WR, McKnight just needed to run it hard up the field for an quick 8 yards. USC’s Oline definietly is more aggressive to the 2nd level. They look for someone to hit! This play becomes intricate by simply starting with an empty backfield and motioning McKnight back behind Sanchez.The subtlety of Sargasian is genius. |
| 3-SG 3WRrSanchez Wider!!McKnight at QB!!Motion WR(8)rx(1)(2)(1)(1) | 4-3; 1 LOS;2 Man on Man;5, 4 Man Up;Confusion on who’s to cover Sanchez?? | QB READ OPTION QB Keeps(QB-4, RB-31) |
11 1st+10 |
AMAZING! After the subtlety comes this! Spread Sanchez wide – the D is completely clueless- run the classic Rodriguez QB Option Run with McKnight. It’s a fantastic scheme and good time in the game to use it, but it can be risky having a RB handle the football this early in a big game. As usual USC (and the other top teams) take aggressive risks not usually seen with OSU. Appropriately, McKnight almost fumbles the fake to Havili, but he made the right decision to keep it as the Oline pushed a confused, passive front 7 to the left, Wilson had outside contain (the motion WR(8) had him) and there was a big hole for the “QB”. A quick burst leads to 11 and another 1st down. Could have been a lot worse (Jenkins overan the following the motion and Turner made a nice block on Coleman) if not for the great athleticism of our LBs to break away from the muck-Holman made a quick reach back to trip 4 up and Laurinitis got off an attempted hold by 53 Byers to finish. This is another example of Sargasian making it VERY EASY for the Oline – pushing around a very passive, confused Buckeye D. |
| 4– TE Splitl 2WRrMotion WR(18)Ql(1) | 4-3; 1 LOS;2,4 Up: EVERYONE BACKS OFF! The D is shellshocked | Outlet L GableFB Deep SL;86 Deep SeamSLWR Deep Seam18 Quick In |
6 2nd+4 |
We are clueless after 3 great schemes in a row. We “FAKE” aggression then back everyone off. At this point USC is gaining in confidence realizing we can’t keep up , SCHEME WISE”. It was fortunate, in a way, that we backed off because the primary receiver was the FB down the sideline. USC runs the TE down the seam hoping to hook Havili up with a LB – THEY LOVE THIS PLAY. AGAIN TAKING BETTER ADVANTAGE OF THEIR TALENT – Havili is small, but he’s fast and a good WR. But since we backed off we had the coverage. Good patience by Sanchez(Worthington beat up Byers and was in Sanchez’s face) and recognition by Gable to release when there wasn’t anyone open downfield.. Gable caused Freeman to lose his jock strap then battled hard against our 33,51 for an extra yard. We had Havili but still gave up 6 to the outlet! Still, it could have been worse – we get burned 3 plays later by this same exact play!! |
| 5-I TESlotrMotion TE(89)Slotl(1) | 4-3; 51 Blitz!CBs Man on Man! | PAr; Deep OutR 1 WR/TE Deep L Sanchez pressured |
INC 3rd+4 |
Holman got by BOTH RBs to get a hand in QB’s face! Great throw under pressure, though it was low, Diving try by Turner who got his hands on it and probably should have had it! Wilson burned Lewis but was held! Our man coverage was tight! As long as we are equal scheme wise we win the battle!! Proving we have just as much talent and speed and more experience! It’s a shame! |
| 6-SG 3WRr(2)(3) | NICKEL; CBs/5B Man on Man;Blanket Cov-2 | QuickStopL TurnerTE, SLWR Q;WR FlyGreat Pass/Catch! |
5 1st+10
|
Great coverage Jenkins, good throw and great grab Turner. Nice pass block Lewis, getting back quickly, on Gibson. Wilson jumped and was called for offside(Why is speedy Wilson on the interior and Heyward outside??). USC’s Griffen did the same thing earlier and didn’t get called! They declined the penalty because what looked like a 4 yard catch and a close call for the 1st the refs gave him 5 yards?? |
| 7-TESplitl 2WRrMotionWR(18)Ql(2) | 4-3; 1 LOS4,5 Up;33 Fake BlitzSafety (4) BLITZ! | EXACT SAME AS 4!Set + Patterns!FB Deep Sideline L Great pattern, great pass and fantastic catch – barely! |
35 TD! Catch 31 |
Bad scheme – not a bad call. OSU came on a blitz having seen pass from this formation twice before – trying to stunt the growing momentum on the road. The blitz worked well 2 plays earlier and the man coverage almost worked last play. The problem wasn’t that we were trying to be aggressive, BUT the scheme we used! Blitzing Coleman from so far off the LOS is really hard against the quick passing west coast offense USC uses. AND if OSU does a blitz “crazy” then they must cover themselves if the other team attacks. Jenkins played off on the other side which helped, but our LBs got screwed. Freeman was trying to chuck the TE, then the FB at the LOS, causing him to start a step slow on Havili. That “step” was the TD! Laurinitis was faking blitz at the LOS – that’s ok, but he needs to get out of that quick and get deep – he didn’t – the TE was getting past him, causing Jenkins to start to slide to the seam, leaving Havili and his “step” open for the TD. Wilson’s first step a bit slow due to “contain” worry. More Sargasian brilliance that’s nullifying our speed and helping his young Oline! Tressel trying to pump defense up as they come off the field. That’s not the problem – keeping up with Sargasian’s schemes are the problem! |
| 3RDOSU | KR – No Return | KO – 5 yds into EZ |
NR 1st+10 |
Good Kick [Note on USC TD drive: Scheme wise OSU isnt as far behind USC on the Defensive side as on the Offensive side. On Offense we have a whole philosophical issue of a lack of aggression, while the Defense has a more aggressive attitde and its just an adjustment here and there. Yet because of Sargasian’s brilliance it doesn’t matter – same result! THIS IS ABOUT TO BE A BLOWOUT!!] |
| 1– TRIPSr(7) | Slam R BoomAGAIN!!!! | 8 IN BOX!CB(36)Man on Man7 Up |
2 2nd+8 |
Its one thing when playing it safe and keeping it one’s head and getting 3 pts out of the last drive–BUT THIS IS NOW 6 FOR 6 TRIPS (W/O SG) RUNS THE SAME!! USC obviously is on to this – crowding the box and looking for Counter or Slam with Boom. They even made the adjustment to stop aggressively slanting the Dline and didn’t run themselves out of the play this time. Ellison in the Box makes the tackle after Spicer got a hand in there. Even with this we could have gained more thanks to Boom’s hard running , but again another blocker picking his butt when he needs to attack the 2nd level. Ellison basically brushed Person aside. I really cant figure out what Person was doing – he could have attacked a “little” safety!! A more fired up Cordle held his own for a second with Spicer then was thrown away. He’s simply not as strong! |
2ND QUARTER
| SERIES | OSU | USC |
YDS |
DESCRIPTION |
| 2-SPLIT RBl(4)(3) | No Play-Oline worryof USC scheme | 5-2; CBs Man7, 43 showing Blitz |
{-5} 2nd+13 |
Boone called for False Start. Herbstreit was wrong to say he flinched. What actually happened is that Boone was barking line schemes down the line while Boeckman already started the count. Boone then set himself for a pass block and the ref called that a false start. Boone livid! |
| 3– SPLIT RBl(4)(3) | Outlet Boom LWRs Downfield | 5-2; CBs Man7, 43 showing Blitz7,47 off; 43 Blitz! |
6 3rd+7 |
Picked up blitz well, but good defensive call to drop 47 an 10. No threat deep with Boeckman’s new preoccupation with the short pass. Cushing and Mathews on Boom right away. In a way the schemes have done it again –USC could afford to play it safe with 2nd+13. It was 2nd+13 because of Boone’s extra attention focused on a the blocking schemes to combat what USC is doing. |
| 4-SG 3WRr(4) | Fake Draw RollrOut and Up HartlineWR Hook/SL O+U!SE Cross | NICKEL; 7, 36(5B)Man to Man |
INC 4th+7 |
Actually a good play call and scheme. We’ve run the 1st 3 times out of this formation setting up PA and with aggressive man coverage the out and up by Hartline is classic. Problem is that 93 Griffen DESTROYED Nichol like a paperweight. LSU all over again – its not our speed but our strength! If not for the fake this would have been a sack! Even in a 4-3 Nickel package USC is aggressive with Man coverage including 10(TE) and 58(RB). So when the TE stayed in to block Cushing went after Boeckman who was already in trouble from Griffen. A nice job by him to get out of the pocket and put it on Hartline’s hands. Speaking of speed, Hartline got behind the over aggressive USC DBs and would have had it save a nice come back by 36 Pinkard. A little further downfield from a harried Boeckman – maybe? – but more importantly, had Nichol made his block this is one where we made a better call than USC and could have been a big gainer. Another missed opportunity! |
| 3RDUSC | P – OOB | PR – NR |
NR 1st+10 |
Can really see the Buckeye speed on the PR coverage[Note:SL reporting that USC feels they can’t be stopped on offense, while the news on the OSU SL is everyone can’t wait till Prior gets in and his enthusiasm on the SL. There’s the rub! USC has superior schemes- we wait on God] |
| 1-PROr 2WRl(1) | 4-3: 1 LOS Blitz!4 Up | Quick Count!Slam R McKnightNice quick move |
4 2nd+6 |
Holds – Heberer(93), McCoy(87), Lewis(51), Byers(72) and Brown(9). Not the most obvious holds, but the REF WAS RIGHT THERE! Either the refs are payed off or UCS has perfected the art of the “HOLD” or the Quick Count. Good penetration Abdallah and good hit once Holman got away from Lewis, but overall the OSU front 7 is catching and they cant be aggressive because they are not sure what’s coming at them. Sargasian’s great schemes have a shellshock effect. This Oline of USC definitely has some talent, but it’s the least experienced in years and OSU can’t take advantage. |
| 2-STACKl 2TESlotl(1)(1) | 4-3; CB(2)Blitz! | Out L Williams-SlipFrontWR Deep Post SLTE Flat L |
INC 3rd+6 |
Another Sargasian wrinkle. Keeps in TE and RB to block which works perfect because of Corner Blitz. Helping his Oline out again. Larimore, Rose and Jenkins all get good pressure but Sanchez gets rid of it quick. Nice pattern scheme sending one WR deep and using TE in flat to open up the Stop for the other WR – no slip = another completion and 1st down. |
| 3-2TElMotion WR(8)r(2) | NICKEL; 90 Down Drops Zone Blitz;XBlitz 1+33! 2 Man | Qhook R Turner SLTE Flat L; SE,TE, FL Qhooks;RB FlatR |
9 1st+10 |
More slow developing blitzes that can’t do anything against the quick West Coast. And if we do blitz we need Man to Man – we stayed in zone off a blitz! Great read, quick release Sanchez. Great short pattern scheme but this doesn’t work if we don’t “slow” blitz and/or we go man to man! Turner bulldozes Jenkins for extra yards. Wilson conservative approach off the edge again. |
| 4-TRIPSl(Stag)I-T(3)(1) | 4-3; 1 Man Up on Trips; 2 Man on Man; Safeties way off | Quick Count!Slam R McKnight; |
24 1st+10 |
More wrinkles with the “staggered” Trips (TE closer to OT), but more importantly the quick snap! First use of the clock! The OSU defense, front and back 7!, are completely on their heels! Blatent hold by Lewis on Wilson AND COMPLETE “QUICK SNAP” TAKEDOWN BY O’DOWD ON 93!(2ND MISSED HOLDS ON THE QUICK COUNT- IS THIS QUICK SNAP HURTING THE REFS?!)to help open a huge hole along with a great,LEGAL,block by Turner(2). Herbstreit busy talking about McKnight’s burst, totalling missing the holds on Wilson/Abdallah and the OSU speed when Russel-even with the angle–easily caught McKnight and forced him OOBs, saving a potential TD. Holman needs to “go thru” the blocker instead of around, but may have felt pressure to close the hole produced by the holding! |
| 5– FBSlotr TElMotion FBlx(2)(1) | 4-3CBs Man; S Up | QB HalfRolllOutlet L HaviliTB Out+Up SL RFL Post; SE HookFB/TE Block |
12 {+7} 1st + GOAL (7) |
OSU D on their heels looking for run. Perfect call USC. Great pattern scheme again! Sanchez slight Roll L, FB+TE stay into block and push the slanting DL completetly out of the picture. No one open – Sanchez could have run, but wisely waited, showing great feet in drawing the Dline to him before dumping it. Whole offense working in unison -FB release-TE,LT and LG immediately went after 2nd level-Havili, with great running instincts, cuts back using his blockers- looked like a planned middle screen. Besides better schemes, USCs Oline has better teaching! Herbstreit raving about Oline, not realizing USC kept 7 in to block!! Wilson getting frustrated by all of this late hit Sanchez!(Can u blame him?) |
| 6-FBSlotl WRTl(3)(1) | 4-3; OLBs LOS;21-ILB; 5 Man Up8 Men in the Box | Slam L GableNice jukes! |
6 2nd + GOAL |
Good aggressive play call-bad scheme/use of talent! 8 Men in the Box/Dline slanted aggressively to the run! Russel the “4th” LB – Why him?? Why not Moeller who’s actually a speedy LB who can fill the hole and also cover the TE. Or how about Sabino or Holman who are also fast LBs! We finally had the right call and our Dline got a good push(especially Worthington taking on 2 blockers), but all the schemes have us timid on D. Freeman had contain, but his over caution created the hole that Russel didn’t fill, then preceded to lose his jock strap on a fake by Gable, Heyward was handled well by USC’s best OL, Byers, and a confused Holman almost chased Sanchez on a roll after the hand off. Laurinitis made a stand up hit, BUT 5 yards downfield due to another USC lineman (Brown) doing a great job on the 2nd level. And don’t tell me that we need Russel on the TE because Sarkasian’s tricky offense may fake the run and throw to the TE – it happened on the next play and Russel again lost his jock strap. We being out schemed and we are not USING our talent and speed nearly as well as USC. With Moeller this play could have just as easily been a loss or no gain! Herbstreit going on about Gable, again missing the problems with Russel. |
| 7-I 2TE(2)(1) | Goal Line | Fake FB Give RTE Over the TopGreat call to True Frosh Aisles! |
1 TD! Catch 89 |
And here’s the next play. Brilliant time for this call! And this isnt the only brilliance. Ayles is a True Frosh TE – talented, but a Frosh none the less – not expected, plus Sarkisian had the TB (13) swing into flat to occupy our LB. At this point we are so clueless we are getting out schemed 2 and 3 times over. None of the “extra” wrinkles are needed as Russel almost went to the ground trying to get back once he fell for the great fake by Sanchez. Talent-yes, Speed- definitely–But #1–Great coaching and scheming are what is killing us! Appropriately, Tressel baffled by himself on he sideline as Carrol with Sargasian happily congradulate Sanchez. Tressel has no help compared to what Caroll’s! |
| 4thOSU | KR- Wedge Middle from 10-fumble(3) | KO – Extraciricular- USC- after XP{15} |
14 1st+10 |
Great opportunity after penalty-KO from 15! Big KO to 10-USC avoided our wedge creating a seam in the middle, but Saine nervously fbled! Still got 14. Herbstreit rightly giving Sarkasian a lot of credit – pointing out the great call on the goaline and his aggression as a play caller. |
| 1-SLOT WRTrMotion SLOTr-WRSL(5)(1)1ST MOT! | Rollr;Stop Small-DropSLWR Out; SE CrossFL Deep Seam | 4-3; 10 LOS24 Man; CB(15) Up |
Inc 2nd+10 |
OSU losing confidence quick–1st fumbled KO,now dropped 1st dn right in the bread basket by Small. Nice call after USC has seen runs out of this formation and nice scheme with Small in motion+Boeck roll -a little Sarkasian like. Even with Boeck preread it worked,but Small dropped it. Crowd noise, down 14-3, Small trying to make his way back into the rotation starts to move without the ball, takes his eyes off of it. |
| 2-SPLIT WRr(5)(2) | Quick In L RobiskeSLWR Out; FL StopSplit Qstop;RB Flat L | 5-2; 43 Blitz!24 Man;15Up(Man) |
9 3rd+1 |
Nice call on blitz. Nice scheme out of this formation(spread for the quick in). Though USC will catch on if we don’t vary. Preread Boeck makes his only read the right one with Robiske filling the area vacated by the blitzing LB. Nice pattern, catch and run by Robiske-left 58 in his dust! |
| 3-I 2TE(1)(1) | I Power L BoomHard Running Again! Moore Facemask Penalty | 4-3; 10 LOS15Man; 24 LOS4ILB-Run Blitz9 In the Box |
0 {15} 1st+10 |
USC again new what was coming(would have been a great time for PA-they wouldve never guessed that from us)again making it easy for them to have a much more aggressive attitude. We still get the 1st had not 75Maola KILLED Rehring!, Rehring just isnt aggressive enough and its not quickness – the quickest off the ball on either side was Cordle,who then he just “caught” 44, instead of attacking him! At least Cordle put a block on 58-the first OSU olineman to throw a block on the 2nd level! Moore got a jump on Browning who had a slight slip and Ellison came kamikaze style (both players new the play!) but it would have been too late had Rehring even stalemated, because of Boom’s hard running along with Person(44) and Cordle’s blocks. Again the only consistent aggression on OSU is Boom and Prior. Boom’s hard running causes Moore to pull a bonehead move and grab his facemask to hold him down, though it was probably accidental Moore should have let go! |
| 4-SG 2TEr-split<2TEl>(2)(5)(1) | Half Rollr ThrowbackSE Post L RobiskeSPTE Cross Under RFL DF; RB Flat RSLTE Block | 4-3; 10 LOS24 Man;15 Man Up2 Up; 10 ZoneBlitz!RE(84)Drops in CovDline Slants Right |
Inc 2nd+10 |
Good aggressive call and good scheme throwing back behind the defense after a little half rollout right. Again,Boeck prereads but good execution-looking at the RB in the right flat holding the aggressive D, then throwing back to Robiske. Unfortunately, Boeck is too mechanical and doesn’t “connect” with Robiske who wisely gets open by stopping his post short against aggressive 24. Athletic adjustments are a great way to counter the skilled aggression of USC and that’s tough for Boeck. Robiske gets his hands on it to prevent an int. Our line was so confused by the slanting Dline of USC that 3 guys(c,rg,rt) blocked one guy!! Rehring barely got to Spicer to slow him down just enough!! |
| 5– SPLIT WRl(6)(3) | WR Flairl SmallWRs BlockSmall Speed! | 5-2CBs Man on Man |
8 3rd+2 |
Boone and Cordle immediately get downfield BUT THERE’S NO ONE TO BLOCK!! USC is too aggressive with man defense to block on a quick flair screen like this. Prior’s athleticism barely gets the ball off and a great block by Sanzo springs Small! The overall call for Prior is great , but because of the ridiculous line scheme it takes the Speed of Small to make this happen! Again-OUR SPEED NOT THE PROBLEM!! |
| 6– SPLIT WRr(7)(4) | Scramble – Sanzo Down + In-Middle! Nice throw/catchSL Deep;SE Qin;RB Flat | 5-2; 24 ManonMan15, 4 Man UpBig Hit Thomas! |
12 1st+10 |
Tressel hesitating on play call and of course we see our 7th SPLIT!!!-PLEASE GET A REAL OC!!! Why not show run and PA!! This is too much for a head coach doing EVERYTHING HIMSELF to keep up with “gurus” on the other side! Boeck finally did a nice improvise and shows his talent, raced to his right, kept his head up and threw a strike to “knock him out!” Sanzo who made a nice adjustment! Good line blocking!THIS IS PURE TALENT AND EXPERIENCE ON THIS ONE – NO HELP WITH THE SCHEME OR PLAY CALL |
| 7-SLOT RBl WRTr(TE Up 3pt)(6)(5) | Rolll Flood LeftScramble R PriorGreat read+speed | 5-2; 58 LOS; 58,10 Blitzr! 84 Spy QB!CB’S MAN |
13 1st+10 |
More pure talent from our team.USC full blitz to the left–great quick read and run Prior burning the aggression with the athletic adjustmnt!TOO MUCH SPEED! Good blocking!( Browning sprung him) Nice effort of trying to “USE” our talent by having Saine as the slot WR. We are not that far away from competing with the “schemes” of the big boys! It will turn these blow outs into victories! The talent’s there!! |
| 8-SPLIT WRl(8)(5) | WR Flairi SmallSMALL SPEED AGAIN! Good blocks Sanzo and Hartline! | 5-2; 10 Blitz!CBs Man |
17 {-7} 1st+17
|
One of the 2 plays of the game. The next one 2 plays later. Hold called on Sanzo while Moore was late hitting Boeckman! To make matters worse, Sanzo’s hold wasn’t as bad as a at least a couple of the missed holds on USC’s last drive and Hartline also held even WORSE!–no call. AND the late hit by Moore looked exactly like the one they called on Wilson on the last drive!! Terrible (crooked??) officiating. The missed holds netted a 24 yd run for USC, while this hold negated a 17 yd gain to the goal line!!!Good call against an aggressive D, repeating the same play 3 plays earlier with a differerent QB(another Sarkasian trick),but the same silly blocking scheme as before! Again the left side of the line (Rehring) almost lets the QB get killed, but for what?!!- no lineman got down field to block anyone! LAST 2 PLAYS OSU LOOKS FASTER – ESPECIALLY SMALL! His quick cut made 58 and 2 bang heads looking like Laurel+Hardy! In the end, great call/bad scheme again, but again too much OSU speed. One thing I’ll say about the penalties-USCs DBs more aggressive than OSU’s WR’s helping to cause the penalties – the overall theme continues OSU as much or more ability, but USC more aggression. |
| 9-PISTOLr 2WRr(3)(2) | PAi Rollr;FlatR SaineWR Seam;SLWROut | 4-3; 4-LB Late8 in the Box Late! |
5 2nd+12 |
Great call and Scheme! The fake held the 8, but great athleticism by 93 and 10 prevented a big play! Griffen got off the fake quick enough to get in Boeck’s face and caused him to not lead Saine JUST enough for Cushing to trip him up! Near miss of another OSU SPEED=BIG PLAY! |
| 10-SG 2TEr 2WRl(3)(6)(4) | Half Rollr ThrowbackFly SL L RobiskeHartline Deep SeamRB Flat RTEs Pass BlockNice move Robiske to burn 24!2nd good pattrern scheme in a row! | 5-2; 4 up to LOS43 show blitz;24 Man to Man15-LB (drops out); 9inBox! 10,4 Zone Blitz!93 Drop |
TD! {-10} 2nd+22 |
This is an example of TOO MUCH AGGRESSION! Carrol out of control here. Ellison almost jumped offsides on the blitz for cripes sake! If you count 24 on the LOS, USC had 10 IN THE BOX! Wright even looked like he was threatening to blitz – WHAT?! – a CB AND S blitz on same play!! Robiske easily burned an over aggressive attempt at a chuck at the LOS by 24 for the TD! Another nice play call using the half roll throwback again and completely burning the over aggression. Oline(especially 75,71) nice blitz pick up, but Cordle ducked his head and wiffed on Moore! Holding on Person absolutely ridiculous! O’Dowd did a similar takedown on the 24 yd McKnight run last serious, BUT O’DOWD’S WAS PLANNED AND BLATANT WHILE PERSON ACCIDENTALLY HAD HIS HAND ON SPICER WHO WAS ALREADY GOING TO THE GROUND-WORST CALL OF THE GAME SO FAR AND COST US A TD!! NO REFS EVER MAKE SUCH AN ILL TIMED CALL ON SUCH A SMALL INFRACTION!! OSU really opening up and making some good calls and totally getting screwed! OSU has really shown their speed and talent on this drive and USC deserved to get burned for their over the top aggressiveness on that play! |
| 11-SG 3WRl(5) | QB Option R – KeepPitch cut off,Boeckman put his head down | 4-3; 10 LOS FULLBLITZ!(10,58)24 Man; 4,15 UpNice play Griffen |
2 3rd+20 |
What seems like a ridiculous play call on 2nd+22 running out of this formation 4 out of 5 times actually is a pretty good call, but USC made a better call. After the overaggression that led to a called back TD last play one would think USC would back off and give our WRs speed some respect on 2nd+22 but instead they Blitz even harder!! Had they stayed back the option might have worked well here, but a charging Griffen again disrupted the play and Boeckman kept and ran like Krenzel (not a compliment), but at least played it “Krenzel” safe- no TO. |
| 12– SPLIT RBl(9)(4) | Corner L HartlineSE Out L; FL DFRB Flat L | NICKEL; 43 Blitz!15,24 Man on Man |
Inc 4th+20 |
The one time the line really picks up the blitz scheme perfect and Boone lets Mathews (too quick!) get around him just enough to make Boeck rush the throw. Boom should have helped Boone. USC stupid to be so aggressive there and was lucky not to get burned again! Also Hartline pulled a nifty move on Pinkard to get around him which screwed up the timing with Boeckman, but who knows with that extra half sec. |
| 13-FG | No GoodWide Right | ——– |
46 Yd NG |
Pretorious working so much on getting it up quick and not blocked I think he over did it and hit it wide. And there it is again – OSU trying so hard to do it “right”, while USC is all out aggression – really went after it as they do every play. |
| 4thUSC | Brent Musburger: “BeanieWells trying to help out the coaching staff here.” As Beanie trys to pump up the oline. CRAZY! | Crowd chanting “overated” – really HOME FIELD advantage now! |
TRESSNEEDSHELP! |
It looks like coach Peterson talking to the Oline on the bench as Beanie’s trying to pump them up-EFFORT NOT THE PROBLEM! Peterson was supposed to be a real “find” as an assistant, along with Hazel and Beckman. Fickel has potential too – is the problem Bolman and to a lesser extent Heacock?? We make a decent amount of good calls on offense and defense and are willing to try many different formations, but its more about our overall ATTITUDE, SCHEMES, AND USE OF OUR VAST ARRAY OF TALENT. Not aggressive enough with all 3! Though that last drive was due to more to the officiating as our play calling and schemes were actually pretty good and we got more aggressive, opened it up and attacked USC. But we need to have that attacking attitude from start to finish not just when we are behind in a huge game! |
| 1– TE Splitl 2WRrMotion FB(31)rl(3) | 4-3; 2-OLB1 (UpLOS) Blitz!5, 4 Up; 8inBox(USC does this ALL GAME) | Fake Slam L RollrDump R Havili Crossing toRight Flat |
0 2nd+10 |
Aggressive scheme and call! That’s what we need and surprise, surprise our talented kids respond just like any SEC team would with speed and play making! Innovative scheme by Sargisian out of the same formation USC scored the 1st TD. Of course there’s a wrinkle – FB motions back and forth then cuts across LOS as if to block for the Slam while racing to the other side of the field for the tricky misdirection pass out of PA. Great timing call, but Freeman’s aggressive blitz (ignoring the fake!!) disrupts the play and Laurinitis and Coleman aggressively coral Havili followed by the gang tackle of 97,87 and 21!! Now that’s how we need to play Defense and Offense to beat these teams!! |
| 2-TRIPSTl(4) | 4-3 2-OLB8inBox | Quick Pitch R 4Nice Pick and Weave McKnightHold Ellison. |
6 {-10} 2nd+20 |
Great blocking scheme out of TRIPS, but MORE AGGRESSION FROM THE OHIO STATE!! Jenkins in Box again and flew up and not only turned speedy 4 up the field, but induced the hold on 40. 97,33 all racing to ball! McKnight still got 6 because Brown destroyed 1 and Heberer was downfield on 97. Again great blocking on 2nd level. Even 18 who got rocked by Holman, stuck on him long enough to give McKnight room then got in front of Laurinitis. I don’t know USC’s line and WR coaches, but their job in teaching aggressive blocking in space is incredible! |
| 3-TRIPSl TErWRrMotion WRr(4)TB(5)(1) | NICKEL | Quick Pitch L 4Nice cut back McKnight! |
19 3rd+1 |
We backed off and got burnt by a great play call and scheme. On OSU’s last series we burned USC’s aggression but had a penalty that put us at 2nd+22-USC continued the aggression and brought on a full blitz while OSU went into the Nickel Package. I don’t blame OSU and USC’s defense can get TOO aggressive at times, but overall USC’s aggression keeps getting us. This time the great Sarkisian had used Trips once each previous drive so the last play was it for this drive, right?? WRONG! He comes right back, BUT with the wrinkle of a TEr on the LOS, 4 motioning back to TB AND using 3 wrs in the TRIPS instead of 2WR and 1TE making OSU think pass all the way. WHY?? TE to pass block, 4 wide to open up the WR routes and most importantly 3 WRs in the TRIPS to help the pass. BUT Sarkasian wisely uses 2 big blocking WRs in Hazleton and Williams. Hazleton makes a great block on Wilson opening up an immediate hole. Again great blocking on 2nd level – Byers and Brown on Laurinitis and Ayres and Heberer on Freeman completing the whole. A lot of fans were mad at our 2 LBs for this game, but I have yet to see them really screw up-it’s the play calling and schemes! 2 lineman per LB – THAT’S A GREAT BLOCKING SCHEME!! Finally Herbstreit gets it and talks about the great play call instead of 4’s speed! OSU looked completely stunned after the play-Sarkisian! |
| 4-3WRr(4) | 4-351 LOS (inside DE)Man on Man | LT 13Stafon JohnsonQuick feet, nice weave to even lose just one yard |
-1 4th+2 |
AND THIS PLAY PROVES MY POINT EXACTLY! Basic set, no motion by USC-their first real ordinary play call and we blow up their line and kill it LED BY LAURINITIS!! Even on an average play call Sarkisian wisely spreads the field with 3WR, but better scheme by OSU to aggressively go Man across the board (2,4,20) and stick 51 on LOS. Heyward kills the TE, Holman kills the double team of RG/RT, Worthington destroys the C right into the ball carrier and while they double team Freeman again, there’s no one left for Laurinitis and he’s finally free!! He does a great job of hemming in the elusive Stafon Johnson and laying the wood!! And it’s the first time our D seems really fired up!! If we even come close to the schemes of USC we win. If the scheming is even WE KILL THEM!! |
| 5thOSU | PR-Nothing Small can do-good catch! | P- Nice high punt Headhunter kills 82 |
0 1st+10 |
Washington got faked at the LOS and let Wright run free. Then Washington asked for Hartline’s help to no avail. Hartline yelling at him after! Also our LBs (especially 1!) didn’t get after people and block for Small – USC much more aggressive attitude EVEN ON SPECIAL TEAMS!! |
| 1-SG 3WRl(6) | READ OPTION LGive BoomNice Read+Give Prior | 5-2; 10 Zone Blitz!93 Drops; CBs Man |
11 1st+10 |
What looked like another ordinary set up by OSU (3WR 6 times w/o variation!) became a nice surprise play call. The READ OPTION isn’t an OSU invention, but its proven to be a great scheme, epsecially for the Oline. Boone is the only one with a good block – again our guys missed the 2nd level (Rehrig+Nichol) making me wonder if we really did recruit some slower lineman these past couple of years. Even still Boom got 11 because, with the right QB, this is a powerful scheme! Blitzing 10 was frozen by Prior faking the keep and in this scheme its hard to tell the direction of the run so even with 71+88 missing their blocks, 58 and 43 were to far out of position to coral a streaking Herron. This is how good schemes can help an Oline…ala USC! |
| 2-PROl(1) | PAl 3 Out and UpWRs DownfieldRB Outlet LPressure throw OOBMISSED A BIG ONE to Saine! | 4-3; 7 Up(off)10, 15 CB Blitz!Nice moves by Cushing and Maola | Inc2nd+10 | Nice job of inventive formations by OSU using the PRO set for the 1st time today! Also a great call out of this set using Saine as a FB, PA and the out and up down the sideline. A variation of what USC did for their 1st TD, but SAINE IS MUCH FASTER THAN HAVILI! Why did it work for USC and not us –Several things but it again starts with the schemes. We had a Safety Blitz which takes wayyy too long with the speed and schemes of today, while USC blitzed from the LOS. Also USC sent 2 guys instead of 1, BUT kept 3 DBs deep to cover themselves. In spite of USC’s better schemes our play call was so good that we should again have burned them for a big gain or TD! 58 was on Saine like Freeman was on Havili and their DB was stuck on our WR down the seam just like Jenkins was stuck for us. Had Boeckman had time this could have been a TD or at least a Big Gain. Both of our tackles looked like statures on the play. Browning lunged at 75 who sidestepped him and had a freebie on Boeck while Boone was too hung up on outside technique and Cushing burned him inside! Is the problem technique and youth or simply speed for our lineman?? Or both? This still could have been a positive gain, but Boeckman is very mechanical ala Krenzel (though not that bad) and took so long on the PA and looking the DBs off that by the time he set up Cushing as there. Still Boeck had Boom all alone in the flat but didn’t improvise AT ALL and threw it OOB, again, ala Krenzel. Boom seemed frustrated. This led to disaster on the next play! |
| 3-2TE 2WRr(7)(5) | READ OPTION RQB KeepNice Read, Fake + Run Prior | 4-3; 7 Man UpRCB on LOS |
10 1st+10 |
READ OPTION seems to be the one scheme USC can’t get a read on (few teams do!). This scheme again helps the blocking so much that OSU finally had great blocking on the LBs by Browning(58),Cordle(43), Robo and Nichol(10). Moore was unblocked (part of the scheme) and followed the fake to Boom and the LBs were frozen by the fake just enough to set up the 2nd level blocks. Suddenly our lineman didn’t look slow (INCLUDING BROWNING) thanks to the scheme! Prior giving Ellison the business! |
| 4-SLOT WRl WRTrMotion SLOTl-WRSL(7)(2) | Rolll Short Out L 9SE Corner L (12)SLWR Stop SL LFL Short Cross (80)Boeck no Sanchez! | 5-2; 10 Zone Blitz!93 Drops; 4,2 Up!36 Man (Off)GREAT PLAY Maualuga!! |
INT TD! 58 50 Yds
|
GAME, SET, MATCH. What could have been with all the near misses and bad officiating but this destroyed OSU’s fragile psyche and we don’t have the schemes to come back. The pattern scheme could have been a better(more deep patterns against the over aggressive USC D) but this was on Pre Read Boeck–he was too slow and mechanical in getting the ball to Hartline. Spicer playing like an AA, blasted by Person and Cordle, pressured then leveled Boeck clearing the way for the TD! USC is aggressive even when blocking for INT! If we are aggressive in our schemes and attitude ALL GAME we are still in it or even leading. We did not lose the game because of oneplay! |
| 6thOSU | KR-NR | KO- EndzoneCarrol cocky! |
0 1st+10 |
Another deep KO – I thought USC had bad Special Teams??! 7 yards deep! Herbstreit talking about how the defense attacked Boeckman after the interception to clear the way for 58. They ALWAYS attack – that’s the difference. When we attack we BURN them!! |
| 1– SLOT RBr(TE Up)(8)(6) | Half Rollr QB Draw | 5-2; Movement58 Zblitzl! 47 DropsCBs Man; 4 Up |
13 1st+10 |
This was all Prior and USC amazingly and unwisely being over aggressive with 58 blitzing out of the play. Another SLOT looke and another slant by their Dline that our Oline still hasn’t adjusted too!! Cordle and Person both burned by the DTs and then Nichol literally got knocked on his ass by 43 on the 2nd level! Not speed – JUST NO AGGRESSION! ALL PRIOR-quick burst and uncanny, smooth running ability and speed. |
| 2– SLOT RBr WRTl (TE/RB Up) (9)(7) | Rollr DeepCornerR 9SE QIn;RB Stop;FL Stop | 5-2; CBs MantoMan4 Up; 47 Drops |
Inc 2nd+10 |
And this is where you really see Tressel struggle without help. He runs out the SLOT for the 9th time and 2nd in a row.Not bad idea to have Prior to throw it deep but an old fashioned pattern scheme with all the patterns short except a corner double covered!(2 WRs in same spot!) |
| 3-SG 3WRr(7) | Half Rollr;SHCross 9WRs DF; RB Flair R | 5-2; 47 DropsCBs Man |
-2 3rd+12 |
BAD. Pressure from a 3 man rush. Cordle obliterated by Tupou. Really weak call, formation and patterns. Team is dejected and Tressel doesn’t have the help to scheme back. He looks helpless by himself on the sideline! 43 made nice play on Hartline – but again, easy read. |
| 4-4WR TEr(2) | Quick In Hartline (5 Quickies) | NICKEL; 43 Blitz! CBs Man; 2 Up(Off) |
16 1st+10 |
For the 1st time USC not aggressive enough. Mays backed out of man coverage and that was wisely where Boeck went. As long as Boeck’s primary read works he’s really sharp. I think USC can’t believe OSU actually threw short on 3rd+12. Ellison letting Mays know. |
| 5-SPLIT WRr(9)(5) | Quick In Robo2Quicks; Fl DFSPLITS Flair R+LJuggled+Caught | NICKEL;Showing 6, then 7 Man Rush!! 10,58 Blitz! 47,4 Drop |
2 2nd+8 |
Again – we don’t have the coaching to make the adjustments. A great formation to use but now the 9th time we’ve used it and never any motion or PA. The patterns again are incredibly conservative. USC of course adjusts even when they don’t need to – and again its AGGRESSIVE! They threaten a full scale attack, but back off to a zone blitz. A frightened Pre Read Boeck quickly gets it to his primary – what else – and the rushed throw is a little behind Robo who juggles it and then is smacked by 24. He hangs on for a whopping 2 yards! |
| 6– SPLIT WRr(10)(6) 5thUSC | Deep Corner 9SE QIn; FL QStopSPLITS Flair/QStopBoeckman BLINDSIDEDFUMBLE | NICKEL;Showing 6!CBs+5B MantoMan47Blitz 58,10DropSACK 47 CAUSED FUMBLE |
Fumble Recoverby USC (Moore) 1st+10 |
6 at LOS again, but this time USC drops the blitzers from the last play and brings 47 who dropped last play! This is all with a 21-3 lead right before halftime mind you!! Boone ridiculously doubled down on 75 with Rehring and let 47 go COMPLETELY UNTOUCHED! Person looked like a statue as Moore blew right by. For all the crap Browning took last year he actually showed good feet getting out on Griffen. Boeckman showed the feel of a “krenzel” unaware of the monster that is Mr. Mathews! WR patterns ridiculous! Cordle looked like a fool trying to recover the fumble and Person just stood and watched after his horrible block! Boeckman also showed “krenzel” toughness by trying to get the fumble – crawling around on the ground with his brain scrambled from the hit by Mathews. DISASTER – being on the road not helping. |
| 1-PROl 2WRlMotion FBr(2) | NICKELDBs Up8 in Box (2) | PAr; Outlet R Gable WRs/TE DFFB Block |
3 2nd+7 |
A little bit classless from Caroll. Guess we should expect that. Tries to go for the TD to make it 28-3. OSU too experienced for that nonsense. Dline dejected – no rush, but holding could have been called on the RG and RT. Ref right there-nothing. Maybe USC has perfected the hold. Jenkins quickly on Gable and rips him to the ground in anger. I feel the only leaders are Jenkins, Boom, Prior and injured Beanie. |
| 2– STACKl 2TESlotl(2)(2) | NICKEL; 7 Showing1 Blitz! | FlatL 40;QB StepUpLow Pass (Tipped?)STACK WRs DFTE/RB Block |
Inc 3rd+7 |
Good pressure Rose and Wilson (on stunt). Its close but Lewis and McCoy look guilty of illegal blocks again! Lewis on blitzing a Freeman and McCoy burned on a quick move by Gibson. The Ref right there on the sideline again! Must be too minor, but so were the 2 on OSU that cost us TDs. Good push up middle by Worthington. Sanchez good step up but Wilson in his face (might have tipped pass). Hines right on Ellison! Herbstreit illuminating the incredible aggression of USC to be attacking ALL THE TIME no matter the score or the time left on the play clock. |
| 3-TRIPSlMotion InWR(4)TB(6) | NICKELCBs Man Up | Counter R 4Nice Cuts McKnight2 Quick fake out cuts in a row |
15 1st+10 |
Great timing to use this set and again motioning 4 to TB, then running a Counter for the 1st time today. Our defense looks lost before and after the play. Big down block(hold?) by Lewis on Rose and Gibson pass rushed himself out of the play created a huge hole plus Jenkins in man coverage with no looks to the backfield – all 3 fooled by the run, but what team wouldn’t be on 3rd+7 under 2 minutes?! More Sarkisian brilliance. More great 2nd level blocks by Herberer(33), McCoy(1)(ANOTHER HOLD!?) and Hazleton(2) on 3 great talents who are completely neutralized by the call/scheme of Sarkisian and 2 quick moves by McKnight. Herbstreit wisely points out the good blocks on the 2nd level, but the replay SHOWS 86 holding, which Herbstreit doesn’t point out! |
| 4-3WRl(5) | 4-3: 2,4,5 LOS MantoMan; 51 LOS(inside DE) Blitz!5-Nice MantoMan | PAl; Out L WilliamsWRs-OutsSLWR Deep PostTE/RB Block |
Inc 2nd+10 |
OSU took TO-totally flabbergasted by Sargisian’s brilliance. A shot of Fickel upstairs talking to Heacock. After this TO OSU ran the most aggressive schemes that they’ve run all game-on offense or defense. Makes me wonder if Fickel caught on to USC’s advantage and relayed this to Heacock?! WOW! This one looked like USC. Started out in a 4-3 4-3 then raced the DBs up to the LOS along with Holman who blitzed. Our Dline killed their Oline and Sanchez rushed the out to 18 who was aggressively manned up by Chekwa- great coverage! NOW THAT’S WHAT WE NEED TO DO ON DEFENSE AND OFFENSE ALL GAME AND WE WILL BEAT ANYONE IN THE COUNTRY!! Our superior talent finally had a chance! Lewis looked to be holding Heyward who was beating him around the end . |
| 5-3WRrMotion SlWR(18)lx(6) | NICKEL; 33,1, 4 Zone BLITZ! 87,84 Drop; DB’s Man | Quick Drop(RB Blk)Quick In L TurnerWRs QIns; TE FlatRQk Read+Release Diving Catch! |
10 1st + GOAL (10) |
Great call by Heathcock – another big blitz but dropping off 2 Dlineman! Great pressure on Sanchez. Why the 1st down?! Great read and quick release by Sanchez who’s proving himself to be a heckuva talent, Freeman with another one of his “near misses” just missed hitting Sanchez’s arm during the throw, and Chekwa wasn’t aggressive enough this time in coverage letting Turner free underneath. Bottom line – you cant win them all, USC has great talent too, but the more we scheme aggressively and wisely and the more we put are players in “winning” positions, then Chekwa and our whole team will be aggressive EVERY play and show the great talent that Tressel has brought to OSU! |
| 6-3WRr(7) | NICKEL; 90 DownDBs All Up | No HuddleLT Gable |
-4 2nd + GOAL |
Without the time for his Sarkisian’s Grand Schemes USC runs a simple off tackle slant run and WE KILL IT! We prove the superior team in talent when we scheme aggressively with USC or they don’t! May have been Sarkisian’s only mistake of the half trying to get a half ass play in real quickly before the timeout – OSU defense too good for that. Worthington blew up C/LG and created chaos. Good push by Gibson and nice move Jenkins (7) to get in and make the tackle on Gable who tried to reverse field with no avail. Carrol cocky aggression on the SL! |
| 7-3WRr(8) | NICKEL; 90 Down1,33,21 Showing8 In The Box! | Fly R 7 (SLWR) DbleCov in EZWRs Fly; TE/RB Blk |
Inc 3rd + GOAL |
Another nice call by Heacock! The fake blitz plus a good rush by whole Dline(90,97,84,87) hurried Sanchez into a bad read. He threw it away in the EZ to a double covered Hazleton (4,33) while Williams was breaking open down the right SL after making a great move on Chekwa. Good play calling and aggressive schemes can cover up mistakes-just ask USC. Plus the players play harder – look at our Dline on this series. |
| 8-3WRr(9) | NICKEL; 90 Down33,1 ShowingDBs UpCBs Man to ManDE STUNTSNice Ball Hawk 5! | Fly R 18 (Fl)Exact Same as 7!WRs Fly;TE/RB Blk!7 Dble Cov again!18 Same SL move!AGAIN! Bad 2 Min Offense |
INT EZ BAD PASS |
Sarkisian not perfect! Same formation 5 TIMES IN A ROW and no motion the last 3 AND THE SAME PASS PATTERNS THE LAST 2! 2 minute drill is tough, but its obvious what OSU can do when its not outschemed – yes, USC could have had a TD on the last play, but they also could have been called for holding a couple before. Williams with same move as last play but Chekwa on it this time, though he let him go for a sec, then recovered to make the pick. Pass to short! Again, our line pushed thru the USC Oline up the middle with a stunts by Wilson and Gibson. NOW USC called for holding as Herberer saved Sanchez from getting crushed by Wilson-JOKE. Plus, Lewis tried to HOLD AGAIN but Gibson too fast on the stunt! Classic case of a cocky Carrol trying for too much – nice vindication for our D. As much respect as I have for Sarkisian, I don’t respect the way Carrol acts on the sideline and runs his business and runs up the scores! Give me Tressel any day! |
| 1st Half Summary | OSU – Nice variety of formations, play calling not bad, poor scheme(O+D).D-agg schemes last 2 drives | USC– Not quite as much variety, but great play calling and agg schemes!Weak form,plays+ schemes last drive |
USC 21
OSU 3 |
Every time its an EVEN playing field we prove to be the better team. They have the best defensive talent of the Carrol era and our Oline is lacking some, but we have good QBs and WRs and a tough RB. We missed a lot of big plays on offense and were out schemed a lot. The offensive play calls basically went in hibernation after the INT. Our Front 7 is better than their Oline and while Sanchez and his RBs are very talented, they would have trouble scoring against our veteren and talented D without Sarkisian’s schemes. Half time analysis missed the boat accusing OSU of “tricks” and stating that USC didn’t need tricks. They can’t see the advanced subtley of Sarkisian’s schemes and the greater aggression by USC on both offense and defense. Plus the better use of their speed and talent. YDS: OSU-177 USC-172 |
3RD QUARTER
| SERIES | OSU | USC |
YDS |
DESCRIPTION |
| 6thUSC | KO- End zone | KR- NR |
NR 1st+10 |
Deep Kickoff. 8 started to bring it out but McKnight stopped him. Quick wedge. OSU fast down field. Heacock said he was happy with the players settled down and executing assigments at the end of the half. CRAZY- we had consistently aggressive schemes at the end of the half – our play against USC is on the coaches schemes not player execution! When questioned at the end of the half Carrol blamed his coaches and scheme for not handling the read option with Prior– NOT HIS PLAYERS! Heacock said his players need to calm down and Herbstreit nailed it on the head – they need to make adjustments and be aggressive and make plays like USC – not calm down! |
| 1-I 3WRl Motion SE(8)r(3)(1) | 4-3; 51 Blitz L!5 Man to Man4 Up | Toss L McKnightNice Burst |
14 1st+10 |
This was attitude, not scheme. USC came out aggressive and OSU came out “calm” just like Heacock wanted. We blitzed to the wrong side, but other than that we had the right scheme, but the DTs were passive, Wison was completety passive on the crackback by little 8 and Freeman was passive, though he was held (18)-almost exactly the same they called on Hartline to negate the TD! Good kick out Havili on Laurinitis, but the bottom line – more than just schemes – USC is consistently plays with more aggression (schemes and attitude) than OSU!Heacock shaking his head, but it starts with him and the rest of the coaches and again he’s looking at the players-LOOK IN THE MIRROR! |
| 2-3WR ALL RMotion InSL(8)lx(10)(1) | 4-3;51 LOS (InDE) Blitz! 5.4.2 Man to Man | Slam L McKnightNice Reverse Bounce to avoid a loss |
2 2nd+8 |
This time we were aggressive – and it worked—NO CALM DOWN-MORE AGGRESSION IN ATTITUDE AND SCHEMES! Great push by the whole Dline led by 84 who jacked O’Dowd up in the air! Great bounce reverse spin to the outside by McKnight but OSU too fast (2,33). Its amazing that USC’s Oline looks good or bad depending on our aggression. This time USC missed their 2nd level blocks-Freeman made Lewis look like a slow elephant! The rest of the line was manhandled, except for TE McCoy who has proven to be a really good blocker(and holder!).Herbstreit saying that this possesion is HUGE and OSU needs to be aggressive and stymie USC. He’s right. |
| 3-3WRr(11) | 4-3;1 LOSl Blitz!4 LOSl Safety Blitz!87 Dropr; 2 ManJenkins – Blanket Coverage | Skinny Post 1 (SE)3 WRs FlyTE/RB BlockGreat read, pump, hold, release and throw by Sanchez!Great Adj and Catch by Turner!Nice Pocket Oline! |
18 {15} 1st+10 |
Nice aggressive call, but fantastic throw and catch! This play finally worked on the 3rd try for USC because they caught us in a blitz and the talent of Sanchez and Turner. With a 6 to 4 ratio, USC formed wall to protect Sanchez and Gable took care of Coleman, who needs to make more of an effort when he’s blitzing. Sanchez handles the ball like an NFL All Pro and has the release, arm strength and accuracy of one too. Sanchez actually pumped to the left at the snap that put 87 too far in the flat L, then held the LBs R with his eyes, which opened up a big passing lane. Turner, highly recruited for his size, uses it by making a great adjutment to the pattern turning a straight fly into a skinny post, shielding off Jenkins (who was draped all over him) and causing an accidental facemask with an aggressive Jenkins reaching over the bigger WR. What easily could have been an incomplete unluckily turned into a 33 yd gain. This is the chance you take with aggression-but you will also get more TO’s and more times than not win the battle with superior talent! Even on this play we werent burned on a long bomb or huge run-it was a great play by USC and a little bad luck on the facemask. |
| 4– FBSlotl 2WRrMotion FBrxPRO(4) | 4-3; CBs Man1 Showing (off)21 Up; 8 in Box (2) | PAr; Sanchez Run FB Out (+Up?)WRs DF; TE/RB Blk |
1 2nd+9
|
Another aggressive pattern stretching us deep, PA taking advantage of the runs by 4 and another 7 man pass protection for his young QB. Everything done right by Sarkisian. Good push by our ends (87,97). Good aggressive defense – another fake blitz and good coverage – no one open – Sanchez shows his wheels scrambling up the gut. McCoy grabbing AGAIN! He lets go as Wilson tackles Sanchez – Ref right there!! |
| 5-DoubleSTACKTMot WideR(89)l+r(3)(1) | 6-2! 4DL,1,2 LOS!4,5 edge of Box10 in the Box | LT GableOffsides 1 |
{-5} 2nd+14 |
WOW – this is a more aggressie scheme than USC! We actually drew an offside! This is partly because USC was bunched tight –STILL- player’s love these aggressive schemes! Gibson BLEW UP the LT and had Turner not started early for the offsides we probably kill this play. I really think Fickel got his nose in there at the end of the half and convinced Heacock to get aggressive!! GOOD STUFF! |
| 6-TRIPSrTElWRl(7)(2) | NICKEL; 90 Drop | Screen R InWR(4)McKnight Slipped |
-1 3rd+15 |
Great call OSU! After all the blitzing they back off everyone(even dropping Gibson)totally fooling Sarkisian who went with a Quick Screen to 4! Again, though, this is all set up with the previous aggression! Hines fought thru a double team and with our speed forget it! (33,97,1,4) |
| 7-3WRl RBSlotrMotion RB(4)TB(12)(2) | NICKEL;CBs Man to Man | Middle Screen 4Pressure- Bad Throw |
Inc 4th+15 |
NOW THIS IS WHAT WAS EXPECTED OF OUR DEFENSE! If only we schemed this way from the start! And w/o the officiating we could easily be winning 10-0 or more! Wilson completely blew by Byers making him look like a statue pressuring Sanchez into a quick hard throw over 4’s head. Gibson also got by Brown pretty easy – SO MUCH FOR USC SPEED – w/o the right schemes their Oline can’t handle our Dline! |
| 7thOSU | PR-NRAgain-Best Ive seen USC Steams! | P-FANTASTIC POOCH PUNTDied at the 5! |
NR 1st+10 |
Before the USC 3rd down play Musburger’s babbling about ex-USC wrs and after the play Herbstreit talking about McKnight’s versatility. Both totally missing the aggressive schemes with which OSU has been stuffing the USC offense the last 2 drives!! Makes me wonder – this is exactly what the BIG WIGS want for their ratings and with the ridiculous officiating…??? Just makes me wonder. |
| 1-2TESlotr 2WRlMotion SLTEl(8)(1)(6) | Counter L BoomTOUGH RUNNING Carried 10 with him | 6-2! 10,2 LOS24 Man to Man8 in the Box |
2 2nd+8 |
We started out passive on D so why not on O! At our own 5 down 21-3 we have to get some chunks. Everyone on USC knew what was coming! Put our Oline down as much as you will, but NO OLINE can block 8 men in the box who know whats coming! Should have been no yds, but Boom ran tough as usual-Pushed thru for 2! Brewer in at LG(Tressel should get Cordle out!) and threw block on 58!! |
| 2-SG 3WRr(8) | READ OPTION LQB Keep | 5-2; 4 UpCBs Man to Man |
2 3rd+6 |
Surprise, surprise – the one scheme that worked consistently so we try to run it out of one of the same sets we did before. Of course, USC adjusted-sticking 93 on Prior and slanting the Dline towards the RB. Good play Griffen to coral Prior and 24 to force him in. Brewer big block on 99 while 75 sped past Boone and Cordle tripped over his feet and looked silly on the ground. Maybe we do need new blood on the line! |
| 3-SG 3WRr(9) | SLWR Out+Up (9)Fl Hook;TE StopSE Fly SLBoeck CRUSHED! | NICKEL;43Showin36,24 Man; 4 UpGreat Move 93 Great Spin 75 |
-5 4th+11 Sack 75 |
Oline crushed! 75 crushed Cordle (what’s new) and 93 faked Browning so bad that he might have twisted a knee! Person just lookd around while Griffen was whizzing by between him and Browning. Miller helped Boone then raced over too late to help Cordle! Boom pass protected better than our line. Ridiculous. One might want to blame the bad field position, but there’s no excuse for that – even with the crowd firing USC up – that was PITIFUL! This wasn’t schemes or play calling – pure lethargy on our part and once again USC aggression. |
| 7thUSC | P- Short Punt OOB!31 Yds | NROSU 36 Yd Line! |
NR 1st+10 |
Trepasso hit a 31 yard punt off the side of his foot!! UNBELIEVABLE!! Scared of McKnight?? Today you would think Woidnack was the highly recruited punter not Trepasso! In every aspect except for our D the last 2 series , USC has been the aggressor! |
| 1– I STACKl WRrMotion SE(8)r-Slot(4)(1) | 4-3; 1 LOS1, 51 Blitz!21 run Blitz; 4 Man; 2 UP | RG McKnight |
0 2nd+10 |
More aggressive D and it worked again! Larimore blew up O’Dowd, Russel on a RUN Blitz turned McKnight up into Laurinitis who was free to lay the lumber because Wilson took up the RT and RG. Holman, Larimore cleaned up! Silly IM called on 8 which of course was declined. Are the refs just trying to make it look more even by calling useless penalties against USC?? That’s the 2nd or 3rd silly one. |
| 2-I FormationlMotion TErxTE(5) | 4-3; 1 LOS2 Man to Man | Pitch R McKnightFANTASTIC SPIN MOVE |
8 3rd+2 |
Aggressive slant by Dline Lewis(2) and Williams (51) made good blocks, but with a good scheme and 33 stringing it out, our speedy pursuit should have kept it to a minimal gain. Instead McKnight made a fantastic spin move that caused Wilson to fly into Worthington and knock them both off the ball. McKnight then made another quick skip past Heyward who couldn’t hang on. Our speed kept him from breaking it big. |
| 3-Ir WRSlotrMotion WRSlotl(6)(1) | 4-3; 1 Run Blitz5 Man(off)4 Up Late | FB Give RFake Power RHavili – Strong Cutback Run |
4 1st+10 |
Great call, slipping it to Havili – an old classic – OSU not expecting that! Tressel would love Sarkisian’s style. 8 Johnson made a great chop block on Freeman and Brown blew Heyward out of the hole who seemed winded from the previous McKnight scamper. Of course more holding helped-Brown while falling off of Heyward pulled him down and the big one was Byers all over Laurinitis who was about the only Buck to read it right. Worthington got a good push again, but a nice run as Havili bounced it outside then fought with Coleman for an xtra yd. |
| 4-STACKl TEr WRTrMot STACK(31)FB-I(4)(1) | 6-1(late)-1,(51)LOS1, 51 Blitz!!DBs ALL UP | Counter R JohnsonNice cutbacks(2) |
9 2nd+1 |
We are being aggressive, but our “fear” of PA is putting us in bad positions-chasing the QB and not playing solid run defense. Our Dline aggressively slanted allowing McCoy and the USC line to cave our left side. Our 2 blitzing OLBs went after Sanchez. All of this created a big hole. Great pull Byers on Laurinitis and great cutbacks by Johnson. We may be getting a little over aggressive now, ala USC. |
| 5-2TEr 2WRlMotion WR(8)r(3)(1) | 4-3; 1 LOS33 Run BlitzCBs Man; 4 Up | Power Sweep R 13Johnson – Patient, Hard Running |
5 {-10} 2nd+11 |
Finally called holding on Lewis who turned Wilson in to open up the right side for Johnson. It wasn’t anymore blatant than the holding he’s been doing all game. Freeman did good to string it out while being double teamed by the 2TE. Coleman up and took a plow from Johnson but forced him OOBs. |
| 6-TRIPSTr <2TEl>(8) | 4-3;1LOS;5Man;2UpAll 3 LBs Showing | False Start 40 |
{-5} 2nd+16 |
Ellison going to his left so either a Slam or PA rollout and maybe Ellison in the flat. Hard to know. LBs Showing Blitz! The OSU aggression is unraveling USC a bit. Carroll an ahole – giving the ref an ear full after all that USC has gotten away with tonight!! |
| 7– TRIPSTr <2TEl>(8) | 4-3; 51LOS(InDE) RunBlitz!5Man; 8inBox(2) | Slam R JohnsonGreat Cutback Read+Burst! |
6 3rd+10 |
I was right and Carroll a bigger ahole because he told the ref that Ellison was just looking in – no false start – but they ran the play again and Ellison goes left for a crackback block which he kills Wilson with. Great play call to gain some yds and make for a managable 3rd dn. Of course we werent expecting a run making for easy USC blocks! Though our aggression with 51 and 72 occupied the lineman leaving 33 ready for the tackle but Johnson sharply cut back to Wilson’s spot and made 6 yards out of nothing! ANOTHER JERSEY GRAB – O’Dowd (1). WTF!! |
| 8-SG 4WR TEr(RB-SLWR LFB-WR R)(1)(1)(1) | NICKEL 2-41Showing4 UpLoose Zone | Deep Post L 18RB/FB Quick Stops TE/SLWRr Seam RNice PatternQuick release – PERFECT THROW! |
24 TD! Catch 18 |
Yet, another Sarkisian wrinkle. 4 WRs using both the RB and FB as WRs. Very simple but effective patterns with the 2 RBs short and SLWR and TE deep. I like our Defensive set – something new and a lot you can do off of that with our ends(90,87) up, but the zone coverage was HORRIBLE! We see it more on offense, but another case of a good set, good call, terrible scheme! Freeman never really blitzed, but didn’t drop either-kind of spying on the “fleet footed” Sanchez-WASTE! USC of course had aggressive patterns and ran 2 guys down the seam on the R and Coleman inexpicably let the TE go wide open for an easy TD had Sanchez seen him. Russell correctly leaned that way and slipped changing direction to get to the post on the other side. Russell looked like the goat, but was actually stuck in a terrible position. Sarkisian set us up with the surprise run the play before to get to 3rd+10. We seemed to think it was still 3rd+16 – Chekwa, maybe 3rd+30!! For all his good man coverage at the end of the half-he was way too loose in the zone allowing 18 ten yards of real estate! Again, I love the sets, BUT WE NEED TO BE AGGRESSIVE AT ALL TIMES IN THESE BIG GAMES and for god’s sake – NO MORE CRAZY ZONES! We run some crazy complicated zone packages and these speedy kids don’t want to think that much-let them use their speed! We were doing great in man. And , by the way, the 2 deep guys on that side were from Florida(Chekwa) and Georgia(Russell) – SEC country! This isnt a matter of speed! The 2 plays in the last 4 series that we werent aggressive USC burned us on both. Laurinitis made the right drop, but JUST MISSED THE DEFLECTION, because of the quick release of Sanchez. Which brings me to one last observation – if there’s one position on the field where the advantage goes to USC its QB – Boeckman’s not bad, but he’s no Sanchez and Prior’s too young. |
| 8thOSU | KR-Wedge Up MiddleBoom Fast and Hard up the Middle! | KO-Goal Line |
20 1st+10 |
KO not as deep gave us a chance, but Herron bobbled it, then Coleman went to the ground trying to block 27, rolling into the wedge, while 27 busted into that. Boom tripped over the mess or he had a chance for a big gain. On the last play I noticed Hines pumping his legs before the snap and getting agg in coverage. Miller more agg too. Boom could have broken this KR becase he used his speed aggressively, but we have too many guys rolling on the ground. Aggression is also an attitude and maybe the new blood next year will help that, but the coaches still have to put their players in a position to fight! |
| 1-SPLIT WRr(11)(7) | WR Flairr Small | 5-2CBs MantoMan |
3 2nd+6 |
You’ve seen Sarkisian’s wrinkles now here’s ours: use the same set and exact same play but to the right side instead, and this time….this is good… this time we get our slowest OT(70) out to block for him. The predictable happens-USC totally on it, Browning looked silly trying to get a block on Cushing, who anticipated the cut back and brought Small down with 5 other USC teamates there for the kill.(15,84.43.58,2) As Small was cutting back Boone was lazily jogging towards the action and Mathews gave him a shot knocked him right on his a**! I think that just about says it all ! |
| 2-PISTOL 3WRl(4)(2) | READ OPTION LGive Upback(3)2 Nice Cutbacks on 58 and 43! | 5-2CBs MantoMan |
10 1st+10 |
Now this is a Sarkisian type wrinkle! A set that has not been used much today and has the main purpose of hiding the rbs behind the line-OSU runs the read option out of this. Nevada started the Pistol, but has anyone used the Read Option out of it? The potential is there for us to scheme with the best-Tressel’s a genius football mind- he just needs a little help like all the big guys have! Again, the Read Option is a great blocking scheme and our line caved in the USC Dline led by Miller who crushed 44(Now that’s aggression!) Nice read Prior. Tough Run 3! |
| 3-SG 3WRl(10) | READ OPTION LGive SaineTough runNo one covering SlotWR(9)!! | 5-2; 4LOS;4,10,58 Run BLITZ!47 Drop; 15 MtoM8inBox4 on Prior10 on Saine |
0 2nd+10 |
Now we go back to silliness and USC got back to more aggressiveness. See Play 2 of last series. OUT OF THIS SET WITH PRIOR IN THE GAME THEY KNOW ITS READ OPTION!! AND we just ran it last play. UNBELIEVABLE WE ARE THIS STUPID. USC actually made fun of our coaches by lining 4 on the LOS and ignoring our slot WR. In fact, had Prior just did a quick throw or a PA Hartline was all by himself. It was way over the top aggression by USC and we should have made them pay but we make no adjustments and that’s what USC was banking on. THIS IS NOT TALENT-ITS COACHING! Thank goodness that Saine is strong enough to bull his way back to the LOS. It was the same as last play-our Oline caved in their Dline led by Miller who this time crushed 84 and sent him rolling on the ground!! The difference is USC made the adjustment of putting 4 on Prior so now 10 could be on the rb-there was no way a run could work here, but PA would have been a huge gain! |
| 4– SPLIT RBl(12)(5) | SLWR Deep Corner WRs Outs; TE Flat RRB BlockBoeck NO CHANCE!Int Grounding! | 5-2; 10,58 BLITZ!93 Drop15,4,36 MantoMan84 Untouched! |
Inc {-15} 3rd+25
|
Total miscommunication on the line–55 correctly took the inside blitzer(58)while Boone and Saine both started to take the outside blitzer (10). Saine made a WEAK attempt to jump back inside on 84 who brushed himside coming thru the middle virtually untouched!! Boeckman pissed and he has every right to be! His line has blocked horribly for him and a lot of it is again the schemes! Tressel should be apologizing to Boeckman not benching him for the rest of the season! Herbstreit incorrectly on Boeckman and not illuminating the real problems. Cordle held Spicer (blown out again!) and Boone held Cushing – the refs missed this (trying to make it look good?), but had to call the obvious IG! |
| 5-I 2WRr(2)(1) | PAr; WRs/TE DFTB/FB BlockNot enough time with only 3 in pattern! | NICKEL;36LOS36,58 BLITZ!15,4,7 Man;47DropGriffen SACKS Boeckman! |
-1 4th+26 |
Ive always wondered why teams don’t load up and blitz on one side and drop on the other, so of course USC would do something that aggressive. They rushed 4 on the left, 2 on the right – overloading our right side and Boeckman got crushed again! We kept 7(TB/FB) in to block and they all picked up a man, but Boone and Cordle were standing around picking their nose while Griffen was to quick for Browning and Pinkard threw off Smith. Miller actually made a good block on 75 or it would have been worse! I know its repetitive, but the set was fine, the call to keep the RBs in to block was a good one(we had a chance against MAN), but the blocking scheme doesn not match USC’s aggression! |
| 8thUSC | P- Good Punt47 Yds OOBs! | PR- NR |
NR 1st+10 |
Finally something good. Trepasso looked like the top recruit he was on that one. Deep punt away from 4. Herbstreit finally touched upon it that USC’s defense KNOWS whats coming and they are just flying! |
| 1-Il WRTr(7)(1) | 4-3; 51 Blitz!8 in the Box(2) | Fake Power LPass FB Flat LSE/TE CrissCross |
3 2nd+7 |
Another simple, but good pattern with the PA and the CrissCross. Wilson read the fake and almost blocked the pass and Laurinitis also read it and was on Havili immediately. Actually 18 was open on the Criss Cross which fouled up Freeman, but Sanchez went to quick to the primary. Just more subtle, but effective Sargisian ingenuity. Havili looked over to SL saying”He’s too fast” about Laurinitis. Its not our speed! |
| 2-TRIPSTl(9) | 4-3; 51 LOS(In DE)8inBox(2); 4,5 Up | Slam L GableNice Cutback and Burst! |
13 1st+10 |
Our D is more aggressive now, but all the PA by Sarkisian has us all fouled up. Rose started after Sanchez creating a huge hole ad 4 + 5 were in pass cov after Gable had the ball!! Plus Sarkisian’s TRIPS set creates great blocking schemes. Good push Heberer on 93, but Lewis held again(1) and even jumped up thinking a penalty would be called! Sanchez is a good ball handler, but the schemes have us confused. |
| 3-PROr3WRl(WRTr)Motion FBl-PRO(3)(1)(1) | 4-3; 1 LOSr Blitz!2,4,5 MantoMan51 Showing | DoubleScreen R 21Left- WR (18)Nice Burst Bradford |
17 {+15} 1st+10 |
With all our aggression of late USC pops in a screen out of nowhere. After all the PA, then running, the timing of the call is impeccable. Of course Sargisian gives Sanchez the option of a RB screen or a WR screen. We’re putty in Sarkisian’s hands. Constantly off balance! For the first time today we have 3 DBs in tight man coverage!! Unbelievable – one of the few times zone would have been good. HORRIBLE CALL! Freeman gave Sanchez a shove and the refs called unecessary roughness, after all they havent called on USC!! |
| 4-FBSlotr 2WRl(5)(3) | 4-3;1 LOS; 51 Blitz!1,33 Delayed BlitzDBs Up; Man Cov | Out+Up 18(SLWR)SE Quick Hook LTE Down+Out RFB Flat R |
17 TD! Catch 18
|
Putty. All the runs setting up a 1st dn pass to the EZ! Sargisian has used the pass to set up the runs to set up the screens to set up the pass. Brilliant in ALL phases except 2 min Off. Turner picks Jenkins – Chekwa doesn’t switch off his man and Williams is wide open in EZ! USC looks a lot better coached than us at this point. But again it’s the schemes. We are running aggressive schemes in the 2nd half, but we aren’t used to it so we got burned. Our DBs don’t run tons of man cov so we didn’t have the experience to make the switch. And our blitzers need to let it fly-there’s not enough time to check the FB as 1 did or blitz late like 33. The Dline got a good push again and had Freeman blitzed right away then Sanchez wouldn’t have had the time he needed for 18 to finish the route. Laurinitis gave him a shot , but too late!! |
| 9thOSU | KR-TB | KO-Great KO! Out of Endzone |
NR 1st+10 |
It’s a USC party. Kicker with a strong leg and fired up equals out of the endzone! Its going to be hard from here on out for OSU to give a good effort. |
| 1-2TEl-Split(9)(2) | Pitch L Wells1st Carry | 4-3CBs Man to ManCushing ANOTHERTACKLE |
-2 2nd+12 |
Finally USC lays back in a standard 4-3, bu even up 35-3 the Corners are up on the LOS and the RE(93) attacked up the field contain creating a mess of our blocking. TE Nichol tried to block him when he should have let the pulling SLTE(Ballard) take him – so they both ended up being pulled outside by 93 allowing the LBs (58,10) and easy attack which they did. Maualuga crushed a lazy Boone and Cushing played off that and made another tackle on Wells who had to cut it upfield because of 93. Its 35-3 and USC is STILL more aggressive – that’s coaching! |
| 2– SPLIT WRr(13)(8) | QB Option LPitch L Wells2 GreatBallHandlingWells Nice Burst! | 5-2; 10 Split WideCBs MantoMan |
7 3rd+5 |
Nice change of scheme out of an overused formation, but Boone is too busy checking down on the DT so by the time he’s getting out to the 2nd level 43 is by him. In some ways we are too complicated. USC’s lineman get right out to the 2nd level aggresively – in today’s game there’s no time to fool around! The technique the coaches are teaching our guys is not aggressive enough against these top teams. Again our speed (Wells) and great athleticism(Prior) are our only hope with our coaching deficiencies. Prior holds 93+43 till last sec then a great pitch! |
| 3-SLOT RBr(10)(8) | Scramble PriorSE Fly; RB QstopSLWR Deep CornerFl Stop; TE BlockIncredible “FEEL” from a True Frosh QB not to force a throw! | NICKEL; 3 CBs Man36,58 BLITZ!!47 Drop; 4 Up |
0 Prior Run |
Unbelievable aggressiveness by USC up 35-3! IT NEVER STOPS!! As for us… SAME OLD PATTERNS – THIS NEVER STOPS EITHER! At this point the USC DBs know exactly whats happening and our “baiting” Prior to throw. It looks like Hartline is breaking open on the corner route, but Harris knows what he’s doing and is waiting to break on the ball. Incredibly the True Frosh QB intuitively knows this and tries to pick it up the first with his legs. Unfortunately USC also knows our deficiency in variety of pattern schemes and brings a Nickel blitz. I love how Pinkard doesn’t even bother to chuck the RB going out in the pattern –WHY?- because in this day and age there’s no time to waste. He needs to get on the blitz and focus on on containing Prior IMMEDIATELY. Again, USC is ahead of us not only in schemes, but also technique! Amazingly in the middle of this mess, Prior breaks it if Person kept playing to the whistle like USC and holds on to his block on Moore just a second longer. Besides his athletic ability, Prior’s awareness is amazing and I don’t think he will keep quiet if the coaches don’t step it up in the next 2 years! |
4th QUARTER
| SERIES | OSU | USC |
YDS |
DESCRIPTION |
| 9thUSC | P-Another decent punt. Trepasso better w/o pressure! | PR-Fair Catch43 Yd Punt32 Yard Line |
NR 1st+10 |
Right before the break Musburger commented that Prior missed a wide open Hartline – wow! – its true that maybe Prior didn’t keep his head up long enough and missed out on a big play – but its also true that Musburger missed 7 baiting him – with an arm like Sanchez it would have been stupid not to try, but Prior’s instincts were right on and again he was one block away from a big run. Typical Musburger. |
| 1-PROl 3WRlMotion WRr(4)(2) | 4-3; 1 LOS2 Man to ManNice Play Holman | Fake Pitch L Roll RFlat R Havili |
0 2nd+10 |
Amazing that Sarkisian is in the 4th Quarter utilizing a new type of set and a brand new play action out of this set. OSU does a good job – Holman right on Havili and Jenkins up fast. Our speed is apparent when we know what we are doing. Credit to the Defense for at least adjusting some even at this late stage. OSU offense is clueless on what to do at this stage. |
| 2-2TESlotl 2WRlMotion SLTEr-Slotr(4)(2) | 4-3; 33,1,2 Show4 Up; 8intheBox(2)2 Corner Blitz | Slam R JohnsonGood Hard Run |
8 3rd+2 |
Talented backup RG Parsons killed Wilson, Ayles turned out blitzing Jenkins and McCoy enveloped Holman opening up a big hole that was closed by Laurnitis with a nice assist from Russell who flew up and smacked Johnson like he’s had enough. OSU is obviously fighting the emotions right now and USC is flying high. |
| 3-TRIPSTr TElMotion InWRFB-I (10)(1) | 4-3; 1 Showing51 Blitz!2,5,21 Man to Man4 UpDid the WR slip Interference on 21? | PAr; FB Flat RWiWR QIn PickMiWR Out;TE CrossPass to 18 (MiWR) Who was on the ground!Bad Read!Havili-primary WR wide open for 1st! |
Inc 4th+2 |
This is what I don’t like about Carroll. I understand staying aggressive on D, but on 3rd and 2 with a 35-3 lead just run it. Tressel definitely more class. Again, though, I have to give credit to Sargisian with a great call and scheme. Finding another set to motion Havili from WR to FB in the I (did it in PRO set last time), but this time faking the run after always running out of this motion before. Subtle genius. Then of course more ingenius pass patterns using the WiWR to pick off the LB(1) leaving Havili wide open for the 1st dn in the flat. Sanchez taking after Carroll got greedy and bypassed the 1st dn for more yardage to Williams who was covered. UP 35-3. CLASSLESS! OSU trying to go man to man for the 1st time against TRIPS and there was total confustion. At least they are trying to be aggressive, but why werent assignments taken care of at halftime?? Such confusion that somehow Chekwa had man on Havili but never got over there and he was wide open. Russell was mismatched on Williams. This is the epitiome of the scheme discrepency. Like chickens with our heads cut off! |
| 10thOSU | PR-Fair Catch | P-Nice High Punt35 yds |
NR 1st+10 |
USC Special Teams have really impressed! Good job Carroll , but such a classless act as he ran after the ref after the last play. Maybe there was interference, but at 35-3 and all the calls USC’s way today – JUST GIVE IT A BREAK, COACH!! |
| 1-Pistolr 2WRr(5)(3)10thUSC | PAl Turn RightPass SLWR Out (9) UpBack Flat RWR Fly; TE Post | 6-2(CB LOS);10,58 BLITZ!! 47 Drop4, 7 Man UpCushing on QB! |
INT 4 NR 1st+10 |
A debacle. Except for Prior there were no solutions that our coaches came up with at halftime. The pistol is a great set and we need more PA, but not down 35-3?? USCs not buying it and came on a big blitz – Boeckman furious as he should be! Saine needed to get 10 and Shugarts (now at RT) needed to pick up 58. Even if Saine just made a block it’s a completion to Hartline. If both blocks are made it may have been a long run to Robo who burned the obnoxioulsy aggressive D at this point. No PA may have worked to Hartline or Saine even w/o the blocks. |
| 1-TRIPSTr(11) | 4-3; 1 LOS;2,4 Man21 UP;9inBox(21,4) | LT BradfordHard Run! |
2 2nd+8 |
No wrinkles here and surprise, surprise we stop it. Our LBs too fast for their Oline when they don’t have a favorable blocking scheme. Holman and Laruinitis flew by the block attempts. Gibson fought off the LT and would have had Bradford for a loss, but for an aggressive stiff arm. |
| 2-I TESlotr WRTlMotion TEl-Slotl(8) | 5-2; 4 Up; 1 Blitz!CBs Man Up then Back Off | Pitch L GablePower Blocking86 and 53 |
4 3rd+4 |
McCoy manhandled Gibson and almost had another hold. He seems like a very strong blocking TE – not sure why he has to hold so much. OSU CBs backed off – even with the score what it is OSU is still not sure what Sarkisian is throwing at them. They read run to slow for all the power USC threw at them – USC is a combo of new and old school and have kept OSU off balance all game! |
| 3-I 2WRrMotion SLWRSlotr(9)(1) | 4-3; CBs Man Up21,4 Up; 4,1 BLITZ! | FB Give HaviliFake LTGreat Cutback! |
5 1st+10 |
More variances off the I. Unbelievable – the wrinkles just keep coming. USC seems to have an infinate # of variations while OSU seems to have run out at halftime! Blitzing Freeman blocked by 8- a WR! Blitzing Coleman faked out! Oline moving us now and a great cutback Havili to find the hole. USC does have a great corp of rbs! Our energy is obviously down right now. |
| 4-4WRTEr(RB/FB)Motion SLWRr-RB(2)(2) | 4-3; 1 Split; 90 UpCBs Man UpGood Tackle 51 | Sanchez ScrambleShovel Outlet R 2WRs DF; FB QStop |
4 2nd+6 |
Same set USC got their 4th TD on, but of course with a wrinkle. Motioning the SLWR who’s actually the RB back behind Sanchez. Now that OSU is expecting a run USC passes. They went from a pass look to a run look, yet still passed – brilliance! We covered it well so Sanchez took off, then shoveled it to Gable. Good tackle by Holman – our D still going hard. |
| 5-I TESlotl(10) | 4-3; 1 LOS;CBs Man4 Up; 90 Confused | Down Seam L 18WRs/TE DownSeam |
Inc 3rd+6 |
Quick pass – all 3 down seam. We played tight man coverage – our speed and athleticism shows better in man. That’s why the top teams including USC play man so much. If you have the speed might as well. The pass a little high off Williams’ finger tips. Big push Worthington! |
| 6-4WR TEl (RBSlotr)Motion SLWRl-RB(3)(1) | NICKEL; 33 LOSr4-ILB; 33 Blitz!CBs/5B MantoMan | Slam L BradfordSmashmouthRun |
3 4th+3 |
USC motions a WR back to RB again, but this time runs it. Forever keeping OSU off balance. But our Defense has been much more aggressive since the end of the 1st half and except for a couple of big screw ups its worked. Our Dline shoots the gaps(87,9) and 4 and 1 come up quick. Freeman finally in position to make a stick and Bradford runs him over!! |
| 7-DoubleSTACKTMotion Stackr(5)(2)11thOSU | 6-1; 51,1 BLITZ!!10 MenintheBox!!4 LOS MANCBs MAN | Fake Slam L RollrMotion Flat R 89WRl QstopStackr OutWRr Deep Out |
-12 SACK 1 LOD
1st+10 |
More assanine behavior by Carroll going for it on 4th and acting as if its life or death. Another fantastic scheme and play call. The motion man stops right a the C, pauses, then sneaks out in the right flat after the PA. But this time our D is even MORE AGGRESSIVE! I think Carrol’s antics are a slap in the face and pissed us off. Our Dline absolutely anihalated USC! Rose crushed Byers and Larrimore crushed O’Dowd. Both lineman ended up on the ground. 51,87 and 1 looked like they were shot out of a cannon and Freeman was relentless in chasing down Sanchez! NOW THAT’S SPEED! Russell was on 89(got away with slight hold). I don’t know what happened, but that was our most aggressive scheme all day and our most aggressive attitude and we looked faster than USC’s defense or any defense Ive seen. Where has this been!?? Now that shows what kind of speed and talent this team has when in the right scheme and frame of mind. Whew! |
| 1-SLOT RBr(11)(9) | Rollr; Scble R; Shovel pass 12Stop R 12; WRs DF | 5-2;10Blitz; 10 Spy93Drop; 4UpCBs MantoMan |
2 2nd+8 |
Now Cordle’s getting blown out by a true frosh backup DT, 91 Casey! Its tough now, because USC is fired up going against a defeated Oline. Four man rush gets good pressure while the back 7 had good coverage. Prior rolls, then scrambles right and finally shovels it to an always adjusting Sanzo who came back to help out the QB with 4 flying at him. Only a 2 yd gain again emphasizing our pathetic pattern scheme. |
| 2-PISTOLl 3WRl(6)(3) | Fake UpBackFlair L Boom? | 5-2;58 Blitz!10 Spy93Dr;CBsMan;4Up; |
{-5} 2nd+13 |
Young QB – Delay of Game. It looks like this was going to be a fake to Saine and a flair to the RB. That’s a nice scheme, but EARLY IN THE GAME!! PA now is just silly! Its like our coaching staff has a lot of good ideas but no common sense sometimes? Or just plain stubborness to stick to a plan no matter what and if it doesn’t work then too bad. No adjustments! Nice adjustment USC using 10 as a spy on Prior. |
| 3-2TEl-Split WRTl(10)(1) | Middle Screen BoomNice fake on 58 to pick up pos ydge | 5-2; 10 Spy93 DropCBs Man to Man |
4 3rd+9 |
No blocking for the screen. Shuggarts standing around. Browning stuck at the LOS at LG with 91. Person’s turn to be blown thru by True Frosh (94 Armstead). And of course horrible 2nd level blocking with both Cordle AND Nichol completely missing 58+43. A good call but another poor scheme taking to long to set up making it hard on our lineman. Its not agg enough. The good teams to fast for this. All 3 LBs on it for USC. |
| 4-2TEr 2WRl(11)(7) | Rolll; Prior Run OOB RB Flair R; WRs DFTEs Block | NICKEL; 10,58,4 LOS; All drop; 36 Man CbsUp; 7inBox |
7 4th+2 |
Hard to believe the continued aggressive Schemes by the USC defense leading by 32! 7 in the Box on a Nickel package! Thereatening a all out blitz then dropping everyone. Great stuff, but Prior understands this mentality and fights aggression with aggression. He didnt even bother to scan the wr’s and the silly pattern schmes, taking off full bore around the end and almost got the 1st down by his own aggression!Its also hard to believe that the best OSU can do coming out of a TO is a Prior Roll left with 2 WRs out in the pattern. Nothing to work on! |
| 11thUSC | TO – Confusion on whether or not to go for it!(See description)P-Average Length and HangtimeThanks to the penalty we finally win the field position battle | PR- Average Ret OOBs. Holding on 36 – finally called – a lot of grabbing like USC has been doing all game. Do they teach this?? Because the ref missed it again and called block in back. |
8 {-10} Block In The Back 43 USC 27 1st+10 |
AND HERE’S THE RUB! This TO called by OSU losing by 32 literally illustrates more than any other play up till now why we are getting killed though we are comparable to USC in every phase of the game. Here’s the picture. Tressel is all by himself on the sideline not sure whether to go for it on 4th or punt. The offense is halfway off the field, the punt unit waiting to go on, mass confusion and finally a wasted TO. Players are looking and waiting for a leader. This isnt Prior’s style and he immediately heads to the bench maybe even before the TO was called-he’d had enough! Meanwhile, USC had a chance to prepare now with the unexected TO and Carrol quickly gathers his defense – THE DIFFERENCE – no confusion, USC seems to know EXACTLY what they are doing and here’s the reason why – While Tressel is all by himself talking to men up in the box while his players look on waiting for guidance, Carroll has 4 –count them -4 assistants by his side running on to the field with him providing the leadership these young men need. THAT’S WHY USC HAS BETTER SCHEMES AND MORE AGGRESSION AND KNOW THEIR ASSIGNMENTS EXACTLY WITH NO MISCOMMUNICATION! Carrol has great help – Tressel is too much a one man show! |
| 1-FBSlotrMotion WR(8)lXD(6) | 4-3; CBs Man4 UpBig Hit Jenkins | Slam R BradfordFake Reverse 8Hard Running |
3 2nd+7 |
33,51,43 all followed the Reverse man. Thank goodness Jenkins stayed home or another big gain! Would have been no gain but a real hard run by another talented TB in Bradford. True Frosh RT, 70Tyson Smith had his hands all over Freeman – practically hugging him – of course , NO CALL. Ref right there an turned head. Though maybe they just want to keep the clock rolling at this point. |
| 2– STACKl WRrMot STACK(45)FB-I(6)(2) | 5-233 BlitzGreat Speed 1,51! | Counter R BradfordGood CutbackNot Enough Speed |
2 3rd+5 |
Backups in for USC inclucing Corp at QB. Unbelievable blatant hold on 33 by O’Dowd. He was holding on to jersey with both hands! Freeman almost runs out of the play on a good cutback run by Bradford, but reverses field quickly with his speed and flies in to make the tackle along with Holman. True Frosh RE, 43 Nate Williams gave a good push but ran up the field too far creating a big hole. It really looks like besides the schemes our guys aren’t as disciplined as USC and cover a lot of mistakes with speed. A problem versus another fast team. |
| 3-3WRi TESlotlMotion TEr-Slotr(11)(1) | 5-2 NICKEL; 33 LOS (LE); 33, 1 BLITZ!CBs MantoMan4 Man Up | Quick Screen R 21 Good burst, speed and move at the end by the 4th string TB!! |
12 1st+10 |
Just to illuminate the how USC varies its sets compared to OSU, they go back to a 3WR set for the 1st time since the beginning of the 2nd half after running it like crazy at the end of the 1st half. They have so many sets and variations off of sets in their playbook we didn’t see this again until now AND with another classic Sarkisian wrinkle – the TE in slot L and then motioned to the slot R and went on a deep route to clear out space for the RB quick screen. Of course it was the perfect call as we had been very aggressive and once again were blitzing never expecting a screen pass at this stage. Plus this makes it easy on his backup lineman and Freshman QB. Sarkisian is a genius! Good Blocks RT 76Howell(1) and RG 56Parsons(97), but again it looks like Howell is holding on to Freeman trying to get after 21. |
| 4-PROr STACKlMotion FB(45)l+r(5)(1) | 4-3/5-4;1 LOS Blitz!2,4 Up almost OLBs | RT BradfordGood Burst and Speed again! Hard Running. Good Blocks 76(90), 56(93), 40(51) and 45(KO on 2) |
6 2nd+4 |
Amazing – ANOTHER NEW WRINKLE! –for the 1st time today Sarkisian shows the PRO / STACK combo. Its seems infinate… the variations of sets within sets or combined with sets AND then add in all the motioning which can lead to another set AND then the play action – oh yeah, the aggressive and ever changing pass pattern schemes – is this the Norm Chow genius everyone talks about? This definitely has an effect on a defense. Its hard to stack our D against the run- EVEN WITH THE BLOWOUT SCORE – with these schemes. We don’t want to get burned with a long one and be embarrassed further. That’s why Sarkisian runs all these different sets and motions – to keep the D off balance and unable to be as aggressive as they want. Even works when just running out the clock! This offense is a well oiled machine and it keeps going no matter the score or personnel. RG,RT,TE,FB all good blocks. Especially Howell who turns Gibson in to open the hole. |
| 5– STACKl WRr<FBSlotl>Mot STACK(45)FB-I(7)(3) | 4-3; 2 Man Up Laurinitis – greatmove slipping between 2 blockers to help Freeman who got there 1st with his quickness! | LG 26Marc TylerNow a quick cutback move by the 5th stringer – only Wendell Tylers son!#1 Recruited RB in Country in 07! |
1 3rd+3 |
Now, Sarkisian now runs the same exact set and motion as play 2 of this series, except he lines USC up in a FBSlot to start, then moves into a STACK, then motions into a Power I. All of this to just power run it into the line. Does all this motion do anything? Well, for one the Defense is constantly moving AND thinking and cant ever get set physically or mentally. Its subtle but it takes out some of our aggression and keeps USC with the upper hand on their aggression. It looks like a simple power run, but its so much more complicated and that’s what the normal fan misses and that’s why the normal fan thinks USC is soo much more talented than everyone else. If we had Sarkisian on our side last year or this year or any of the years with the talent that Tressel has accumulated it would be as devastating or more so than what USC has done! Our D as usual shows guts fighting their FATIGUE, SHOWING SOME PRIDE! The Dline led by 93,72,43 clear the way with a big push! |
| 6-STACKl TEr WRrMot STACK(45)FB-I(8)(2) | 4-3; 1 LOS; 4,5 UP8intheBox (2MtoM)Great BurstColeman!! | PAr; FB(45) Flat RBroken up with a Big Hit by Coleman! |
Inc 4th+3 |
Looks like the same formation for the 4th out of 6 plays, but each STACK was a little different. This time PA out of it and we were caught off balance again. But there’s nothing wrong with our scheming this series, just Sarkisian’s subtle brilliance. On 3rd and short with a 32 pt deficit of course we bought into the run leaving the FB open in the flat , but Corp with just a split sec hesitation gives the OSU speed a chance. And there’s the rub – success or failure down to the split second – that’s the reality of today’s high speed game of football and why Sarkisian’s subtle schemes continually prove to be the difference maker. |
| 12thOSU | PR-Landed short and rolled OOBs | P- WHAT!? A Shank! 20+ Yd Pt |
NR 1st+10 |
Our guys on D showed a lot of guts that series! Keep playing hard! This is a dynamite team with some deficiencies in the game plan. Finally a bad Steams play by USC. Punting from OSU 48 they tried to pin us against the SL, but a shank produced a 26 WITH the roll to the OSU 22! |
| 1-SG 3WRr(11) | QB Option RGood Pitch PriorGreat burst Boom!Ran Over 58! | 5-2; 58,17 Showing26 Late ShowingCBs Man |
8 2nd+2
|
To the very last drive the whole defense knows what we are doing – even the 2nd String! 17 in for Cushing, 26 in for Ellison and they know, along with everyone else in the stadium we are probably doing some sort of option with Prior, especially out of this set. The great ball handling of Prior, running of Boom and 2nd stringers on D make this a good gain, but one other thing too – A GOOD 2ND LEVEL BLOCK BY SHUGGARTS ON 43!! Nichol also made a decent block on 58! Good block Hartline too on the flying 26. It helps to have Prior back there. |
| 2– SG 3WRl(12) | QB Draw LASSANINE CALL | 5-2; 17 Blitz! 97Drop; CBs/SS Man |
-3 3rd+5 |
EVERYONE ON D KNOWS WHATS COMING – THEY’VE BEEN WATCHING FROM THE SIDELINES- KEY ON PRIOR! USC backups get after it just like the starters! RE 81 busts up inside, 17 bounces off Boom and 91 Casey+Company swallow Prior. Amazingly (again) Prior’s ability is such that had Casey not shown great instincts to bounce to the outside out of his DRT position Prior might have busted loose even with the whole D keying on him! At this point in the game its unfair of our coaches to ask our Oline and QB to run this set without any PA or Option. |
| 3– SG 3WRl(13) | FbleSnap,ScrambleLQStop SL L SmallWRs QDF;TE/RB BlkPRIOR AND SMALL | 5-2; 17 Blitz! RDT(91) Drops into Coverage!!CBs Man |
11 1st+10 |
This is just a case of a staff really out of ideas and not sure what to do. They aren’t even taking the opportunity to tweak or work on stuff. Sarkisian does this when he’s up by 32 pts!! Same sets, no motion or any innovation of pass patterns. Cordle snapped the ball too soon causing chaos. Consequently the whole line got a slow start and 94 and 17 sped by Person and Boom. The ball hit Prior in the chest, he picked it up, scrambled left, stumbling under heavy pressure and with 91 joining the chase somehow found Small who came back to make a nice catch and quick move to pick up an extra 6. Pure Talent on that one. A broken play works better than some of our schemes! |
| 4-SPLIT WRr(14)(9) | Flair R SmallSmall Squirms! | 5-2; 97 DropCBs/S Up |
7 2nd+3 |
Again – everyone’s seen this. With the whole D keying on Prior it doesn’t take a “Sarkisian” mind to open up the field – even a quick screen pass from the exact same formation and patterns can do it! Just imagine if we really got creative? True Frosh 2nd string FS 18McCallister was a low level recruit, but has bought into the USC aggression and blew up Hartline who has made some good blocks today, but was trying to “catch” the defender on that one.Again Small’s speed+athleticism helps him “squirm” between McCallister + Ellison and pick up a cool 7 yds! |
| 5-SPLIT WRl(15)(10) | Qhook R RoboAll Quickies except SLWR DF | 4-3; 17 LOS – SPY6 Show; CBs ManUpGood Tight Cov 15 |
Inc 3rd+3 |
15 Thomas made a nice play on the ball to deflect it. Again, incredibily ridiculous patterns and schmes that does nothing to help this ball club or Prior for the future!! Let alone trying to get a TD before the end of the game! Bad pass block by Wells on 97 who gets in Prior’s face. Nice arm strength and quick release but a bad read by Prior. He gave up on the L and looked right too quickly – Small had an easy 1st down. |
| 6-SG 3WRl(14) | WRs QuickiesPrior No Where to Go-Sacked 94(35) | 5-2; 17,35(RILB)BLITZ!! 97 DropCBs Man;S UP *94* |
-6 4th+9 SACK |
Bauserman said something to Tressel – other than that coach is all alone. Id love to see Bauserman get into coaching like Major Applewhite who’s turning out to have a great offensive mind. Dline Agg Slant L, new LG 70 leaned that way, letting 35 fly by, and TrueFrosh 94Armstead blew through Wells and Nichol. Prior did a preplan Boeckman on that one-running all the way. He had Robo open for a 1st.(Qstop L SL) |
| 12thUSC | P- Trepasso’s best of night High 45! | PR-Fumbe but rec by returner-USC 15 |
NR 1st+10 |
Big punt – little late. Some of our problems can be attributed simply to the pressure on us now from losing big games recently. That’s why a big punt now not earlier – we’re trying too hard. But most is the game plan and schemes compared to the other top teams. |
| 1-I Formationr(11)(2) | 4-3; 1 LOS20 Man; 2,7 UpNice Gang TackleFuture Aggression? | RT 29Strong Hard RunGood push RG 65 |
4 2nd+6 |
USC AGGRESSION – you see it even in the simplest of power runs – only the 2nd standard I set run in the game by Sargisian. Musburger talking about the incredibly competitive practices that Carroll runs. Its not just in the schemes and the play calls – its in the ATTITUDE too. 99Terry at LE gives the RG a good shot but then gets pushed back into 38Spitler. Still they make the tackle along with RLB 36Rolle who looks smallish, but does a nice job of pursuing and getting in the mix as does 7Hines, who FLIES up from SS, and speedy 43Williams from behind. |
| 2-2TESlotl 2WRlMotion SLTEl-Slotr(5)(3) | 4-3; 36,1 Showing CBs/S Up8Men in the Box (2) | RT 29 |
-4 3rd+10 |
Finally USC screws up – unfortunately it’s the last play of the game. There is a major miscommunication on the right side of the line. The RT/TE attack our LLB36 and the RG/C attack our MLB38 leaving our LE+LT a free shot on the RB. Terry gives him a crack, while 9,43,2 gang on. Ironically, this seemed like the only play that Carrol dropped the head set and got ready for the celebration. At least they didn’t fake it and go long trying to get one more score – that’s too low a blow even for Carroll. |
| 2nd Half Summary | OSU –Total breakdown on O. Nothing left to use!Defense actually continued agg play from end of 1st half. | USC– Continued aggresssion to the end on O and D. Continued to add wrinkles on O no matter the score! |
USC 14
OSU 0 |
What can you say – we seemed out of ideas at halftime with no contingent plan or further sets, schemes or even “wrinkles” off these sets. Meanwhile, USC continued to expand their simple sets with additional wrinkles every series until the end, hardly ever running the same exact play, be it a change in motion, PA, pass patterns, etc. At the end when we were basically just giving it to Prior and saying “Good Luck”, Sarkisian continued to work the offense and find ways to be aggressive and move the ball. As for the D, OSU actually made a change near the end of the 1st half (was it Fickell??) and had much more aggressive and smart schemes from then on. The futility on Offense and some more tweaking needed in our cov schemes led to the 2 TDs, not the overall game plan after half time or the heart of our defense to keep playing hard to the end. Of course USC kept blitzing, putting 8 or more in the box and playing aggressive MantoMan all the way to the end! |
| GAME SUMMARY | OSU-The D cont the agg scheming the rest of the year and did well except for Texas’ 2min offense. Our Offense never improved. | USC– Beaten the following game-in Conference- as the opposing head coach attributed the upset to the understanding of USC’s SCHEME! |
USC 35
OSU 3 |
Sanchez said the we did everything that they game planned for making it easy – “We were very well prepared. That’s a testament to our coaches.” Yet, one good thing came out of this for OSU. The necessary adjustment that we made on Defense seemed to carry us through the rest of the year. With the improved schemes we never had a bad defensive game again. (The Bowl game had more to do with our continuing Offensive futility again and the great use of the 2minute offense in the 2nd half by Texas). Our offense never really improved, even with new formations and trickery – even using 2 QBs on the field together in the bowl game. Our scheme problems are deeping than that and need a serious adjustment starting with the coaching staff. As for USC, Herbstreit made the call – “the teams in conference seem to play USC obviously much better than the non conference because theyre more used to seeing their scheme. Is there a team like that this year who can challenge SC if they have that off week that they, again, have had…the last 3 years” Yes Kirk there is – NEXT GAME! |
USC OSU
35 3
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