Football
By the Numbers
By Jeff Amey
The Ohio State Buckeyes went into Saturday's game against
Wisconsin looking for redemption after an embarassing loss to Northwestern
the week before. The players were saying the right things. The coaches
ran some "get tough" practices in preparation. It was enough
to make most fans cautiously optimistic that this team had learned
its lesson and was going to turn things around in a big way against
the Badgers.
It didn't happen.
In fact, as bad as the game against Northwestern was, the game against
the Badgers was in many ways a larger step back. In a game where questions
about where this team was headed were supposed to be answered, we
just ended up with a lot more unanswered questions. Now this team
must adjust any goals it may have had at the Big Ten title and a possible
Orange Bowl berth much lower as the Buckeyes will now be fighting
just to make a major bowl at the end of the season.
Before we go into more detail about the game itself, let's take a
look at the stats. For the third straight game, they aren't the prettiest
thing to look at.
56 Total Plays--232 yards--4.1 Ypp
31 pass (55%)--15/31 for 133 yards
25 runs (45%) for 99 yards--4.0 ypc
12 Total Drives
ave. of 4.7 plays--19.3 yards
ave. start--OSU 29
1st Down--24 plays (43%) for 134 yards
13 pass (54%)--7/13 for 78 yards
11 runs (46%) for 56 yards--5.1 ypc
ave. gain of 5.6 yards
2nd Down--18 plays (32%) for 55 yards
10 pass (56%)--6/10 for 40 yards
8 runs (44%) for 15 yards--1.9 ypc
ave. of 9.2 yards to go
ave. gain of 3.1 yards
3rd Down--14 plays (25%) for 43 yards
8 pass (57%)--2/8 for 15 yards
6 runs (43%) for 28 yards--4.7 ypc
ave. of 8.4 yards to go
ave. gain of 3.1 yards
conversions--4/14
First Downs--12
6 by run
6 by pass
0 by penalty
Playaction Passing
3/6 for 37 yards
FORMATION BREAKDOWN
Formations w/ FB--12 plays (21%)
3 pass (25%)--1/3 for 16 yards
9 runs (75%) for 65 yards--7.2 ypc
Shotgun--39 plays (70%)
26 pass (67%)--13/26 for 101 yards
13 runs (33%) for 7 yards--0.5 ypc
One back/empty formations--5 plays (9%)
2 pass (40%)--1/2 for 16 yards
3 runs (60%) for 27 yards--9.0 ypc
RUN TYPE BREAKDOWN
counter/trap--4 (16%) for 7 yards--1.8
ypc
draw--6 (24%) for 52 yards--8.7 ypc
sweep--0 (0%) for 0 yards
base/Iso--3 (12%) for 22 yards--7.1 ypc
reverse--0 (0%) for 0 yards
power--1 (4%) for 1 yard--1.0 ypc
QB run/scramble--10 (40%) for 14 yards--1.4 ypc
option--1 (4%) for 3 yards--3.0 ypc
Other Stats of Note
*Lydell Ross--7 carries for 29 yards--1 reception for
12 yards
*Antonio Pittman--4 carries for 49 yards--1 reception
for 16 yards
*Brandon Joe--3 carries for 4 yards--1 reception for
9 yards
*Antonio Pittman accounted for 28% of total offense
on 5 touches
*40 out of 56 called plays were passes (71%)
*4 offensive penalties--none converted to first down
*2 turnovers (both fumbles)
*23 plays for 50 yards and 4 first downs in 2nd half
*24 of 56 plays ended in no gain or a loss
It has finally happened. The cloak of invincibility has been irrevocably
thrown off as the Buckeyes will head into this week's game at Iowa
riding their first two game losing streak during Jim Tressel's tenure
as coach.
Other than during the brief and tumultuous Maurice Clarett era, the
Buckeye offense has struggled to move the ball way more than they
have looked good. Despite those struggles, the wins kept piling up,
and criticism over the offensive struggles could be overlooked and
ignored, despite constant harping in the media about it. Buckeye fans,
have mostly preferred to think that it was all part of some master
plan and the media just didn't get it.
It was easy to think that way. A consistancy showed through with
each passing game as the defense and special teams kept the Buckeyes
in game after game, even allowing the Buckeyes to ride through the
magical 2002 season undefeated and with their first national championship
in 34 years.
These past two weeks have shown us that the media is at least partly
right too. The Buckeye offense has not lived up to their part of the
bargain, and no matter what the reason is, I think it has finally
come to the point where the fans are saying..."We all deserve
better". As I watched this game against Wisconsin the second
time to break it down, I found that phrase echoing in my head over
and over again.
There were some very bright spots in this game. Ted Ginn Jr. scored
his first touchdown as a Buckeye on a spectacular punt return in the
first quarter. No matter how I feel about him playing at wideout for
the Buckeyes, he is clearly a weapon in the return game and needs
to be on the field. The more I see of Antonio Pittman, the more excited
I get about seeing him with a ball in his hands as well. As I put
in my notes above, he accounted for a little over 1/4 of the total
offense on only 5 touches during the game.
I have seen a lot of criticism levelled at the offensive line this
season for not opening holes in the running game. I really think that
most of this criticism is unwarranted. Not only was Justin Zwick not
signifigantly pressured throughout most of this game despite the great
defensive line Wisconsin boasted, but the running backs averaged 5.9
yards per carry running the ball.
This brings me directly to where I think the major criticism I have
lies.
For the third straight game, I didn't really understand Ohio State's
gameplan. The Buckeyes were in the shotgun on 70% of the plays against
the Badgers. In effect, that was telling me that the coaches didn't
think there was any way that the offensive line could compete with
Wisconsin's defensive line. This may or may not have been true, but
in my opinion, I don't feel like it sends a very good message to the
Buckeye players.
I found myself envying the Badger offense throughout most of the
second half. At least they have an identity. I am having an impossible
time reconciling the Buckeyes throwing the ball around like a spread
offense. This just isn't Buckeye football to me. I suppose if the
offense was putting up 500 yards per game and 40 points, there wouldn't
be any reason to be critical, but they aren't, and the offense is
looking increasingly bad by the week.
I have to wonder how much effect Troy Smith airing his concerns about
his playing time to the media had on him not seeing the field against
the Badgers on Saturday. As good as I think Zwick will someday be,
he just didn't have it on Saturday, and I think a change needed to
be made, especially in the second half. Zwick was missing open receivers
badly, especially on the long balls and on third down. For a team
that is seemingly relying on moving the ball through the air, the
quarterback play in the past few weeks has not been adaquate.
In light of that, I have to wonder even more why Ohio State seems
to have completely given up on the running game this season. The Buckeyes
didn't line up in the I formation all that much against the Badgers,
but when they did run the ball out of the I, they averaged over 7
yards per carry. Two times they ran basic isolation plays out of the
I, and gained 21 yards (8 and 13), both in the first half. Why didn't
the Buckeyes come back with some more of this in the second half?
I just don't understand.
Looking at the defense for a second, I have to try to express some
of the disappointment I have felt in watching their play so far
this season. They aren't a bad group, but they are far from being
as dominant as their past two predecessors. Why? There have been several
changes that I haven't been happy with, and they were exploited on
numerous occasions by both Northwestern and Wisconsin the past two
weeks.
First, the defense has seemingly changed from a 3 deep cover team
under Dantonio to a 2 deep cover team under Snyder. That in itself
isn't a bad thing. Neither is the amount of aggressive blitzing by
the linebackers we've seen on many occasions this season. The combination
of those things with the passive coverage we've seen out of the corners
have allowed for some easy gains in the passing game for teams this
season. I think a defense needs to be aggressive across the entire
field or not aggressive at all. It makes no sense to me why the Buckeyes
don't play tighter on the corners if they are going to blitz this
much.
Second, despite the blitzing, the Buckeyes aren't getting much pressure
on opposing quarterbacks so far. If being aggressive isn't getting
to the quarterback, where does that leave this defense? The defensive
line play has been solid so far, but not spectacular. The Buckeyes
need improvement in this area to be more successful on defense.
Third, there seems to be too many times where there are defensive
backs out of position on passing downs. It's hard to tell from TV
coverage (which is all I have to work with) where the blame lies,
but the opposing team's third down conversion rate has been way too
high this season. I haven't been impressed with E.J. Underwood's play
at the field corner spot either.
Getting back to the game against the Badgers, the defense did a great
job of playing more inspired than I had seen this season, but keeping
the Buckeyes in the game just wasn't enough this time. The Buckeye
defense was not helped by the referees either. There were two blatantly
missed fumbles by the Badgers, one of which would've been a huge switch
in momentum at the beginning of the second half. There was also a
very questionable pass interference call that went against Ashton
Youboty in the end zone on a drive that ended in a touchdown for the
Badgers. Wisconsin ended up with 10 points out of those situations.
This is not to take away from the performance of the Badgers. They
deserve a lot of credit for the way they played. They may or may not
have had the best athletes on the field, but they had the best TEAM
by far.
Last week, I said that I felt that the Buckeye players had a lot
of soul-searching to do. They, along with the coaches, have that much
more to do this week. This offense needs to find an identity in a
hurry. If it slogs through the rest of conference play as it has the
past three games, the Buckeyes have a very bleak future this season.
It's surprising how quickly the effects of the offensive output early
this season has worn off. The Buckeyes have gone from a team that
looked as if they could score a touchdown from anywhere on the field
to a team that has forgotten where they have to go to score one. It
will be that much tougher to fool us all again this time. The Buckeyes
have a lot to prove to themselves and to their fans to regain that
sense of trust and confidence we all seemed to have when the wins
kept coming.
The coaches need to start calling better games offensively and defensively.
The players need to come out inspired and playing up to their ability
on each and every play. The fans need to stay supportive as this team
works out their many problems. The offense needs to start holding
up their end of the bargain...the fans deserve better.
E-mail Jeff Amey at:
tallabuck@the-ozone.net
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