Run to Throw
Kevin Wilson has already detailed some of the problems with the Ohio State offense and some of the ways he intends to get it fixed.
Those fixes might work in terms of opening up the big plays, but the question remains whether or not the Buckeye receivers can capitalize on those openings. With glaring drops by open receivers on deep passes in each of the first two games, a play caller like Wilson could start to get gun shy on pulling the downfield trigger if the ball is going to keep falling incomplete.
That’s not how Wilson sees things, however.
“To me, I want to do it more,” he said. “You don’t want to get behind the chains, but to me we’ve got to pound the run, we’ve got to get the ball horizontal and vertical in the passing game, and to me, I’m not doing enough right yet. And whether the guy catches it or not, as long as the quarterback keeps putting it in proximity, he will. You’re not going to get down on a guy. We’re seeing it in practice a bunch. We’re going to keep at it. It’s not going to be bombs away, but we’ve got to use our players and attack the 53 1/3 and the depth of the field as we play offense.”
A Different Animal
Speaking with the media after Ohio State’s loss to Oklahoma, defensive coordinator Greg Schiano said that the problems with the defense were mistakes and coaching, as opposed to players simply getting beat like the week before against Indiana.
On Tuesday, Schiano met with the media after practice and was asked again about the problems with the pass defense.
“Well, I talked about it after the game,” he said. “I kind of had a pretty good feel, and when I watched the tape that was confirmed. So, I’ve kind of moved forward now and we’re dealing with Army.”
Schiano isn’t glossing over the mistakes made by his defense, it’s just that there is another — and much more different — problem to deal with this weekend. The precedence is on stopping Army’s triple-option offense, and for good reason.
“It’s such a different animal moving forward that we’ll deal more with regular football corrections on Sunday when we get done with the Army game,” he explained. “Then we will get back to playing regular football. This is different. This is a totally different thing. I think people say, ‘Oh, it’s the option.’ Totally different. It’s not like anything else we see all year. When we make the corrections in full form, it will be next Sunday.
Practice Makes Permanent
If any athlete wants to play during a game, generally they must practice well in the days and weeks leading up to that game. That is certainly the case at Ohio State, which is why when there is any consideration of making a change to the starting lineup, a coach will look at how his players practice.
At quarterback for the Buckeyes, there is no doubt who the best practice player is, and as long as that is the case, a coach is going to be very hard pressed to make a change.
“The two best practice players offensively consistently are [J.T. Barrett] and Billy Price,” Kevin Wilson said on Wednesday. “As old guys – and they have phenomenal talent, but their ability to just focus on fundamentals. There will be a play in practice that is a simple hand-off, but you’ll see J.T. tuck his hands and express it for 5-6-7 steps and carry out a fake, where a lot of guys hand off and watch. You’ll see when he takes his drops he’s really working on footwork. He is a guy that has great concentration on trying to work on getting better.
“To me that’s why. I think he’s very driven, passionate guy. He’s got high goals and standards. I know he’s disappointed with the way that he played. I know I and his surrounding teammates have got to help him. He’s going to work hard. He’s just a great practice player because of the attention to detail.”