One of the biggest plays on Saturday almost never happened. It wasn’t Austin Mack’s incredible catch in traffic, or a long run by J.K Dobbins or Mike Weber, but rather Marcus Baugh’s touchdown reception from the arm of J.T. Barrett.
After withstanding a first quarter that saw the Buckeyes trailing 14-0, and negative yardage in the stat column, Ohio State began to climb their way back into the game. Late in the second quarter with the Buckeyes threatening the red zone, Ohio State broke tendency by passing on first-and-10.
The play started with an audible from the sideline which moved K.J. Hill from the slot to the backfield, along with Weber.
Slight confusion by Hill and Victor pre-snap prompted Coach Meyer to run down the sideline looking to possibly call a timeout. As Meyer neared the referee, Barrett organized the formation and snapped the ball.
The Michigan linebackers, reading run blocking from Price, bit on the hard play fake to K.J. Hill and Marcus Baugh was able to sneak past the secondary for an easy pitch and catch.
Despite a disappointing sample size, plays that involve multiple backs in the backfield have been wildly successful this season, but in a week full of thanks, Buckeye fans should be especially grateful Urban Meyer likes to save his timeouts.
The play that almost never happened is the subject of this week’s Buckeye Breakdown.
Maybe Urban is saving all the rest of the two back plays and wrinkles for a special occasion like the Big Ten Championship game. We can only hope. If the players and coaches prepare for and execute this game with the same aggressive and angry attitude that they had for the MSU game, we will be fine. Otherwise it will be the same version of Urban’s Tressel-ball we’ve seen all season against good teams.
It sure seems like if we can focus on stopping their running game and then also Fumagalli…. those could be the keys.
Plus if we have two 100 yard rushers and Barrett/Haskins throws for 300!
Yes, i agree with above statement, that the offense needs to have both Dobbins and Weber on the field at the same time, if for nothing else than to make the opposing defense to guess who will get the ball. Or, keep the TE in to block and send both Dobbins and Weber out on passes. Just install different wrinkles using both of them. Plus the Buck’s defense has really got sloppy with their tackling. Chris Ash brought in the rugby style tackling, which has seemed to have left with him. Discipline has always been a problem with Myer’s teams. Constant stupid penalties.Bucks will need to step up their game against Wisconsin.
run 2 back sets with Weber an Dobbins, they have to respect it and it would provide better spacing throughout the field.
The Buckeyes need to go against their tendencies much more often. I can sit at home and call the vast majority of their plays before they happen, which means opposing defensive coordinators can too. They need coaches who are more creative on offense if they are ever going to win a NC again. They also need coaches who will instill some discipline in this team. They lead the Big Ten in penalties (89), many of which are horrendously stupid. They also need to figure out how to cover TE’s. They have been burned all year by passes to TE’s.
Which is very surprising given the play calling we always saw out of Wilson at Indiana and when he was at OU. One can only speculate that Meyer is hijacking the play calling during the game.
I’ve a theory that Urban’s base read option offense makes it difficult to install wrinkles. If every play is an option, how many option options can there be? I mean aside from running a Tecmo Bowl-esque reverse fake z-post type play, which almost always ended with a sack, tfl or fumble.