Latest / Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning / Ross Fulton Analysis: How Will The Michigan Defense Attack Ohio State?
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Welcome to buck Eyes tomorrow morning for Wednesday, November twenty
- 0:02Speaker 1: seventh time your host Tom Moore. The game against Michigan
- 0:05Speaker 1: is in three days. We're gonna be talking all about
- 0:08Speaker 1: the game against Michigan. I'm going to be doing it
- 0:10Speaker 1: with her buddy Ross Fulton of bucke huddle dot com,
- 0:12Speaker 1: one of our exi's and o's gurus there and when
- 0:14Speaker 1: Ross is on the show. We are sponsored by Jeff
- 0:16Speaker 1: Rubies of Columbus, probably offering nationally acclaimed USDA primestakes, seafood
- 0:20Speaker 1: and sushi, impeccable service, live entertainment, and an attention to
- 0:23Speaker 1: detail that is simply unmatched. Just go to Jeff Ruby
- 0:26Speaker 1: dot com slash Columbus to check out the menu and
- 0:28Speaker 1: make a reservation today. All right, so we're gonna be
- 0:31Speaker 1: looking back at the Indiana game, some very encouraging things
- 0:35Speaker 1: from Ohio State on offense in that game. But we're
- 0:37Speaker 1: also going to be doing it sort of with a
- 0:39Speaker 1: little bit of an eye ahead at this weekend against
- 0:42Speaker 1: the Michigan Wolverines. So let's start with an area where
- 0:45Speaker 1: there could be a challenge for the Buckeyes this weekend,
- 0:48Speaker 1: and that is in the on the ground. Let's start
- 0:50Speaker 1: ross with you know, there were some inconsistencies certainly for
- 0:53Speaker 1: Ohio State on the ground. They hit hit some big ones,
- 0:55Speaker 1: especially at the end, but had some struggles as well.
- 0:59Speaker 1: This let's start with one. They did have a little
- 1:01Speaker 1: bit of a struggle. This is one of those goal
- 1:03Speaker 1: to go plays where Indiana really stopped Ohio State pretty
- 1:07Speaker 1: effectively on the ground.
- 1:09Speaker 2: Yeah, so Indiana, we talked about going into the game
- 1:13Speaker 2: how much they liked to move their front, you know,
- 1:15Speaker 2: slant stunt' you know, some of this, you know, but
- 1:20Speaker 2: what Indiana did a lot against Ohio State, particularly and
- 1:24Speaker 2: run situations, was play a odd or a bear front
- 1:28Speaker 2: like you're seeing here on this clip. So you get
- 1:31Speaker 2: a zero technique, you know, nosegar head up over the center,
- 1:35Speaker 2: you know, to defensive ends or tackles inside of the
- 1:40Speaker 2: offensive tackles, and you know it's called a four I,
- 1:43Speaker 2: and then you basely have a five down front with
- 1:45Speaker 2: the two stand up outside linebackers. Ohio State, I do
- 1:49Speaker 2: think they expected this. They actually had a good plan
- 1:52Speaker 2: for it. Like you saw it early on, like Will
- 1:54Speaker 2: Howard would go up and check, they'd go to under
- 1:57Speaker 2: center and they'd run. They try to get the football
- 2:00Speaker 2: off tackle outside the three down. Whyman saw that with
- 2:03Speaker 2: some stretch and you saw here with uh this is power,
- 2:07Speaker 2: which they haven't run much of this year. Right, So
- 2:10Speaker 2: it's like we've talked about counterpowers similar except you're now
- 2:14Speaker 2: you're gonna have a which Uh who the tight end here,
- 2:17Speaker 2: wil because Merrick is going to function as a fullback
- 2:21Speaker 2: and he's got excuse me, bettet Christian, He's gonna try
- 2:24Speaker 2: to kick out and you're gonna pull the backside guard around.
- 2:26Speaker 1: Right.
- 2:27Speaker 2: Again, these are like plays that go off tackle, so
- 2:29Speaker 2: that that bubble obviously you can see there between Donova
- 2:32Speaker 2: Jackson and Uh Wilkes Merrick. But Indiana again because of
- 2:38Speaker 2: all the movement, like it was hard to always predict
- 2:41Speaker 2: what's gonna happen. Right, So like here Indiana does slant
- 2:45Speaker 2: away from the play, but the problem is that brings
- 2:48Speaker 2: that outside edge rusher inside and and Bennett Christian just misses.
- 2:56Speaker 2: I think that the tight end blocking Uh in the
- 2:59Speaker 2: run game on Saturday was uneven, to say the least.
- 3:04Speaker 2: Miss The blocks had sometimes where like they could have
- 3:08Speaker 2: just sustained blocks for a little bit longer. The other
- 3:10Speaker 2: thing though, that you know they had to plan to
- 3:13Speaker 2: run these gap schemes. But what Indiana was doing, and
- 3:16Speaker 2: you can see it here, is that that noseguard over
- 3:20Speaker 2: the center was reading the blocks and when he saw
- 3:23Speaker 2: the center block back, he would basically jump up or
- 3:29Speaker 2: pull himself back and then loop around towards the play.
- 3:35Speaker 3: I haven't seen that in a while.
- 3:36Speaker 2: It's sort of like an old school like noseguard read technique,
- 3:40Speaker 2: and so he was trying to read the play, and
- 3:41Speaker 2: so here he's basically sitting in the hole waiting for
- 3:44Speaker 2: Quinn Shawn Junkins. I'd happened a few times on different
- 3:47Speaker 2: concepts where that nose guard would just be unblocked because
- 3:51Speaker 2: it was just hard to account for him on those
- 3:54Speaker 2: down block schemes or the gap schemes when everyone was
- 3:57Speaker 2: blocking back. You know, it really takes keeping your had
- 4:00Speaker 2: head up and keeping on your path. And so they,
- 4:03Speaker 2: you know, they just did some things to throw some
- 4:05Speaker 2: wrenches in the run game. We'll get into this a
- 4:08Speaker 2: little bit with the on the Trevon Henderson touchdown, but
- 4:12Speaker 2: you know, also just playing a lot of like cover
- 4:14Speaker 2: zero selling out against the run, particularly in short yardage situations.
- 4:17Speaker 2: A lot of as I said, a lot of guessing
- 4:19Speaker 2: from Indiana words if it was a rundown or where
- 4:23Speaker 2: they expected to run a lot of single high a
- 4:25Speaker 2: lot of bringing bodies, throwing safeties, and then you know,
- 4:28Speaker 2: playing more split safety cover two stuff when they expected pass.
- 4:33Speaker 1: All right, well, you have already told everyone what's coming next,
- 4:36Speaker 1: So I'm just going to get out of the way
- 4:37Speaker 1: and let you talk about that Travon Henderson touchdown run.
- 4:40Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 4:40Speaker 2: I think adversely, Ohio State ran the ball better when
- 4:44Speaker 2: they had the better numbers, and so here, you know,
- 4:48Speaker 2: like the difference here on this play versus like some
- 4:50Speaker 2: of the other short yardage is you can see that
- 4:53Speaker 2: Indiana is basically playing a cone or a bracket on
- 4:56Speaker 2: Jeremiah Smith as a single receiver because this is third
- 4:59Speaker 2: and four, and so they obviously they went from being
- 5:03Speaker 2: you know, much more mugged up aggressive here and but
- 5:07Speaker 2: now they've sort of they've got a safety helping out
- 5:09Speaker 2: on the inside of Smith because my guess is they
- 5:12Speaker 2: thought they were going to get a slant to Smith
- 5:14Speaker 2: here that equated the numbers inside. This is a stretch,
- 5:19Speaker 2: but zone oh I State did run stretch well. Again,
- 5:21Speaker 2: like this isn't quite this bear look, but like you
- 5:24Speaker 2: can see from the back end zone side they have
- 5:26Speaker 2: you know, again like all kinds of different fronts, like
- 5:29Speaker 2: this is sort of a you still have a head
- 5:31Speaker 2: up noseguard. You have one guy the bear to that
- 5:35Speaker 2: side their High State's running, and then the other defensive
- 5:38Speaker 2: lineman is wider to the field. So again just like
- 5:40Speaker 2: throwing lots of stuff at High State, but like stretch
- 5:42Speaker 2: was pretty effective. Again, like aiming for that bubble you get.
- 5:47Speaker 2: You know, I think a really nice job here by
- 5:49Speaker 2: Carts and Hinsman staying on his track at center. He
- 5:53Speaker 2: gets up on twenty one the play side linebacker, which
- 5:56Speaker 2: allows Henderson to be free.
- 5:59Speaker 3: You know, I thought on Henderson ran really well.
- 6:02Speaker 2: He's obviously running, he's breaking tackles, He's obviously explosive as
- 6:06Speaker 2: we saw him the last run. You know, I do
- 6:09Speaker 2: think that quinnchron Junkins has been pressing a little bit.
- 6:13Speaker 2: There are a few times I thought he you know,
- 6:16Speaker 2: missed holes or is a little too or conversely, like
- 6:20Speaker 2: was a little bit too much dancing in the backfield.
- 6:22Speaker 2: But I also do think that Junkins, you know, that
- 6:27Speaker 2: was especially live. I had that thought, you know, upon
- 6:29Speaker 2: Rerut watch. I do think Henderson is benefiting from the
- 6:34Speaker 2: fact that he's coming in a lot on third downs, right,
- 6:38Speaker 2: or like it's the change up back, and a lot
- 6:41Speaker 2: of times he's getting running the football and like these
- 6:44Speaker 2: third and four situations where the defense is not expecting
- 6:48Speaker 2: how I state to run and so they're getting like
- 6:51Speaker 2: a better look, right, Like that was even true. Like
- 6:53Speaker 2: let's even use like Purdue as an example where we
- 6:55Speaker 2: talked about like Purdue playing that like five to one
- 6:57Speaker 2: penny front and then like on third down it was
- 7:00Speaker 2: like thirty and three, they'd being a four down front
- 7:02Speaker 2: and it cleans up the blocking up front, and it
- 7:06Speaker 2: you know, it opened things up. And so I do
- 7:09Speaker 2: think there's probably you know, it's a chicken and egg thing, right,
- 7:13Speaker 2: Like Judkins, I do think is probably getting a little
- 7:14Speaker 2: frustrated because there are times like the clip I just
- 7:17Speaker 2: showed where like he's having unblocked defensive linemen standing in
- 7:21Speaker 2: the hole or like meeting him in the backfield. But
- 7:24Speaker 2: you know, so I think, you know, it will help
- 7:28Speaker 2: them again, and like this is going to be kind
- 7:31Speaker 2: of a common theme here. Obviously they played well on offense.
- 7:35Speaker 2: I think they'll they'll halt themselves further by being a
- 7:37Speaker 2: little bit more throwing more on rundowns and first down
- 7:43Speaker 2: and then running more like on those like in passing
- 7:47Speaker 2: downs as well, and so just keeping off defensive off
- 7:50Speaker 2: balance because defenses are opponents are definitely trying to guess
- 7:54Speaker 2: which way, you know, based on down a distance and tendencies,
- 7:58Speaker 2: what a state it's going to do, and you get
- 8:00Speaker 2: pretty different looks as a result of that.
- 8:03Speaker 1: All right, So that's our look at the running game.
- 8:07Speaker 1: Obviously play a factor this weekend. Now let's move on
- 8:10Speaker 1: to the pass game. And I got to tell you
- 8:12Speaker 1: I watched the Michigan Northwestern game and the Ohio State
- 8:15Speaker 1: Indiana game back to back on Sunday for a couple
- 8:18Speaker 1: of shows that I did with Tony Gerdaman, and boy,
- 8:20Speaker 1: it is jarring to watch the Michigan passing game and
- 8:22Speaker 1: it's just dink and dunk and just the Ohio State
- 8:24Speaker 1: passing game. They weren't heaving it deep a whole lot
- 8:28Speaker 1: on Saturday, but they were very effective with those mid
- 8:30Speaker 1: level throws against the Hoosiers. We're gona be talking about
- 8:33Speaker 1: a bunch of those here. The first one just an
- 8:36Speaker 1: RPO throw to Jeremiah Smith, which is a good way
- 8:39Speaker 1: you want a good way to look good in the
- 8:40Speaker 1: passing game, throw the ball to Jeremiah Smith.
- 8:43Speaker 2: Yeah, And I do think there were times where they
- 8:47Speaker 2: particularly a game flow situation right particularly in the late
- 8:50Speaker 2: third quarter on where they kind of allowed Indiana to
- 8:55Speaker 2: get away with single coverage on Jeremiah Smith, where you know,
- 8:59Speaker 2: I would like to see them take some deep shots.
- 9:03Speaker 2: You know, I think Will Howard does a lot of
- 9:05Speaker 2: things really well, and we're going to talk about that.
- 9:07Speaker 3: And he played really well.
- 9:08Speaker 2: Again, He's not, like I would not call him a
- 9:11Speaker 2: huge risk taker throwing the football down the field. He
- 9:13Speaker 2: threw the one to Jeremi Smith on the go around
- 9:16Speaker 2: the end zone could have been past interference, but you know,
- 9:20Speaker 2: you know, some quarterbacks will probably take more of those
- 9:22Speaker 2: one on one shots. But what he really is good
- 9:25Speaker 2: at is these like second level throws. And this goes
- 9:27Speaker 2: to my previous point as well about you know, I
- 9:30Speaker 2: think that again, like the RPO game continues to be
- 9:34Speaker 2: there for our state.
- 9:35Speaker 3: I do the.
- 9:37Speaker 2: Reliefs compared to where they were earlier in the season,
- 9:41Speaker 2: Like teams are more aggressive playing those RPOs, Like there
- 9:45Speaker 2: was the one early to a Mecca BUCA like that
- 9:47Speaker 2: aarrow route that got blown up.
- 9:49Speaker 3: You know, g Scott missed the block.
- 9:50Speaker 2: I don't think Ohio State is blocking those as well
- 9:52Speaker 2: on the edge, maybe just better competition teams are more
- 9:55Speaker 2: prepared for them. But like what remains are these like
- 9:58Speaker 2: easy RPO throws? Hit a couple of these, Like this
- 10:01Speaker 2: is just like a split stone with a backside hitch.
- 10:03Speaker 2: And you know, if teams again want to give that
- 10:06Speaker 2: kind of cushion, it's an easy pitching catch to gain yards.
- 10:10Speaker 3: I'd like to, you know, see them use more and
- 10:13Speaker 3: more of these.
- 10:13Speaker 2: I mean, particularly like if you want to get Teremiah
- 10:15Speaker 2: Smith involved, Like again his run after the catch ability
- 10:18Speaker 2: is really really good here you see them like, you know,
- 10:20Speaker 2: turn this into a first down. And so again that
- 10:23Speaker 2: just goes to my bigger theme that I do think
- 10:27Speaker 2: they could would help themselves by passing more particular early downs.
- 10:32Speaker 2: Like I really think that if you want to like
- 10:35Speaker 2: take the governor off the offense, like Will Howard should
- 10:38Speaker 2: have thirty attempts at least a game. I know they're getting,
- 10:42Speaker 2: you know, they're only getting like sixty plays, give or take.
- 10:45Speaker 2: But I do think they should be more like at
- 10:47Speaker 2: least a fifty to fifty split. You know, I think
- 10:50Speaker 2: that they're they're passing game is really where they're they
- 10:53Speaker 2: make their money. And I do think that, you know,
- 10:56Speaker 2: people concerned about the run game part of it. As
- 10:59Speaker 2: I said, it's like teams, particularly like on when they
- 11:01Speaker 2: expect to run, are really loading it up. You know,
- 11:05Speaker 2: I thought that actually, Carson Hinsman, as I touched on
- 11:09Speaker 2: earlier at Center, I played well.
- 11:11Speaker 3: I thought Austin Seaville played well.
- 11:13Speaker 2: You know, maybe there was a couple early twists like
- 11:15Speaker 2: Sarahville and Jackson didn't pass off correctly, but you know,
- 11:18Speaker 2: I thought overall they're pretty steady. As I said, like
- 11:21Speaker 2: tight end blocking, could you know, get cleaned up. I
- 11:24Speaker 2: think will Cosmeric being back more and more will help
- 11:27Speaker 2: with that. You know, Tiger Shabola continues to like have
- 11:29Speaker 2: his ups and downs, I will say sometimes and like
- 11:33Speaker 2: his identification and playing with like the correct pad level.
- 11:36Speaker 2: But overall it's to me, it's again less like an
- 11:40Speaker 2: offensive line handling their counterpart issue and more just like
- 11:45Speaker 2: sheer numbers or like diagnosing what's going on. But you know,
- 11:49Speaker 2: I just think they're like similar to what they had
- 11:51Speaker 2: to do against Oregon when they really have to you know,
- 11:54Speaker 2: throwing the football, including with like RPOs on early downs,
- 11:57Speaker 2: is probably going to help them.
- 12:00Speaker 3: Reach the max of their offensive capacity.
- 12:04Speaker 1: Well, one of the ways they reached the max to
- 12:06Speaker 1: their offensive capacity on Saturday was by throwing the ball
- 12:09Speaker 1: to a Mecca Abuka. We are going to have three street,
- 12:11Speaker 1: three straight Mecha Ubuka plays here for you. The first
- 12:14Speaker 1: one is that touchdown fro to Abuka. It was just
- 12:17Speaker 1: it was a unbelievable touch from Will Howard and an
- 12:21Speaker 1: incredible catch from Abuka. I didn't realize this watching live.
- 12:24Speaker 1: The defensive actually actually got a finger on it, so
- 12:26Speaker 1: he deflected the ball right before it got to a
- 12:27Speaker 1: book and Abuka adjusted and still made the catch for
- 12:30Speaker 1: a touchdown. So that's the next one we're going to
- 12:32Speaker 1: be taking a look at here.
- 12:34Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, and again, like a lot of these,
- 12:35Speaker 2: you'll see like there's a lot of focus on Jeremiah
- 12:38Speaker 2: Smith from the opponent and rightly so. But yeah, again,
- 12:43Speaker 2: as we've talked about, like when push comes to shoving
- 12:44Speaker 2: bigger games, uh, they're going to go to a mecca
- 12:46Speaker 2: book a lot, and you know you get here. This
- 12:50Speaker 2: is a again like a cover two look, it's sort
- 12:54Speaker 2: of it's a zone blitz like they're bringing you know,
- 12:57Speaker 2: so they're bringing five, they're playing it two deep four under. Again,
- 13:00Speaker 2: you're seeing like lots of these split safety looks against
- 13:03Speaker 2: Ohiah State, and you know, it's a sort of a
- 13:05Speaker 2: non traditional one right, like similar to what we've talked about,
- 13:07Speaker 2: like Ohio State running two seal because the flat defender
- 13:10Speaker 2: to the boundary is the defensive end or outside linebacker.
- 13:14Speaker 2: It's actually a nice play by that guy get in
- 13:16Speaker 2: the depth on Ambuka because it's kind of like a
- 13:18Speaker 2: post wheel right and both the safety and the linebacker
- 13:24Speaker 2: both Carrie Jeremiah Smith into the end zone, leaving a
- 13:27Speaker 2: Mecca alone on that linebacker who tries to cover them
- 13:31Speaker 2: to the to the on the wheel, which obviously isn't
- 13:33Speaker 2: going to work. So nice design against that sort of
- 13:37Speaker 2: you know, rotated cover two. But again, yeah, like as
- 13:40Speaker 2: you mentioned Will Howard, I just think it can't be.
- 13:43Speaker 2: It can be taken for granted, but when you watch
- 13:46Speaker 2: other teams play, it shouldn't be like how accurate and
- 13:49Speaker 2: his touch on these sort of second level throws. It's
- 13:52Speaker 2: particularly against cover two to the outside, like over the
- 13:55Speaker 2: flat defender and in front of you know, before the
- 13:59Speaker 2: same you can come over just really accurate. Obviously, it
- 14:02Speaker 2: helps to have the receivers Ohio State does to run
- 14:05Speaker 2: these kind of concepts.
- 14:06Speaker 3: But I just think that as I talked about, like.
- 14:09Speaker 2: If you know, if you wouldn't put him being a
- 14:13Speaker 2: gunslinger down the field as his strength, like what his
- 14:16Speaker 2: strength is is definitely like hitting these kind of second
- 14:20Speaker 2: level throws and threading the football in there.
- 14:22Speaker 1: Well, you've talked a couple of times already about teams
- 14:24Speaker 1: kind of loading up against the run at times when
- 14:27Speaker 1: they think Ohio State's going to run, so you would
- 14:28Speaker 1: sort of think, okay, play action passing probably going to
- 14:32Speaker 1: be successful, set them up for success. And this is
- 14:35Speaker 1: an example of that happening. A nice hard play action
- 14:38Speaker 1: here from Will Howard and then a throw to a
- 14:40Speaker 1: Mecca Abuka exactly.
- 14:42Speaker 2: So this is the first and down, first and ten
- 14:44Speaker 2: play Ohio State again gets. This is actually like a
- 14:47Speaker 2: cover four but again like just another example of hitting
- 14:50Speaker 2: essentially like another corner route to a Mecca Abuka over
- 14:54Speaker 2: the you know the flat defender right, and so the
- 14:56Speaker 2: similar concept you get six man heavy play action again,
- 15:01Speaker 2: like Jeremi Smith takes the corner with him. It's like
- 15:04Speaker 2: a cover four man, so like they're manned up with
- 15:07Speaker 2: the corner of the outside that leaves a mecca book
- 15:09Speaker 2: on the safety who who can't come over?
- 15:11Speaker 3: But again like another.
- 15:12Speaker 2: Example of Will Howard being really good on these routes.
- 15:16Speaker 2: But you know, I should say and then like to
- 15:17Speaker 2: the boundary of this, Will, this is going to be important,
- 15:20Speaker 2: Like they've seen a lot of this is cover four.
- 15:22Speaker 2: They hit this against Tampa on the Carnel Tate fourth
- 15:27Speaker 2: down conversion early in the game on the fourth and ten.
- 15:31Speaker 2: Like similar though concept of the corner router deep out,
- 15:34Speaker 2: you know, hit Jeremi Smith on a deep out on
- 15:36Speaker 2: third down and long you know, Michigan again Will like
- 15:40Speaker 2: winked Martin Daley us is quite a bit of Tampa two.
- 15:44Speaker 2: So we've seen a lot of Ohio state responses to
- 15:47Speaker 2: Tampa two. A lot of these like corner routes into
- 15:49Speaker 2: like the you know, whole area between over the flat
- 15:52Speaker 2: defender outside the safety, a lot of those dig routes
- 15:56Speaker 2: underneath the Tampa dropper and you know, a lot of this,
- 16:00Speaker 2: you know, we can talk about a little bit. But
- 16:01Speaker 2: especially like again like both of these plays, the other
- 16:03Speaker 2: thing that I should note is they're both into the
- 16:06Speaker 2: boundary right, So in both you got Smith and a
- 16:09Speaker 2: Mecca Buca into the short side of the field. Michigan
- 16:13Speaker 2: and Martin Dale like the transition from the NFL where
- 16:16Speaker 2: the hash marks are a lot closer together to college
- 16:19Speaker 2: or it really the field and boundary distinction really matters.
- 16:22Speaker 2: Like they've struggled some with defending formation into boundary and motion.
- 16:27Speaker 2: All of what you get here, you know, changing up
- 16:29Speaker 2: who's the inside, who's the outside receiver and as I said,
- 16:33Speaker 2: threatening the short side of the field.
- 16:35Speaker 1: All right, And if you want to talk about throwing
- 16:38Speaker 1: in a likely run situation, I don't know that there's
- 16:41Speaker 1: a more likely run situation than fourth and one. And
- 16:44Speaker 1: this is the fourth and one pass that very clearly
- 16:47Speaker 1: Indiana was expecting run and that left America Mecca Abuka
- 16:51Speaker 1: wide open for a really nice game.
- 16:54Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean for better or worse like Indiana, as
- 16:56Speaker 2: I said, was like selling out in the short yard
- 16:58Speaker 2: of situations. So you have obviously the touchdown throw to
- 17:03Speaker 2: Jolni Thurman out of the T formation. I think they
- 17:06Speaker 2: noticed that first fourth down in short where they were stopped.
- 17:11Speaker 2: It was a wedge play obviously, and they brought pressure
- 17:13Speaker 2: off the edge, but Benett Christian, I don't know if
- 17:16Speaker 2: intentionally unintentionally like sort of ended up in the middle
- 17:19Speaker 2: of the end zone with no one guarding him. I'm
- 17:21Speaker 2: sure that didn't go unnoticed because they then turned to
- 17:24Speaker 2: back to that you know, delay wrapped to Jolni Thurman
- 17:27Speaker 2: and obviously at Trey Henderson to the flat as well.
- 17:30Speaker 2: Here again, you know, cover zero on fourth down selling
- 17:33Speaker 2: out like you know, I whatever you want to say
- 17:37Speaker 2: about you know, how you should run the football and
- 17:39Speaker 2: short yardage, Like if you have Jeremiah Smith and a
- 17:42Speaker 2: Mecca Buka and teams want to play them cover zero
- 17:45Speaker 2: with no safety help, like I think you should take
- 17:48Speaker 2: advantage of it like they do here, Like this is
- 17:50Speaker 2: basically a Yankee concept. Who talks about where you know again,
- 17:54Speaker 2: Jeremi Smith running the d post runs off the corner,
- 17:57Speaker 2: just allow a Mecca Buka to run the depot or
- 18:01Speaker 2: you know.
- 18:01Speaker 3: I think the other thing that they used sparingly.
- 18:05Speaker 2: In terms of short yardage on Saturday, which I continue
- 18:09Speaker 2: to think will be there more and more is Will
- 18:11Speaker 2: Howard running. They had the one Q Power run that
- 18:14Speaker 2: I think would have been a touchdown before the Henderson
- 18:18Speaker 2: before that touchdown drive that we showed, except there was
- 18:22Speaker 2: just being a Christian missed the block. There's a couple
- 18:25Speaker 2: of situations, like back to the RPO game, where I
- 18:30Speaker 2: think that if they conversely, if they don't want to
- 18:33Speaker 2: do that, if they can use you know, there's still
- 18:36Speaker 2: the read element there, the zone read that Like a
- 18:38Speaker 2: couple of times I thought that if they had had
- 18:41Speaker 2: to read attached like Howard would have a big game.
- 18:44Speaker 2: So obviously they're picking and choosing their spots with that
- 18:49Speaker 2: as it goes on the season. You know, I thought
- 18:52Speaker 2: we'd see more of it, probably against Indiana, pretty sparing.
- 18:55Speaker 2: I still think we'll see some of it against Michigan
- 18:58Speaker 2: on Saturday.
- 19:00Speaker 1: Right earlier, you said that Ohio State when they had
- 19:02Speaker 1: issues on the offensive line, it was not generally an
- 19:04Speaker 1: issue with their counterpart. It was some other stuff. This
- 19:08Speaker 1: is a week when it feels like he could have
- 19:10Speaker 1: an issue with their counterparts because Michigan, the strength of
- 19:13Speaker 1: that defense, well, the strength of the team is the defense,
- 19:15Speaker 1: and the strength of defense seems like it's the defensive
- 19:17Speaker 1: line and the offensive line for Ohio State obviously has
- 19:20Speaker 1: been solid the last couple of weeks, but still probably
- 19:22Speaker 1: going to be facing their toughest test this weekend. How
- 19:26Speaker 1: big of a concern is that and how does Ohio
- 19:28Speaker 1: State maybe game plan to try and help that offensive
- 19:31Speaker 1: line out this weekend.
- 19:33Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's certainly a challenge.
- 19:35Speaker 2: Like you know, Mason Grant Kenneth Grant are great interior players.
- 19:40Speaker 2: Josiah Stewart has been like he's had some up and
- 19:43Speaker 2: down games, but when he's on, he's you know, he
- 19:46Speaker 2: brings that like speed edge element that now Donovan Jackson
- 19:50Speaker 2: had some issues with against out Duel'carter from Penn State.
- 19:53Speaker 2: So I do think that'll be a challenge, right, and
- 19:56Speaker 2: like that can put a cap It's somewhat on you
- 19:59Speaker 2: know what Ohios they can do. As I said, I
- 20:01Speaker 2: think that conversely, if they can hold up and then
- 20:07Speaker 2: I you know, I think Michigan in the back end
- 20:10Speaker 2: has They're not like they were last year.
- 20:12Speaker 3: They've had they bust some coverages, they don't have quite the.
- 20:16Speaker 2: Same level of continuity and like execution and like as
- 20:22Speaker 2: I said, Mardale isn't as comfortable with the college game
- 20:25Speaker 2: at some level still, and so like you know, things
- 20:29Speaker 2: that they've Michigan struggled with that could help as well
- 20:32Speaker 2: with like against a good defensive.
- 20:33Speaker 3: Line or screens draws.
- 20:35Speaker 2: Right, we talked about like lots of motion, put in
- 20:38Speaker 2: the formation into boundary, like I would like to see
- 20:41Speaker 2: them rpo a lot like especially like if Michigan is
- 20:44Speaker 2: going to play a lot of like on early downs,
- 20:47Speaker 2: like lots of cover three with soft corners, take advantage
- 20:52Speaker 2: throw those hitches to Jeremiah Smith. You know, I think
- 20:56Speaker 2: that it would just be a game where you know,
- 21:00Speaker 2: you want to change up the protection schemes, use some
- 21:03Speaker 2: like I mean, you know, if they have to use
- 21:06Speaker 2: plenty of six and seven man protection schemes, I'll take
- 21:09Speaker 2: you know, take your chances with the three receivers against
- 21:12Speaker 2: Michigan secondary. So obviously don't want to let the Michigan
- 21:16Speaker 2: defense defensive line, you know, wreck the game, like if
- 21:20Speaker 2: they make occasional plays like a Carter did for Penn State,
- 21:23Speaker 2: like you kind of live with that. But I think
- 21:27Speaker 2: there's plenty of opportunities with the rest of the Michigan
- 21:30Speaker 2: defense that can can hit some things and strength and
- 21:34Speaker 2: drives together, all right.
- 21:36Speaker 1: And then the last thing I wanted to ask you
- 21:38Speaker 1: about is Wink Martindale. You've talked about him a bunch
- 21:40Speaker 1: and some of the things that he does. I think
- 21:42Speaker 1: people have this sense that he is just Blitz all
- 21:45Speaker 1: the time, and it's the return of doctor Blitz, and
- 21:48Speaker 1: you know, Don Brown is not walking through that door.
- 21:51Speaker 1: They brought FIfF Pogi back recently, former Michigan assistant who
- 21:55Speaker 1: was recently fired as the head coach of Charlotte. He
- 21:57Speaker 1: has apparently been back in Anober. I have not heard
- 21:59Speaker 1: that Don Brown, who was recently fired as a head
- 22:00Speaker 1: coach of UMass, has been back there, so doesn't sound
- 22:04Speaker 1: like it's exactly done Brown Part two. How how aggressive
- 22:07Speaker 1: is wing Martin Dale and how much is that just
- 22:09Speaker 1: sort of reputation but not necessarily what you actually see
- 22:13Speaker 1: when you watch the Michigan on film.
- 22:15Speaker 2: Yeah, I know this has been a point of consternation
- 22:17Speaker 2: for some parts of the Michigan fan base earlier this
- 22:20Speaker 2: season at least, But I think it's more reputation than
- 22:23Speaker 2: what you see on film, particularly the last second half
- 22:26Speaker 2: of the season. You know, I think early on there
- 22:28Speaker 2: were some pretty obvious situations where like against Texas right
- 22:32Speaker 2: where its third and seven and Telegraph cover zero and
- 22:35Speaker 2: everyone knew it was cover zero, and like anything else,
- 22:37Speaker 2: like if it's predictable, like you can get burnt right
- 22:39Speaker 2: that happened against Washington too, or they beat Will Johnson
- 22:43Speaker 2: on a third and seven on cover zero.
- 22:46Speaker 3: As I said, now it's like a lot more.
- 22:50Speaker 2: You know, a lot of Tampa two, like you know,
- 22:53Speaker 2: mixing in some cover three. So it's like, you know,
- 22:55Speaker 2: they will bring the linebackers and run some fire zones
- 22:59Speaker 2: and things like that, but it's not nearly the level
- 23:04Speaker 2: of blitzeing that I think some people think, and you know,
- 23:07Speaker 2: compared to Don Brown, they're not running that much man coverage,
- 23:10Speaker 2: like they'll run some, but it's it's certainly like a
- 23:13Speaker 2: you know, a minority of.
- 23:14Speaker 3: What they do.
- 23:16Speaker 2: But as I said, there continue to be issues with
- 23:18Speaker 2: like particularly like putting the you know, putting trips into
- 23:22Speaker 2: the short side of the field and like them adjusting
- 23:26Speaker 2: to that, Like that's been an issue for Michigan and
- 23:28Speaker 2: for Martin Dale this year, and so I would expect
- 23:30Speaker 2: lots of that from Ohio State and motions to change,
- 23:34Speaker 2: you know, the strength of the formation and a lot
- 23:36Speaker 2: of as I said, playing with the field and boundary
- 23:38Speaker 2: hash marks.
- 23:40Speaker 1: All right, well, there's some stuff to watch for on Saturday.
- 23:42Speaker 1: And if you see it, you can say, hey, I
- 23:44Speaker 1: know I knew that was coming, and I knew that
- 23:46Speaker 1: because I was listening to Ross. If you want to
- 23:48Speaker 1: talk to Ross and find out much more, I'm going
- 23:50Speaker 1: to guess there's gonna be more to talk about this week.
- 23:52Speaker 1: A great place would we do that would be at
- 23:54Speaker 1: buckey huddle dot com. That's where Tony, Kevin and I
- 23:57Speaker 1: cover the team, Mark covers recruiting, and boy, there's recruiting
- 23:59Speaker 1: news to keppaenning this week as well. And then Bross
- 24:01Speaker 1: and our whole team of Ex's NOS gurus are there
- 24:03Speaker 1: to make you a smarter football fan. You want to
- 24:06Speaker 1: talk Texas nos with our guys, that is the place
- 24:08Speaker 1: to do it. On the huddle Board presented by Jeff
- 24:10Speaker 1: Ruby Steakhouse that is exclusive to our members at bucke
- 24:12Speaker 1: huddle dot com. Lucky you right now, your first month
- 24:15Speaker 1: is just four ninety nine, So go on over right
- 24:18Speaker 1: now to bucke huddle dot com. Sign up get access
- 24:21Speaker 1: to our full team of insiders, great content, fun community,
- 24:24Speaker 1: lots of stuff to talk about this week as we
- 24:26Speaker 1: head into the Michigan game, potentially the Big Ten championship game.
- 24:30Speaker 1: After that, early signing on December fourth, and then the
- 24:33Speaker 1: College Football Playoffs selection show. All of that happening between
- 24:36Speaker 1: now and December eighth. It's like ten days and all
- 24:39Speaker 1: of that stuff is happening. This would be a great
- 24:41Speaker 1: time to join us at Buckey Huddle dot com. And
- 24:43Speaker 1: thanks again to our sponsors Jeffruby Steakhouse, the award winning
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- 24:56Speaker 1: for today. Thank you guys all for joining us. Have
- 24:58Speaker 1: a great day. We will talk to tomorrow.