Latest / Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning / BONUS: What Went Wrong For The Ohio State Offense At Texas?

Transcript

BONUS: What Went Wrong For The Ohio State Offense At Texas? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, we're back with bonus show number two this week.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: This time it's going to be Ohio State head coach
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Ryan Day from his Tuesday press conference talking about the offense.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: And it was a phenomenal three quarters, at least a
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: phenomenal first half for Ohio State. Pretty good three quarters.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: And then things kind of fell apart at the end
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: for the Buckeyes down in DKR in Austin. But One
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: of the things that was controversial, and there was a
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: lot of stuff that people had issues with, which will
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: happen anytime you lose a football game in Columbus, Ohio.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: But one of the things that people had an issue
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: with was the Buckeyes going forward on fourth down in
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: the first half when they were in the red zone.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: And then, of course, not making it because if you
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: make it, no one has an issue with it. But
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: they didn't make it. So then lots of issues. And
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: then the other thing was punting on fourth down at
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: the plus 39 in the second half. So sort of
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: what went into those decisions? And then you're going to
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: hear a follow-up from Cameron Teague Robinson of The Athletic.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I talked to Arthur early going into the
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: game that if we find ourselves in a fourth and two,
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: fourth and three in the red area early in the game,
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: we're going to go for it. And we didn't convert
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: on it. So that hurt. That hurt. I mean, there's
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: no question that you're getting three on the first drive
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: and then not converting there was a big part of
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: the game too, early in the game. There's no question.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: So again, just going back to, again, the coaches looking
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: at it from the mindset, how do we put the
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: players in a better situation? And then for the players,
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: how do we execute it better? And making sure the
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: right people in the right spots. So that's our job.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: We've got to do it. When it comes down to
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: the fourth and four there, coming out of halftime, I
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: felt like we could pin them. I didn't think we
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: did a very good job executing the pooch punt. We
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: got the ball back and kicked the field goal in
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: that spot. So I think that's when it made it 23-3.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: And then we had another opportunity, I think it was
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: fourth and four, around the same situation later in the game.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: At that point, it was a two-score game. You know,
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: I wanted to sort of pin him again and see
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: if we can play some defense and force another, you know,
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: three or four and out. But, you know, you're always
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: going to go back and look at those situations. But
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: I do think we do have the type of offense
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: that can be aggressive in those areas.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: Is that a mindset switch for the coaches? Like I said,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: the last few years, you've had a defense you can
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: really lean on like that. I'm not saying this defense
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: isn't that, but is that a mindset switch that the
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: staff has to have, you.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Think, as well?
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Or is that just something you learned to see the
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: good in them?
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we'll have to see when we find
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: ourselves in these situations. A lot of variables, I guess,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: at play there, for sure.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: One of the things that just looked kind of weird
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: during that game on Saturday night, especially in the second half,
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: was quarterback Julian Sane, normally incredibly accurate, incredibly poised. He
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: just looked a little uncomfortable at times. It looked at
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: points like he was maybe rushing throws a little bit,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: just getting rid of the ball too quickly. So was
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: he maybe getting rid of the ball a little too quickly,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: rushing things a little bit? You heard that answer and
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: then a follow-up from Dave Biddle of Bucknuts.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think sometimes in those games early, you know,
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: you got to find the rhythm of the game. I
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: think there were times where he definitely did find the
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: rhythm of the game. Then I think there were times where,
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: you know, we were just a little bit off, like
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: you said. You know, and it's not just all Julian
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: or all the receivers or all the protection, but when
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: you mix it all together, everybody had their hand in it.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: And you're right. I mean, there wasn't enough rhythm. I mean,
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: when you go two for 12 in the second half,
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: throwing the football, like, you know, there's not a rhythm
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: in the pass game. So, you know, you can't put
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: it all on Julian. But at the same time, you know,
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: he's got to do his job as well. And again,
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: the coach has got to put him in a better situation.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: But it's everybody involved. And those are the things that
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: we got to execute at a high level when the
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: game's on the line.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: And real quick, is that Mostly the pass rush.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: He's trying to just get rid of the balls a
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: little extra quick. I mean, there was some of that.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: There was a couple plays where we didn't quite identify
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: the protection correctly. So you saw a free runner come in.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: Then there was one where Simmons won. And there was
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: one up front where it was the nose of the
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: three technique came through. So there was some leakage in there.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: I thought we did handle a lot of the twists
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: and movements decently and just in terms of our protection.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: But there were some times we didn't ID it correctly.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: And there were a couple of times we did get beat.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: But that was just a part of the equation.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: One thing that was definitely working for most of the
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: night for Ohio State was Jeremiah Smith. When isn't that
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: the case? He had a huge night receiving for the Buckeyes,
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: but then also had a couple drops later in the game.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: And then maybe even more of an issue was the
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: fact that they really didn't get any of the other
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: receivers going. So yeah, you want to throw the ball
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: to Jeremiah all the time, but do you have to
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: sort of balance that with mixing in the other receivers
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: and getting them involved too?
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: Last two times we played him, he was sort of
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: taken away. You could see Arthur's focus was to get
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: Jeremiah involved early, which was excellent. Some big plays in
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: there and had the right plan early. And then to
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: your point, you know, didn't quite connect with Devin on
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: a couple of those, didn't quite get some of the
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: other guys involved. I think that all played into a
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: little bit of the struggle throwing the ball there in
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: the second half. So we got to get other guys involved.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: We've got to take some pressure off of Jeremiah, you know,
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: being consistent in the run game and then finding ways
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: to spread the ball out. That's definitely part of where
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: we got to go moving forward.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: Next up, this was kind of an interesting back and forth.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: It was Brian Day and Stephen Means of Cleveland.com. The
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: question was sort of, did they let up a little
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: too early? And I know that was a common criticism
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: among the fan base after the game as well, that
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: they were probably a little too conservative at times. And
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: we mentioned, you know, punting in plus territory. Is that
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: something that was a mistake in the second half? Why
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: is it Ryan's day's tendency to sort of lean on
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: the defense instead of the offense again? And you'll hear
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: a little bit of back and forth here between him
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: and Stephen Means.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I would disagree with the fact that
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: we weren't pushing forward and trying to score touchdowns. I mean,
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: I think on that drive, we passed it five times
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: and ran it once. Is that right?
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: It was run for bow, eight yards, and then somebody
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: gets hurt, so maybe you guys can't go temple in
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: that situation. Another run for bow, 11 yards, pass to Jeremiah.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, you're talking about that one.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: I got you.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: So that was five runs and one pass. Yeah, that's right.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: So... On the third down, we were in the double
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: move to Jeremiah, which was got, what, like 44 yards
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: on that one. Yeah, so that was, you know, obviously
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: a great throwing catch down the field. And then when
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: we find ourselves on the third down, you know, we
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: don't convert. And, you know, at that point, you're saying
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: to yourself, all right, it's 20 to three. It's early
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: in the game. So we got to make a decision.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Do we go for it or not? We decide to
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: punt it, pin him inside. We get a four and out,
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: I think it is. And we get the ball back.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: push it down, kick a field goal. So now it's
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: 23 to three. So like, I don't think you can
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: look at that and say, boy, that cost us the game.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: But at the same time, you know, we had the
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: opportunity later in the game and you look back and say,
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: you know, probably could have been aggressive on the second
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: fourth down in plus territory for sure. But all that
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: being said, like when you look at the second half,
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: like when you, you know, throw it 12 times, run
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: it 10 times, You know, it's not like we're not
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: trying to score. It's not like we're trying to be aggressive.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: But when you don't execute at a high level, that's
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: what we have to look at to figure out what
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: is happening in that moment for us not to be successful.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: Because if we hit those throws or we execute on
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: those runs, we're not in the situation. That's the bottom line.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: And so we've got to get that fixed because you're right.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: I mean, we've got to do a better job finishing
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: these games.
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: I guess that's what I'm asking. You looked at that
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: fourth down and went, it's 20-3. We can pin them
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: and continue to allow our defense to do what it's
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: been doing for sure. for the first half instead of
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: maybe it's 20-3 and we're on the 39-yard line. Let's
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: push pace here. Let's go get it and make this
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: a 27-3 game. Why was that not maybe the way
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: you looked at.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: It in that situation?
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: Well, I think the defense was playing excellent, and I
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: felt like that was the right thing to do at
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: the time.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: In a game you lose by one point, there's obviously
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: going to be lots and lots of things you can
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: point to as, well, this was something that would have
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: made a huge difference. And the red zone offense, that's
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: certainly one of those things you can point to. Buckeyes
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: were in the red zone five times on Saturday night,
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: only scored two touchdowns. They kicked a couple field goals.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: They went for it once on fourth down and didn't
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: make it. That is obviously not what their standard is.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: That's not what they want as a team. So When
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: you're in the red zone, what does new offensive coordinator
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Arthur Smith bring? Where do things stand with the Buckeyes
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: red zone offense right now? Because that's something that could
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: be a real difference maker later on in the schedule.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, you know, I think, you know, I'm not
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: going to speak for Arthur, but I think, you know,
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: he's going to, he's very self-critical himself and, you know,
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: will take ownership in a big way. He's great that way.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: And so, you know, there's things that we need to
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: emphasize better. There's things we need to do better. And
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: I know that sounds like a broken record because it's
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: not getting addressed well enough, but it didn't happen. In
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: the second time we were down in there, much better.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: We got through there. Jacoby hit the run and that
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: was well done. But when you take negative plays in
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: a red zone, your chance of scoring a touchdown goes
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: way down. And that's what happened on that. We took
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: a negative play for nine yards, which is a complete disaster.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: And then we took the sack going the other way.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: Anytime that happens, you're really in trouble against good defenses.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: And this is a good defense that we went against.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: So it's going to be a lesson learned, and we
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: can't repeat those problems again. We've got to get more
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: efficient down there for sure, and we can't take negative plays.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: The game plan on Saturday night seemed to be to
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: get the ball to Jeremiah Smith as much as they
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: possibly could, and boy, that really worked for about two
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: and a half or three quarters of that game. So,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: you know, obviously you want to get the ball to
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: the other wide receivers, but are there moments where it's just,
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: this ball has to go with you, Jeremiah Smith, no
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: matter what.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: I think when it comes to, um, you know, some
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: of the concepts that were put in, many of them
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: started with Jeremiah and then progressed from there. Um, And
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: I think any of us, if we were playing quarterback,
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: when you look at Jeremiah, even when he's covered, he's
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: probably open, which worked for a majority of the game. So,
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: you know, there's times where, you know, I mean, listen,
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: when you're late in the game and, you know, the
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: game's on the line, you know, and you're a one-on-one situation,
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: you know, if we don't throw the ball to Jeremiah,
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: the question would be, why didn't we go to him,
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: you know? So any time that, you know, you don't
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: have success, you've got to look at everything. and make
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: sure we're doing what's right. But it goes without saying
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: that we need to get other players involved other than
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: Jeremiah on offense. All right.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: Hope you guys enjoyed that bonus episode. We'll have more
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: of those coming this week. Still plenty to talk about
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: as the Buckeyes sort of try to turn the page
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: after that loss to Texas. Still a lot of lessons
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: definitely that they need to need to sort of put
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: into practice. this week as they turn the page, getting
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: ready to take on the Kent State Golden Flashes at
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: noon on Saturday inside Ohio Stadium. We will be there
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: covering the Buckeyes and the Golden Flashes, have our usual
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: pregame coverage, postgame coverage, lots of fun stuff coming for
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: you all week long and this weekend at BuckeyeInsiders.com and YouTube.com
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: slash at Buckeye Insiders.