CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: Big Beef Tacosupreme on September 26, 2023, 01:19:18 PM
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For Penn State:
Much better than I expected:
Quarterback - I don't really buy into recruiting rankings that much. I know he's a 5 star guy, but he was replacing a 6th year player that is an NFL draft pick and 2nd teamer. I just didn't think there was much room for improvement. The season is still young, but so far he has lived up to the hype.
Better than I thought:
Tight Ends - Last year Franklin called them the "best Tight End room in the country." I knew they would be good, but they have been excellent in every phase of the game. The young guys have looked good, too.
About what I expected:
Cornerbacks - one of the best units in the country
Safeties - Strong unit, lots of athleticism and depth
Defensive Ends - The best in the country when rushing the QB, not so great at stopping the run
Defensive Tackles - Average
Slightly worse than I expected:
Offensive Line - the loss of Langdon Tengwell was pretty big, as his replacements have struggled to open holes for the running game. However, they have looked good in pass protection.
Linebackers - YTD* stats by player: Abdul Carter has 11 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 interception. Curtis Jacobs has 15 tackles, 1 sack, and 2 fumble recoveries. Tyler Elsdon has 4 tackles. Dom DeLuca has 9 tackles, 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles and a pick 6. Kobe King has 10 tackles and 1 fumble recovery. Tony Rojas has 6 tackles. They've caused lots of turnovers, but the stats seem less than steller. Most concerning? Abdul Carter is not the wrecking ball he was last season.
*PSU has only played 215 defensive snaps, so I'm probably nitpicking here a bit.
Running Backs - Despite having 3 B1G 1000 yard rushers in the room, the stats have been pedestrian. Some of that was by design (out Iowa-ing Iowa), and some of that is due to opponents stacking the box. The O-Line has struggled a bit to open running lanes, too. Still, I expected big things from this group, and it just hasn't happened yet.
Worse than I expected:
Wide Receivers: Keandre Lambert-Smith is looking great, and is making a strong case to be one of the better receivers in the B1G. However, behind him is a mix of guys that flash, but are struggling to break out. PSU's 2nd best wide receiver has been injured, and Dante Cephas is still trying to learn the playbook, so I am expecting the unit to improve substantially.
A few other notes:
Penn State has done something that not many college teams can do. They are consistently able to take what a defense gives them, and grind out a drive down the field. In the Franklin era, PSU lived and died on explosive plays, which wasn't a problem, because PSU had so many they were typically among the best in the country. This season? Penn State ranks dead last in the B1G. They have only 9 plays over 20 yards.
Penn State leads the nation in turnover margin. They have forced 11 turnovers and turned the ball over 0 times.
Penn State has the nation's longest streak in scoring 30 or more points per game, and ranks 33rd overall in total offense. Pretty great, eh? No. PSU only averages 5.45 yards per play. They score due to turnovers and because
Penn State has the nation's #1 overall defense.
Some of PSU's stats may be a bit skewed because they've played a tougher schedule than most so far. Their next two opponents are Northwestern and UMass.
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(https://media.tenor.com/Ebw5pYrer8YAAAAC/madmen-not-great-bob.gif)
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QB - as expected.
RB - as expected, but just lost a major part of the room.
TE - above expected.
WR - below expected.
OL - as expected, and about to get some needed help at C.
DL - below expected, and about to get some needed help at DT.
ILB - far below expected.
OLB - below expected.
CB - below expected.
S - below expected, except for one superstar.
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In all seriousness
QB - slightly below. Thorne was bad last year, and it's not like Kim or Houser won the job, Thorne just wasn't promised he had retained it, so I expected about the same
RB - as expected. Carter has been good. The #2 (Berger) and #3 (Mangham) have been hurt. The guys behind them have looked as bad as you expect those guys to look
WR/TE - WAY below expected. The expectations weren't even that high, considering the projected #1 and #2 guys both transferred, and somehow they are even below that. The drops have been inexcusible
OL - below expected. Expected competence, have not reached that bar
DL - WAY below expected. This was supposed to be the strength of the team. They haven't been bad, particularly considering two starters out injured, but they certainly haven't been good. Considering what the back 7 was going to be, the drop off from great to average has been killer
LB - as expected. They were expected to be middling, as that's what they've been
CB - slightly above expected. No this is considering they were supposed to be a total dumpster fire. They've been not great, for sure, but better than the safeties. The true freshman, Chase Rucker, showed something last weekend. He might be special. Grose has been ok.
S - below expected. Too many blown coverages over the top
Special Teams - above expectations. If this had been MSU's kicker last year, they win 1 or 2 more games
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Offense - About as expected playing subpar opponents.
Defense - Somewhat worse than expected, a lot of injuries there as well.
ST - FG kicking worse than expected, punt returns better than expected.
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Save for a couple of kickoffs out of bounds, I'm pleased with the special teams in Madison.
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Ohio State has played substantially better opposition than most and yet I still feel like I don't know.
So far, offense:
Unless ND's defense is a LOT better than I'm giving them credit for, I think the tOSU offense has regressed considerably.
Defense:
They seem quite solid. Holding ND to 14 is great unless ND's offense is a LOT worse than I am giving them credit for.
The problem is that I'm more-or-less rating this solely on performance against ND and:
- I don't know how good they are, and
- That *MIGHT* have just been a really good or really bad game by one team or the other.
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Ohio State has played substantially better opposition than most and yet I still feel like I don't know.
So far, offense:
Unless ND's defense is a LOT better than I'm giving them credit for, I think the tOSU offense has regressed considerably.
Defense:
They seem quite solid. Holding ND to 14 is great unless ND's offense is a LOT worse than I am giving them credit for.
The problem is that I'm more-or-less rating this solely on performance against ND and:
- I don't know how good they are, and
- That *MIGHT* have just been a really good or really bad game by one team or the other.
you and I see the football world differently. You are as good at "data" as anyone I have ever come across. I see the nuance, momentum, psychology, etc.
In a nutshell- you and I always disagree on "how good a team is" (you) versus "what a team is capable of" (me).
You say they offense has regressed. Well- the QB just got drafted early first round, and is already kicking ass in the NFL. Three starting offensive lineman were drafted and are now starting in the NFL. What other outcome could there possibly be- early in the season? It takes reps for both those positions to gain experience and have the game slow down for them. So- clearly, whatever potential they might reach is yet to come. The speed at which they are progressing is a pleasant surprise to me. For them to go into a night game against that high quality of an opponent, and find a way to win- is gravy. There is no way they could have done that in week 1.
Another aspect is this concept of "complimentary football". That phrase gets thrown around a lot, but I honestly don't think a lot of people understand what it means. So- an explosive offense, Like OSU has typically had, doesn't give their defense anywhere near the rest that a plodding, running offense does. How that often translates is- the defense tends to wear out later in games. You just saw it- Henderson scores on a 61 yarder, and the defense- who just did a great job, has to go right back on the field. And it happened again-- Ohio State went up tempo- moved right down to the red zone, and Fryar got that stupid penalty killing the drive. The Irish, again, get the ball right back. So- the explosive offense has to be extremely high % scoring, or it can work against you.
Ryan Day has mentioned "complimentary football" a ton this offseason, camp and this season. You see them running a much less aggressive offense at times, much less up tempo. This- IMHO- is one of the reasons why. That- and a brand new QB.
So given all of that:
Offense:
about where i would expect- maybe a tad ahead of schedule. QB, on schedule, Offensive line, maybe on schedule or a tad behind. WRs/RBs- nuff said.
Defense:
More than I hoped for. Changes to the scheme/understanding Knowles scheme are clearly improving things. LBs- good as expected. Defensive Line- not as many sacks- but consistent pressure forcing teams to get the ball out fast and preventing long passes. DBs/Safety- miles ahead of last year.
There is not a team I have watched that I think OSU could not hang with. Especialy as the season moves along. I dont know yet how good they can be, but it potentially is VERY DAMN GOOD.
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complementary != complimentary
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I might let you know after the Michigan game
the QB position has been below expected
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I might let you know after the Michigan game
the QB position has been below expected
Only if you had ridiculous expectations.
https://sports.yahoo.com/top-10-big-ten-passing-102827829.html
https://www.espn.com/college-football/stats/player/_/group/5
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try this one
https://bigten.org/stats.aspx?path=football&year=2023 (https://bigten.org/stats.aspx?path=football&year=2023)
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I didn't think about them pre-season, so I guess... Within the realm of expectations?
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Overall, 3-1 is good for Florida, having played 2 ranked teams.
QB - upper range of what I wanted/expected.....was hoping he'd just avoid being a turnover machine. He's done that and seemed more lively than I anticipated. Not going to go out and win games with his arm, but looks like he's not going to go lose any, which is nice.
RB - my official grade is "stupid" - Etienne is a DUDE, yet he's splitting carries with a good RB (Johnson) and a FR RB for some reason. Etienne should have double the carries he has currently. Give him the damn ball.
WR - it's been good, but weird and kind of incomplete....Pearsall is good - 1,000 yd level guy, but the OC seemed hell-bent on gettiing a FR the ball a lot, but he got hurt.....also, the TEs have been weird as there's depth and good plays here and there (keeping in mind the starter was hurt in the spring)
OL - crap salad vs Utah, kickass vs Tenn.....so idk.
DL - great job - talent and depth.....good pass rush w/o blitzing for the most part
LB - some anonymous dudes had me worried preseason, and while they can run, the can also get pushed around....no real bell-cow, big swinging dick LB is on the roster atm
DBs - first play of the season notwithstanding, they're okay....young, so should improve......some very talented guys can't seem to get on the field, so I guess that's a good thing? Work in progress, tbh
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OSU
QB: Hmm, better than expected? I honestly thought Brown would end up the starter based on what I had seen of McCord and Day's reluctance to name him the starter. But he's started and been just fine.
RB: Worse. I didn't think Henderson would get nearly as many carries as he's gotten and they would essentially just go with him and Trayanum. Outside of his touchdown against ND, nothing particularly special here.
OL: Worse. They really wanted to focus on being able to run the ball and it just isn't happening.
WR: Worse. They haven't been bad at all but I've been surprised at how Cade Stover has been the primary beneficiary of all the attention to Harrison and Egbuka. Certainly, all the declarations of how great they are have been a bit rosy compared to what they've done.
DL: Hmm...Same? The ends are getting justified criticism for not being pass wreckers. But.. everything else has been pretty good.
LB: Same. They were fine last year and are fine this year.
DB: Better. Seem to be much more responsible on the back end and Denzel Burke is a real corner.
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you and I see the football world differently. You are as good at "data" as anyone I have ever come across. I see the nuance, momentum, psychology, etc.
In a nutshell- you and I always disagree on "how good a team is" (you) versus "what a team is capable of" (me).
You say they offense has regressed. Well- the QB just got drafted early first round, and is already kicking ass in the NFL. Three starting offensive lineman were drafted and are now starting in the NFL. What other outcome could there possibly be- early in the season? It takes reps for both those positions to gain experience and have the game slow down for them. So- clearly, whatever potential they might reach is yet to come. The speed at which they are progressing is a pleasant surprise to me. For them to go into a night game against that high quality of an opponent, and find a way to win- is gravy. There is no way they could have done that in week 1.
I'm not quite as robotic as I sometimes appear. I want to find data to back (or disprove) how things feel to me.
I also expected the offense to regress based on all the high-end NFL talent lost but at this point I *THINK* it is worse than I expected. I put that "*THINK* in there because if ND's defense is REALLY good then maybe this offense is better than I'm giving them credit for.
Ohio State's Rushing Game:
My big concern isn't the passing game (I do have some concerns there) but rather the running game. I've seen a lot of people have pointed out that tOSU had more yards per carry (4.7) than Notre Dame (4.5). Watching the game, did if "feel" like that?
It sure didn't to me. I thought Notre Dame's rushing offense was pretty good and Ohio State's was pretty lousy. I've said before that the stat that I'd like to see added is "median rush". The problem with the average (or mean) that they always list is that averages can be skewed by outliers.
For example, according to the interwebs, Elon Musk has a net worth of $250 Billion. Thus you and Elon Musk and I have an average net worth of $83 Billion. I can calculate that without knowing your net worth because Elon's is SO HIGH that yours and mine are completely irrelevant. The average of the three of us is simply Elon's $250 Billion divided by three. In order to even change the rounding to make it an average of $84 Billion either you or I would have to be a Billionaire (or awfully close to it).
The same applies to the rushing stats from Saturday night:
- 4.7 average: Ohio State had 27 carries for 126 yards.
- 4.5 average: Notre Dame had 39 carries for 176 yards.
The thing is that nearly half of Ohio State's rushing yards came on Henderson's 61 yard TD run. Ohio State's other 26 carries only got them 65 yards, an average of 2.5.
Notre Dame didn't have a big long run like that to skew the average. Estime's long was 22, Love's long was 16, and Price's long was 18. Even if you take all three of those away, Notre Dame's other 36 carries went for 156 yards, an average of 4.3.
It seems to me that Ohio State simply doesn't have a reliable rushing game. They have a decent amount of talent and if Henderson breaks one he is fast enough to score from anywhere but when it is 3rd or 4th and short . . .
Well, here are all of Ohio State's 3rd or 4th and two or less plays from Saturday night (yardage is distance from goal):
- 3rd and 1 at the 1, tie game, Miyan Williams for no gain.
- 4th and 1 at the 1, tie game, incomplete pass
- 3rd and 2 at the 71, tie game, pass to Stover for 6
- 3rd and 1 at the 11, down 4, Henderson for no gain.
- 4th and 1 at the 11, down 4, Egbuka for no gain.
- 3rd and 1 at the 1, down 4, Trayanum for 1
So they had six. They converted one of two when passing and one of four when running. That is not good. That is awful.
Given the percentages it is pretty clear to me that they should have passed on all six. They got 50% when passing so, theoretically, if they had thrown on all six they'd have gotten three instead of just two.
I don't want to get into a debate about that. It isn't important. The fact that it is even a serious argument IS the point. One out of six when needing a single yard is flat awful.
What REALLY worries me about this team is that I feel like Day is trying to pound a square peg into a round hole. He is so worried about being perceived as "soft" that he just seems bound and determined to try to run Michigan's offense in short yardage situations. That would be great if we HAD Michigan's offense but we don't. I don't necessarily think that Michigan's offense is better, just that it is different.
In a 3rd and 19 from the opponent's 22 with time running out and down by four I would take our offense over Michigan's every day of the week and twice on Saturday. I'm pretty sure @Mdot21 (https://www.cfb51.com/index.php?action=profile;u=1595) , @Temp430 (https://www.cfb51.com/index.php?action=profile;u=131) , and most other Michigan fans would too.
On 3rd and goal from the 1 with a chance to get an early TD (#1 above) or 4th and goal at the 1 with a chance to get an early TD (#2 above), or 3rd and 1 at the 11 (#4 above) or 4th and 1 at the 11 (#5 above) or 3rd and goal at the 1 (#6 above), I'd take Michigan's rushing offense over Ohio State's rushing offense every day of the week and twice on Saturday.
Like a lot of Ohio State fans I grew up on Woody-style three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offenses. I watched Ohio State win a LOT of games that way. I also watched them lose a lot when they got into bowl games against teams that could match up with them at the LoS and they just didn't have an answer.
My feeling right now is that Ohio State simply doesn't have an offense capable of Woody-ball. We can still win a LOT of games and we *MIGHT* even be able to beat PSU and M without being "tougher" at the LoS but we aren't going to beat Michigan by operating an offense that is built to throw the ball all over the place as a bad version of Michigan's fundamentally Woody-style.
Ohio State's Passing Game:
McCord is a young kid starting on the road against a top-10 opponent and when the chips were down, he got the win. I like that. I did find it interesting that someone postgame asked Day why McCord was so much better on 3rd and 4th than on 1st and 2nd. I think that is just a consistency issue that will come with time but on that last drive:
- 1st and 10, incomplete
- 2nd and 10, incomplete
- 3rd and 10, 23 yard pass to Egbuka
- 1st and 10, incomplete
- 2nd and 10, 3 yard pass to Stover
- 3rd and 7, incomplete
- 4th and 7, 7 yard pass to Fleming
- 1st and 10, incomplete
- 2nd and 10, 19 yard pass to Harrison
- 1st and 10, incomplete
- 2nd and 10, incomplete, intentional grounding penalty
- 3rd and 19, 21 yard pass to Egbuka
- 1st and goal, spike
- 2nd a goal, incomplete
That is odd but, like I said, I think it is just a consistency thing that will come with time.
My bigger concern with the tOSU passing game is that Stover is the primary (almost only) beneficiary of the massive amount of attention that opposing defenses are giving to Harrison and Egbuka. In the ND game Harrison and Egbuka had 10 catches. Johnson and Fleming had 3. The rest of tOSU's WR's had the same number of receptions as you and I (and Elon Musk).
I think Stover is a great TE and a lot of his catches are crucial 1st down conversions (see the 3rd and 2 listed as #3 above). We need that because we can't run for first downs in short yardage situations (see above). However, Stover had a very TE like average of just 7.4 yards per catch. I'd like to see some of those throws going to somebody more likely to pick up yards in chunks.
Defense:
More than I hoped for. Changes to the scheme/understanding Knowles scheme are clearly improving things. LBs- good as expected. Defensive Line- not as many sacks- but consistent pressure forcing teams to get the ball out fast and preventing long passes. DBs/Safety- miles ahead of last year.
There is not a team I have watched that I think OSU could not hang with. Especialy as the season moves along. I dont know yet how good they can be, but it potentially is VERY DAMN GOOD.
Defense:
This is, once again, conditional on just how good ND's offense really is but for now I agree with you. The biggest thing is that they have largely eliminated or at least minimized the big plays.
Notre Dame's longest run was 22 and their longest pass was 28. What killed us last year against Michigan was that way too often when a guy got to the second level, he was gone. At least so far this year when guys have broken free for long plays they've generally been bad but not catastrophic. Instead of giving up 40+ yard TD's we've given up >30 yard first downs and lived to try again.
That is hugely important because most of ND's longish plays ultimately did NOT result in Irish points:
- On ND's second play they hit a 25 yard pass but the drive resulted in ZERO points because they got stopped in the RZ.
- On ND's third possession they got a 22 yard run but the drive resulted in ZERO points because that was basically the only thing they did on that drive.
- On ND's first possession of the 2nd half they got a 16 yard run but the drive resulted in ZERO points.
It just frankly "feels" like last year two or all three of those longish plays would have been TD's.
Overall I agree with you that this team has the potential to be REALLY good. The defense is looking really good and if the offense can continue to improve (and not be square-pegged into round holed by the coach) then they could be a team that could beat anybody.
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For Iowa pre-season
Defense - good, maybe even great
Special teams - great
Offense - bad but will improve from last year with new players added from portal. TEs should be great.
Iowa now
Defense - good, not great
Special teams - great kickers, good kick coverage and kick returns, except against PSU
Offense, passing game sucks but OL has improved in pass protection, running game sucks except when playing WMU
Iowa has been hurt by the loss of 2 starters due to the gambling investigation and now has lost its starting TE and Top 2 RB'S to injury.
Individually, transfer WR Kaleb Brown is the biggest disappointment.
Transfer LB Nick Jackson has been a mild disappointment early. With LB Jay Higgins picking up the slack. although Jsckdon is still a very good player who has been improving and should do fine the rest of the year.
Transfer QB Cade McNamara has been a mild disappointment while playing hurt, although he still is an upgrade compared to Spencer Petras.
Transfer TE Erik All and transfer WR Seth Anderson are doing about as expected, each showing potential flashes of greatness.
LB Jay Higgins, CB DeShawn Lee, DL Ethan Herkett, NB S. Castro all have been pleasant surprises on defense.
RB J. Patterson was a pleasant surprise on offense until he got hurt.
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Michigan is playing about as expected, good but not great. Defensive has been good with several starters out. The offense has been good but they're still fooling around with the OL. And we learned RB Edwards was not taking contact throughout Summer camp so he's rusty. So, the running game has not been as good as it will be.
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qb -about as expected. we've been super spoiled for last half decade with nfl ready qbs. every time there's a new one starting i expect them to come back to cfb level. i still think we have good qb's, but they aren't nfl level, at least not yet and maybe not ever.
rb - slightly worse than expected. a lot of this has to do with my thought's on oline. like the qb's, they arent really getting the help i thought they would. but conversely they haven't been great themselves.
wr - about as expected. young and talented, but not clear leader and someone needs to step up. last week gave me hope maybe one of them is getting there.
oline - way way worse than expected. whole offseason was talked about how they would dominate. experience coming back, all world frosh coming in, huge, going back to road grading and running the ball down hill to help out qb's. this group is slow, mistake prone, and has little push. really disappointed in the oline. they're like 85-90% of offenses problems imo.
dline -about as expected. little disappointed in texas game, but otherwise have been really solid if not great.
lb - about as expected. no big name here, first time in a while, but doing what they're supposed to do.
db - as expected. one of the best units in cfb. strength of the team.
overall, i think our d is championship level good. our o is not, and mostly due to oline, which is very surprising to me. if oline can figure it out, i think we can make a sneaky run at it. otherwise, we're nyd bowl at best.
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In order of my power rankings:
1. PSU - thought they would be good, but not this good. They look great.
2. OSU - thought they would be great but look very good.
3. UM - see OSU.
4. UMD - Better than I thought.
5. UW - A little worse than I thought.
6. Rutgers - Better than I thought.
7. Iowa - Worse than I thought.
8. Minnesota - Far worse than I thought.
9. Purdue - About what I thought.
10. Indiana - About what I thought.
11. Nebraska - About what I thought.
12. Illinois - Worse than I thought.
13. Northwestern - About what I thought.
14 Michigan State - * Really N/A due to the situation up there.
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Minnesota
QB far worst
RB far Better (freshman of the week 3x in a row!)
TE far worst
OL much better
WR worst than expected
DL about the same
LB worst but big time player out so far this year
DB oddly worst esp. last two games. but expect a bounce back
ST- kicker better than expected- Return game ??? can not tell if you never return them
over all the QB play is so frustrating. if Athan K could have come around a little bit or at least played like the end of last year it would be a different team and outcome.
but as he gets experience the team will get better. not losing much for next year as it sits right now but with the transfer portal anything could happen for next year
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Upthread I described Ohio State's short-yardage playcalling as trying to pound a square peg into a round hole.
I want to thank @Honestbuckeye (https://www.cfb51.com/index.php?action=profile;u=37) for pointing me to this article (https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/the-situational/2023/09/141147/the-situational-imposter-syndrome) on 11 Warriors and point out that my post was made at 11:20 this morning and the linked article wasn't published until 1:15 so I didn't get this from Ramzy. I'm not saying that he got it from me, just that it is becoming obvious and if Ramzy and I both spotted it, others have spotted it too, others with names like James Franklin and Jim Harbaugh. That is a problem.
Ramzy posted a GIF of Egbuka's run for no gain on 4th and 1. Then he points out:
- At the snap Marvin Harrison is standing just outside the 10 yard line. Notre Dame chose to only put single coverage on him. Consequently, the defender is literally at the 3 yard line, more than 7 yards away from Harrison on fourth and inches. How hard would it have been to toss the ball to Harrison for an easy pickup? Once the ball is snapped Harrison does literally nothing since he is merely a decoy and since he only drew single coverage this is a job that I could have done because as totally unable to compete with CFB athletes as I would be, ND would still have had to put a guy on me because if they left me completely uncovered even I could have caught a ball and fallen down. Seriously, Harrison contributes NOTHING to this play and that isn't his fault, it is by design.
- McCord trips while handing the ball to Egbuka. He didn't trip over his own feet, he tripped over the Center's feet because the center got pushed back into him.
- It sure seems odd to run this play to the short side of the field which reduces Egbuka's ability to stretch it out.
The next GIF is the 3rd and goal at the 1 play midway through the 2nd quarter with the game still tied 0-0. Ohio State's personnel decision is just odd here. They have:
Soon-to-be first round picks Harrison and Egbuka were no more involved in this play than you and I, they just had a closer view.
I'm not anti-run but I think a MUCH more logical approach for tOSU would be to split Harrison and Egbuka as wide as possible and dare ND to single cover them. IMHO, that creates a damned if you do, damned if you don't decision for the ND DC between:
- Single-cover Harrison and Egbuka and risk a very easy passing TD, or
- Double-cover Harrison and Egbuka thus giving the offense a numerical advantage inside.
Then Ramzy shows a GIF of the 3rd and 1 play at the 11 late in the game while trailing 14-10. Once again Ohio State decided to go smash-mouth as if they were one of Woody's 1970's teams only they aren't and it didn't work. Egbuka comes from the field side on a fake end-around which doesn't seem to accomplish anything, Harrison is again merely a decoy only this time he has the attention of 1.5 defenders.
Ramzy closes with a Back to the Future reference that likens Day being called soft to Marty McFly being called chicken. At this point that has become my biggest concern for the tOSU offense. Day seems to be bound-and-determined to "prove" that they aren't "soft" by running smash-mouth in "and 1" situations while ignoring the soon-to-be first rounders they have at WR.
The funniest line in the whole article is after showing yet another place where smash-mouth failed and a different playcall would likely have succeeded, Ramzy rhetorically asks if the alternative would have been a soft play call. He then answers, "Cool, I'd like to order six soft points for my football team please."
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Great article. That’s the part that’s baffling. You need a yard and you don’t spread the defense out, and make them defend the entire field and 2 first rounders. Then on top of that- you run to the boundary and give the defense a 12th defender.
That’s just stubborn, uncreative play calling from a guy who is as good as anyone at calling plays to expose whatever the defense is doing.