Imagine Brian Hartline did not want to work with Chip Kelly? No matter how good Brian is at recruiting, he would be gone! Retire LJ early, let him keep his contract money, and move on. No need to keep old men looking to coast to retirement.
“In Europe, every morning game is a night time game. GO BUCKEYES!”
Thanks Kyle! As frustrated as we all are due to stratospheric expectations for this team, I take a small positive away from this game due to how many people are lauding both sides and the quality of play. This wasn't Georgia/Bama where one team shellacked the other and then fell asleep until they almost choked the game away. That was a messy, yet exciting second half. OSU v. Oregon was a much better game by 2 more consistent teams with offenses executing at a high level.
The problem is, the defense full of seniors was supposed to be the rock of the team and at the most crucial moments they lost individual matchups, got outschemed, and failed to be creative enough to surprised Oregon. If Knowles and LJ remain at odds it makes it so much harder to win a rematch and make a run in the playoffs. I'm hoping that somehow, finally in this bye week, Day can force them to have a breakthrough and change a few things up.
Kyle, do we have a Jim Knowles problem with the defense and he just isn't a good enough coach? As you said, we don't disguise the defense and we don't provide enough movement to create defensive opportunities. I guess my question is, are we seeing the same defensive scheme that he ran at Okla St? I thought he was known for the very things our current defense lacks.
Is there any real reporting on this or is it just narratives out of local media guys with daily podcasts not getting enough access to fill their youtube video commitments? I think the only real thing we have is Jack Sawyer wasn't a fit at the Jack position, and we have 4 good DL that are hard to take off the field and were recruited under a 1 gap DL scheme and we are not able to do some of the things Knowles has done to muddy up the run game with movement. I haven't seen any reporting that LJ and JK aren't cooperating.
The local media would likely have their ears to the ground more so than the national media, especially with college football. Yes, there have been reports dating back to Knowles first year. Some reports early on that I saw described it as heated. Other reports described it as a gentleman’s disagreement. An indicator that it might be accurate is the d-line scheme is more inline with LJ’s philosophy than what Knowles has used successfully at other programs.
In 2022 we ran Knowles’ scheme. The real answer is there isn’t any real reporting and it’s best writers just making shit up. If they had any credible reporting they wouldn’t be still just hinting at it 3 years later
My favorite is when Dave Biddle cites his “sources”. Then follows it up with I don’t know what the issue is but there definitely is one. 3 years running….
In general I agree, but Oregon played a lot of quarters and was specifically trying to take that away. It's partially why we saw a lot of intermediate stuff and throws to the middle of the field to wide open tight ends.
Would have loved we stuck with that for any of the final 3 snaps post OPI. We acted like we didn't have a TO and tried to work the sideline on every route, and nothing was open. Meanwhile, middle of the field...
Agreed. Yeah the middle of the field looked like a vacant parking lot. I thought that was one of the benefits of having Chip up in the booth/box, so he could get that whole view. Sometimes we don't see things that are right in front of our faces. Take what they give you, right? Well, they were giving us the middle of the field & with our speedy receivers who knows. And the TO we still had. That's part of the OPI issue as well. CB was trying so hard to take sideline away from JJ that once JJ took the quick steps in as if to slant, CB was way out of position & off-balance, creates the contact & JJ easily shrugs him off bc the CB's momentum was already going that way & he was so off-balance (not a good athletic base bc his upper body was way out over his lower body) so JJ just barely had to do anything & the CB goes off that direction & JJ curls back out for the wide open target & catch. We know what happened from there.
When OSU was in man coverage, I would have liked to see more blitzing and stunting to disrupt Oregon's blocking assignments and hopefully get some pressure on Dillon or TFLs. The few times he felt pressure, his accuracy was not the best. It seemed like most of Knowles blitz calls were zone blitzes that were not effective against Oregon's Oline. They did a good job of picking up those rushers. I think it would have been better to try and overwhelm them with rushers and speed.
"Friendship means little when it's convenient." - Shimazu
I thought this too, but part of the reason the zone pressures didn't work is the DL didn't execute and engage the blockers enough to free up the blitzers. See Ross Fulton's video link in the recent forum posts with a breakdown.
Surprised you didn't go over a play they simulated pressure with 2 LBs and dropped EVERY single DL into coverage with man on the outside. It had to be the dumbest play design (unless it was a miscommunication) ever. Gave up a tuddy because of it.
Overall, I think it's rather clear that there is a big issue somewhere in the coaching ranks with scheming and doing what one person wants to do. These issues in big/tight games have plagued us for years. To not think there's a huge disconnect somewhere with veteran players seems disingenuous. Day and knowles really need to sit down and figure a plan forward. I understand there are plays where the scheme you can tip your cap. But there were also quite a few "wtf are you thinking" moments for OSU compared to Oregon that, in a game this close, you simply cannot have.
There is nothing more remarkable as learning to think better.
The play design isn't awful if executed properly. The defensive lineman are supposed to very briefly engage the OL then drop into coverage (Lathan Ransom was the only one who executed it correctly). If executed properly the actual rushers are supposed to come free.
2. A great offense always has the advantage and Oregon is indeed a great offense and as Kyle said, deserves credit for their preparation and execution.
3. OSU’s D needs to be less predictable, at least sometimes, and that includes especially movement on the DL (stunts etc)
Something else I noticed is that on one of the plays when Jeremiah Smith made a nice catch he was drilled from behind and I wonder if targeting could have been called. Anyone else notice that? Smith got right up which is probably why nothing was reviewed but it looked to me like it was helmet to helmet on a defenseless player. If it indeed was, this is another example of how inconsistent the rule is applied and how it rarely goes our way.
Regardless, I greatly appreciate Kyle’s effort here. There were lots of positive takeaways and OSU has a chance to regroup and hopefully come back better prepared against future opponents.
"In weightlifting, I don't think sudden, uncontrolled urination should automatically disqualify you."
-Jack Handey
My watch party saw a potential targeting situation that wasn’t called. I don’t recall the exact play, but I don’t think there was more than one of those situations. Very frustrating how wishy washy that call is.
Thanks Kyle. After watching this in depth it makes it even more maddening what TSUN did. Obviously we all know it helped them; but their players were completely abandoning the run on our pass plays and vice versa. Many of these plays by the Oregon offense could have been easily stopped if we had the information those cheating cock suckers did for the past 3 years.
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Imagine Brian Hartline did not want to work with Chip Kelly? No matter how good Brian is at recruiting, he would be gone! Retire LJ early, let him keep his contract money, and move on. No need to keep old men looking to coast to retirement.
“In Europe, every morning game is a night time game. GO BUCKEYES!”
Did you even watch the video?
Thanks Kyle! As frustrated as we all are due to stratospheric expectations for this team, I take a small positive away from this game due to how many people are lauding both sides and the quality of play. This wasn't Georgia/Bama where one team shellacked the other and then fell asleep until they almost choked the game away. That was a messy, yet exciting second half. OSU v. Oregon was a much better game by 2 more consistent teams with offenses executing at a high level.
The problem is, the defense full of seniors was supposed to be the rock of the team and at the most crucial moments they lost individual matchups, got outschemed, and failed to be creative enough to surprised Oregon. If Knowles and LJ remain at odds it makes it so much harder to win a rematch and make a run in the playoffs. I'm hoping that somehow, finally in this bye week, Day can force them to have a breakthrough and change a few things up.
Kyle, do we have a Jim Knowles problem with the defense and he just isn't a good enough coach? As you said, we don't disguise the defense and we don't provide enough movement to create defensive opportunities. I guess my question is, are we seeing the same defensive scheme that he ran at Okla St? I thought he was known for the very things our current defense lacks.
KY Buckeye
I have heard rumors that it is more of a disconnect between him and LJ
DH7 was Special R.I.P Simba
Is there any real reporting on this or is it just narratives out of local media guys with daily podcasts not getting enough access to fill their youtube video commitments? I think the only real thing we have is Jack Sawyer wasn't a fit at the Jack position, and we have 4 good DL that are hard to take off the field and were recruited under a 1 gap DL scheme and we are not able to do some of the things Knowles has done to muddy up the run game with movement. I haven't seen any reporting that LJ and JK aren't cooperating.
The local media would likely have their ears to the ground more so than the national media, especially with college football. Yes, there have been reports dating back to Knowles first year. Some reports early on that I saw described it as heated. Other reports described it as a gentleman’s disagreement. An indicator that it might be accurate is the d-line scheme is more inline with LJ’s philosophy than what Knowles has used successfully at other programs.
GeorgiaBuckeye
In 2022 we ran Knowles’ scheme. The real answer is there isn’t any real reporting and it’s best writers just making shit up. If they had any credible reporting they wouldn’t be still just hinting at it 3 years later
My favorite is when Dave Biddle cites his “sources”. Then follows it up with I don’t know what the issue is but there definitely is one. 3 years running….
I’ve seen reports in the media. While it hasn’t been the highlight of the story, it has been mentioned publicly. So yes it has.
GeorgiaBuckeye
Would it hurt to go deep with our speedy wr’s once in. While?
Rick W
In general I agree, but Oregon played a lot of quarters and was specifically trying to take that away. It's partially why we saw a lot of intermediate stuff and throws to the middle of the field to wide open tight ends.
We can't stop here; this is bat country...
Would have loved we stuck with that for any of the final 3 snaps post OPI. We acted like we didn't have a TO and tried to work the sideline on every route, and nothing was open. Meanwhile, middle of the field...
Yep, agree completely. Definitely a missed opportunity.
We can't stop here; this is bat country...
Agreed. Yeah the middle of the field looked like a vacant parking lot. I thought that was one of the benefits of having Chip up in the booth/box, so he could get that whole view. Sometimes we don't see things that are right in front of our faces. Take what they give you, right? Well, they were giving us the middle of the field & with our speedy receivers who knows. And the TO we still had. That's part of the OPI issue as well. CB was trying so hard to take sideline away from JJ that once JJ took the quick steps in as if to slant, CB was way out of position & off-balance, creates the contact & JJ easily shrugs him off bc the CB's momentum was already going that way & he was so off-balance (not a good athletic base bc his upper body was way out over his lower body) so JJ just barely had to do anything & the CB goes off that direction & JJ curls back out for the wide open target & catch. We know what happened from there.
When OSU was in man coverage, I would have liked to see more blitzing and stunting to disrupt Oregon's blocking assignments and hopefully get some pressure on Dillon or TFLs. The few times he felt pressure, his accuracy was not the best. It seemed like most of Knowles blitz calls were zone blitzes that were not effective against Oregon's Oline. They did a good job of picking up those rushers. I think it would have been better to try and overwhelm them with rushers and speed.
"Friendship means little when it's convenient." - Shimazu
I thought this too, but part of the reason the zone pressures didn't work is the DL didn't execute and engage the blockers enough to free up the blitzers. See Ross Fulton's video link in the recent forum posts with a breakdown.
Kyle, thank you for making this 18:30 minute video. Our offense was awesome!
We can't stop here; this is bat country...
Surprised you didn't go over a play they simulated pressure with 2 LBs and dropped EVERY single DL into coverage with man on the outside. It had to be the dumbest play design (unless it was a miscommunication) ever. Gave up a tuddy because of it.
Overall, I think it's rather clear that there is a big issue somewhere in the coaching ranks with scheming and doing what one person wants to do. These issues in big/tight games have plagued us for years. To not think there's a huge disconnect somewhere with veteran players seems disingenuous. Day and knowles really need to sit down and figure a plan forward. I understand there are plays where the scheme you can tip your cap. But there were also quite a few "wtf are you thinking" moments for OSU compared to Oregon that, in a game this close, you simply cannot have.
There is nothing more remarkable as learning to think better.
The play design isn't awful if executed properly. The defensive lineman are supposed to very briefly engage the OL then drop into coverage (Lathan Ransom was the only one who executed it correctly). If executed properly the actual rushers are supposed to come free.
My takeaways:
1. OSU needs to work on tackling
2. A great offense always has the advantage and Oregon is indeed a great offense and as Kyle said, deserves credit for their preparation and execution.
3. OSU’s D needs to be less predictable, at least sometimes, and that includes especially movement on the DL (stunts etc)
Something else I noticed is that on one of the plays when Jeremiah Smith made a nice catch he was drilled from behind and I wonder if targeting could have been called. Anyone else notice that? Smith got right up which is probably why nothing was reviewed but it looked to me like it was helmet to helmet on a defenseless player. If it indeed was, this is another example of how inconsistent the rule is applied and how it rarely goes our way.
Regardless, I greatly appreciate Kyle’s effort here. There were lots of positive takeaways and OSU has a chance to regroup and hopefully come back better prepared against future opponents.
"In weightlifting, I don't think sudden, uncontrolled urination should automatically disqualify you."
-Jack Handey
My watch party saw a potential targeting situation that wasn’t called. I don’t recall the exact play, but I don’t think there was more than one of those situations. Very frustrating how wishy washy that call is.
KY Buckeye
Yes, that was a hard hit on Smith and could have been called. But the refs seemed reluctant to call penalties on the Ducks.
Agreed.
Our honor defend, we'll fight to the end !
"it's not magic, it's fundamentals" that lead to Ohio State's success. - Ryan Day
Thanks Kyle. After watching this in depth it makes it even more maddening what TSUN did. Obviously we all know it helped them; but their players were completely abandoning the run on our pass plays and vice versa. Many of these plays by the Oregon offense could have been easily stopped if we had the information those cheating cock suckers did for the past 3 years.
Rant over.
F*** TTUN
TTUN will get what’s coming-on the field and off it.
"In weightlifting, I don't think sudden, uncontrolled urination should automatically disqualify you."
-Jack Handey