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Offense -
It's sorta funny these days. Finally the offense gets some rhythm, some flow, some production and points and now we hear about how the defenses we're facing are weak. It's an interesting argument (possible strawman at that) since earlier in the year we faced teams like Miami (Oh) and San Diego St and, at no time, did we eclipse the 400 yard mark nor 40 points. The last two weeks we have, even when facing defenses similar or even better than Miami or SDSU. Interesting, eh?
What we have seen in the last few weeks (including MSU) is and adjustment in playcalling and, perhaps, philosophy. I've mentioned this before but it bears repeating since there are still many people that love to use "execution" as the end all, be all. Whereas we once operated almost exclusively from the shotgun (even running plays), we have now morphed into more convention sets with one or two back formations, QB under center. There is no doubt in my mind these conventional sets are why we see Antonio Pittman becoming more and more effective. He has the opportunity to get running downhill, rather than receiving inside handoffs from the shotgun look. Each of the last 3 weeks have seen Pittman's numbers increase and his durability seems to have become a non-issue. He looked as fresh v. IU and Minnesota as the beginning of the game. His 67 yard burst came in the 3rd Q for instance after a half of pounding. Perhaps, the one wish moving forward is finding a back who can spell him. Wells fits his niche but with Schnittker on the shelf, we must not forget the "pair and a spare" philosophy. If Eric Haw doesn't get it now, I doubt he will ever. There is not a better opportunity to step up. It will be interesting if he does.
Troy Smith continues to operate under the Tressel credo of moving the team, not making many mistakes and basically not losing the game for the team. I've never been a fan of this negative thinking scenario but I'm not one to argue with JT's career W/L record either. Troy's passing efficiency numbers that last few weeks have been off the charts. He now leads the B10 in this category if you look only at Big 10 games. Again, Troy's success can, in my opinion, can be pointed to the offensive tweaks. Play action is more effective and has to be minded and the running game's effectiveness bleeds into his performance.
One had to be impressed with our opening drive v. Minnesota where we clearly attacked the Minnesota defense. From the opening long ball to Ginn, the messages were sent early. Smith and Holmes cashed in on one of the more efficient opening drives of the season. We saw plays we haven't seen before (ie: sweep and option pass from Pittman, he kept it instead of passing) and the art of deception became a factor. Couple this all together and execution becomes easier.
All in all, I award this team 3.5 Buckeye Leaves. I was generous because I think Minnesota is solid team. They were one horribly handed snap away from being a 1 loss team and undefeated at home. We came in and marched up and down the field with relative ease. The 4th down stop was disappointing but minor. Moving forward, we should hope to see the screen pass to Pittman and the Statue of Liberty plays become staples of our offense along side our basic Power, Traps and ISO's. Neither the screen nor the Statue of Liberty (not a gadget play, it's low risk) have yet to be stopped.
Defense -
If someone would have told me this defense would allow 578 yards of total offense and garner 1 Buckeye Leaf, I would not have believed them. Our Silver Bullets were melted down and sold on the black market. We were as ineffective as I can remember and the 578 yard total is the 2nd worst in Ohio State history. These are certainly not numbers that we are used to, especially since this D had held 4 teams to under 200 yards of total offense earlier this year.
Minnesota was largely effective in the 1st half by motioning the TE. The TE would then look for our OLB and get a block on him (either AJ or Carpenter) and this was highly effective. Of course, AJ and Carp were held quite often but nothing these guys haven't seen before. Minnesota would change up the plays by then dragging the TE to the weakside of the field. Discipline was out the window since we were hellbent on stopping Maroney.
Minnesota's passing game redlined because our eagerness to stop the run. Brian Cupito masqueraded as Brett Favre and Ashton Youboty was picked on like the runt of the litter. Ashton was responsible for at least 4 big plays, two of which were blown coverages. Cupito mentioned after the game they saw that our DBs liked to be "nosey" by looking at the QB often. This was exactly what happened on the first long pass over Ashton. Youboty sat on the underneath route and was caught looking back at the QB while the Minny WR ran right by him. I chalk these things up to mental errors, but during our self scout this week, it must be corrected. It is important to note as bad as Ashton was in coverage, he was equally good in run support.
Overall, this was tale of two halves. We were rolled in the first half but were fairly strong in the 2nd. Half-time adjustments continue to be a strength of this team. Take away 1 TD and 80 garbage yards by Minnesota in the last 2 minutes and the numbers, while still bad, are more acceptable. Maroney was generally held in check, with 53 of his 127 yards coming on 1 play. Of his 127 yards, 81 came in the 1st Q. The last 3 quarters were we more of our typical selves. Maroney is a good back and Minnesota employs that zone, stretch, chop blocking scheme that is highly effective. We gave up yards but credit Minnesota, too.
1 Buckeye Leaf...not Good.
Special Teams -
Josh Huston was at his best by flat out killing the ball on his KOs. Minnesota is a pretty solid KO return team and not once did they even attempt a return. For Josh, it became an exercise to see if he could actually make it through the uprights from the 35 yardline (he couldn't...hit the bar once) :) As normal, Josh was also very solid on his PATs and FGs.
On the flip side, Ted Ginn continues to elevate his game to 2004 heights. He was simply outstanding on punt and KO returns the entire day and actually took one 100 yards for a TD. I have included that play as one of the Plays of the Game. Blocking on that play was superb and Ginn wasn't touched enroute to his TD. That return marked the 4th TIME he has returned a punt or KO for a TD this year. Unfortunately, 2 of them were called back on penalty although neither penalty contributed to his return success.
I mentioned on the front page that some may have noticed we drastically changed our KO return formation. Early in the year, our typical formation included Ginn and Holmes deep at the goal line waiting for the KO. The next line of players were stationed at the 25 yardline. So, essentially we had a 25 yard gap of dead space in our formation. Michigan State exploited this to their advantage by purposely short kicking directly into this dead space. We all remember Holmes' fumble as he desperately tried to run up on the short kick. Coach Hazell changed our formation to where Ginn is now the only deep return man. Our next line of players are Holmes and Gonzalez and they are positioned wide at the 15 yardline (See Screenshot below). This arrangement funnels the ball to Ginn, but should it be short, there is no longer dead space to create issues. And, it's no longer an upman (typically a LB) fielding the KO. It will be either Holmes or Gonzalez. I foresee more success with this formation and/or more squib kicks from the KO team.
Simply an exceptional performance. Only 1 very minor blemish in the game and that came on a long FG attempt by Josh Huston. Ben Person jumped which resulted in a 5 yard penalty and cost us a FG try. As I said, this was the worst of it. We also had a near block of a Minnesota FG try. Many will remember the FG Minnesota missed in the 1st quarter. That happened because it was about to be blocked by Youboty. If we can mimic that each week, this unit is to be applauded.
::Other Notes & Observations::
* Lots of good things in this game, but a couple of head scratchers too. What was the deal with not calling Timeout near the end of the half? We had a time out to burn but we didn't use it. This allowed Minnesota to attempt a 4th down pass. Not a smart move.
* The other head scratcher came in the 2nd half. Minnesota was faced with a 3rd and 5. We stopped them 2 yards short to force the punt. There was a flag on the play against Minnesota. We accepted the penalty and again gave Minnesota another down. Why?
* Minnesota fumbled the football at the end of the 1st half. Why this wasn't reviewed is beyond me. It was a perfect candidate for a review and it was ignored. What is the purpose of Review if it isn't going to be used? Minnesota went on to kick a FG.
* Anyone have an inside scoop on Bobby Carpenter? If so, email me (addy at bottom of page) please. He is wearing a large knee brace on his right leg. It seemed to be bothering him during the game too.