What Did We Learn - Ohio State Edition

There's a few interesting things on this play.  White is running a scrap exchange with Butler and the Nickle Gifford.  Common to see it with the Edge player and ILB, never seen it from a late showing blitz from a hole S position before.  This should tell anybody scouting OSU this is 100% a readless OZ play because this blitz is 100% designed to fool Howard into keeping this and run smack into Gifford.  Howard is never reading Giff on this play.  

The second part is White is running a scrap exchange into the teeth of the play w/Princewill.  This is exclusively a backside technique.  Princewill slips the OT's block inside, stands the H-back up, and allows Butler to clean it up easily.  Without this on the play side, this play is a Butler foot race from being off the edge rather easily.  

It's been said OSU knew what was coming on a few of NU's screen's, this combination of defensive calls looks like White was on the headset with Kelly when this was called.  He had this play ate up 3 different ways.


These OSU guys break down how we were defending these at the end of this video, really interesting. They seem to think think these were all actual reads, but they train their QBs to give the ball no matter what if they see an unblocked guy. So we win either way - if he reads just the edge Gifford lays him out, and if he sees Gifford and gives the ball we are in great position. 




 
7 hours ago, Husker in WI said:



These OSU guys break down how we were defending these at the end of this video, really interesting. They seem to think think these were all actual reads, but they train their QBs to give the ball no matter what if they see an unblocked guy. So we win either way - if he reads just the edge Gifford lays him out, and if he sees Gifford and gives the ball we are in great position. 




The guy is on the right track, but he's naturally giving Kelly & Howard way too much credit.  No QB reads a multitude of players on zone read.  Even going back to the early days with originators of all this stuff like Kelly & Malzahn they had reads & give/take calls. It's also split zone.

Where he's wrong, this isn't inside zone, it's veer, and that's tight zone.  The easiest way to distinguish is by which way the OG's are blocking their guys at the 2nd level.  They are sealing them from left to right.  This dive is not designed to go across the formation like IZ.  The dive and the QB keep are each designed to hit the left side of the LOS here.  

He claims the split zone action forces Gifford to cover the dive.  Butler wrong arms this block.  At best he's got the dive, at worst he spills it.  That's giving Kelly a lot of credit here, maybe.  Given how late Gifford shows I'm thinking nah.  If you freeze frame when it's clear Howard kept the ball, Gifford is still in position to make a play, but his eyes are inside.  So you have to believe Howard was reading Butler & that's a pretty automatic read in split zone.  If Butler wrong arms this and Gifford trails him to clean it up intentionally, you have to believe Bullock should have been scraping to the outside to take Howard.  

Realistically, I think this is simply a case of Kelly throwing a multitude of looks at the defense, the defense throwing a multitude of looks at the offense, and somebody blowing an assignment under pressure.  Likely Gifford  

 
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How sweet it would have been to win this one.

I guess the one thing we can hang our hat on is the fact that they just beat the #3 team, in their house, by less than they beat us. 

 
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