Ex-Buckeye talks Oregon's battle plan in Rose Bowl
by rocknrolla on Dec 16, 2009 4:11 PM EST
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Interesting to read the Masoli's arm might play a huge role in this one, with that crazy powerful run game they might not need the air attack!! I'm anxious to see if Ohio State's front four can slow down this read option offense. Not to mention if Ohio State's lethargic offense can actually score enough points!
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How come the last two posts I wanted to comment in were closed? Weird.
Anyway, this was a good article, I’m glad you posted it so I could find it. We’re getting to the point where a lot of great analysis is available to read on both teams and I love it!!!
I’ll throw out a few points of my own (and I’m a total homer so take these with a grain of salt):
1. Oregon SHOULD win.
I say that because I firmly believe that the Ducks are the better team top to bottom. They’ve played and beaten better opponents. They play a beautiful brand of football and have the ability to overpower you as well as blow past you. You know about the offense, but the defense is very impressive as well. I’d even go as far as to say the Ducks have the best D in the Pac-10, but I don’t have any numbers to back it up so you’ll just have to take my word for it. Chip Kelly is a mastermind on offense, and Nick Alliotti (while he’s driven me CRAZY over the past few years) has shown that he knows how to prepare a gameplan to beat any opponent if given the time. There is plenty of time for him get ready for Ohio St. The Ducks also have a damn sexy wardrobe. But I’m a big homer, so of course I think the Ducks are better.
2. I’m not very confident.
Half of my brain is already predicting blow out. The other half is very nervous. I’m nervous because, despite Ohio State’s recent failures in the BCS, they’ve at least been to the BCS. I read a great article in the Oregonian about some Buckeye seniors coming back for the sole purpose of winning a BCS game. That experience, and the disappointment, that Ohio St has with the BCS is very valuable. I kinda get the sense from the Ducks (from fans mostly, but some of the stuff I read about the team too) that we are “just happy to be here.” Getting back to the Rose Bowl was our goal for the season, and we’ve accomplished that. Winning a BCS game was Ohio State’s goal and they HAVEN’T accomplished that yet. Add to it that Oregon is favored and getting 75% of the fan vote on ESPN or whatever and I’m a little worried that we won’t be as focused on winning as the Buckeyes. I hated typing that, but its true. I’m worried about our motivation level at this point.
3. The Pac-10 is better than the Big 10.
You just know its true. Admit it. You know it.
4. Ohio States best chance to win is to RUN THE BALL.
Watch game film of the Boise St. game. Watch film of our Stanford game. A physical O-line and a bruising running back are a like kryptonite against our D. Most of the Pac-10 isn’t built like that. We stopped UW and Jake Locker easily. We shut down Jahvid Best and Cal easily. USC had a terrible plan. They tryed to “out-athlete” us and got their butts whooped. I don’t know how Arizona kept putting up points against us. It was kinda like fluke play after fluke play (only it happened so often it couldn’t have been a fluke). I wouldn’t recommend going that route, but you could try. Running the ball hard (north/south) and doing it ALL GAME LONG is your best shot. All you need is for Pryor to periodically connect on some pass plays and your golden. If he can hit 5 passes of 15 yards or more for the whole game, you should be able to score points on us. (He CAN hit 5 passes, right?)
5. I bought my Rose Bowl tickets off of the ohiostatebuckeyes.com and am sitting in the Buckeye section. I’m pumped. Super duper pumped. I’m a pretty obnoxious fan who yells on pretty much every down, and I stand up when I yell. I boo bad calls. I cheer for touchdowns longer than I probably should, and I cheer again when I see the replay. Same goes for interceptions, fumble recoveries, big hits, etc. I do try and keep the profanity to a minimum (because there are kids in the stands – how come no one else can see that!?!?!) I’m also planning on bringing a really big sign that will probably obstruct the view of about 15-20 people behind me.
What kind of reaction can I expect. Are you a friendly bunch?
by StuckeyDuck on Dec 16, 2009 8:05 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
"Are you a friendly bunch?"
Hehe.
Not really. Don’t expect a warm welcome unless you keep to yourself and don’t bother anybody, and that’s regardless of how the game goes.
As far as why I’m locking threads, I’m wary of a troll invasion. Oregon fans have been good, for the most part, if a bit snotty at times. The very first post I did about Oregon was swarmed overnight, and while there were some good comments, there was a lot of the typical “YOUR CONFERENCE SUCKS AND YOUR TEAM IS SLOW” shit that I really, really, don’t care to read, and I don’t think my readers like seeing it either.
www.wewillalwayshavetempe.com
by Sam @ WWAHT on Dec 16, 2009 9:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
You can delete individual posts instead of closing whole threads?
Its good to get some good discussion from both fanbases, even if you have to weed through some bad eggs to get to it (imo).
As for the game, I’m not really expecting a warm welcome . . . . just a memorable Rose Bowl! I’ll try not to do anything that reallllllllly pisses people off. But I’m either gonna be pissed and surrounded by a red and grey mass that is elated (and probably wants to rub it in), or I’ll be elated and surrounded by pissed off Buckeye fans. Should be interesting….
And your conference doesn’t suck, and your team isn’t slow. Just by COMPARISON they are ;)
by StuckeyDuck on Dec 17, 2009 12:00 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I don't like deleting comments already made because that actually feels like censorship
and sometimes, it’s tough to judge whether someone is being a troll or just facetious.
Preventing further questionable comments from being made is much easier and requires less work on my part too. Can’t underestimate that particular benefit.
And I’m not sure if you’re just kidding around with that last comment, but I’ll play; the Big Ten is not “slow”. Of course, there is a speed difference between Northwestern and Oregon, but there’s also a speed difference between Kentucky and Oregon, or Baylor and Florida. At the top of the leagues, speed isn’t even an issue. Virginia Tech is just as fast as Ohio State, who is just as fast as Oregon, who is just as fast as Alabama.
The issue is scheme; in the Big 12, SEC, and the Pac-10, aggression takes precedence over conservatism and ball-control for the majority of teams. I like that aspect of other conferences; one only need look at our game against Iowa to see an instance of two teams who decide to relax and take the game into overtime rather than trying to hit the big play down field and stomping on the other guy’s throat. It bites the Big Ten in the ass come bowl time, too, as other teams from better conferences aren’t quite so willing to wrap things up and keep the game a low-scoring, defensive battle.
I’d agree with the idea that the Big Ten “plays” slow; the meandering, uncreative offenses are relics of a bygone era, and of this I have no doubt. But athlete on athlete, Ohio State can match up with Florida, LSU, USC and, yes, Oregon any day of the week. One need only compare recruiting data and the number of NFL players produced by each school to confirm that.
But I don’t think you were being entirely serious, so I’m probably just wasting my breath.
www.wewillalwayshavetempe.com
by Sam @ WWAHT on Dec 17, 2009 1:52 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Schemes
Having seen both Northwestern and Oregon in person this year, I can tell you that though their schemes share some of the same principles, the execution is vastly different. Obviously the caliber of athletes makes a huge difference; the spread works because it gets outstanding athletes one on one against defenders in space; if you put a Northwestern player and an Oregon player in space against a generic Big Ten team, the NU player is stopped for a 4 or 5 yard game; The Oregon player, on the other hand, will make a big play every couple of opportunities. Undoubtedly, Ohio State tackles very well, and their fundamentals are strong, which will make those big plays rarer, but cannot completely neutralize the threat. I feel that one of the most underrated aspects of Oregon’s offense is Masoli’s ability to make something out of nothing, even against good defenses playing assignment football in crunch time. (See the final drive in regulation against Arizona) Underestimate this at your own risk.
Another major thing is the mismatches that Oregon intentionally creates; look at what happens to Masoli on a run play when he is able to get into the secondary. He runs like a fullback instead of a QB, and plenty of CBs and Safeties have been sitting on the ground, shaking their head after getting popped in the chest by Masoli while trying to make a tackle. Ed Dickson is a physical specimen, with deceptive speed and incredible side. Again, though the principles of the scheme are the same, the level of the athletes in the system take it to a different level.
Finally, a major component to Oregon’s offense that makes it perhaps the trickiest version of the spread out there is deception. Chip Kelly has become a master of misdirection. (See Dennis Dixon’s 15 yard touchdown run against a good Michigan team, where he walked into the endzone untouched.) The fact that defenses have to compensate for this element of surprise adds tenths of a second to reaction times; in those fractions of a second, you once again get the mismatches in space. Saying that you understand spread formations because of teams like Illinois and Northwestern is one thing; you can fill in a paint by numbers version of the Mona Lisa, but you’ll definitely be able to tell it apart from the real thing. Yes, Ohio State is fast, but the spread magnifies any incremental difference between the two players to the point where it becomes a difference-maker.
I don’t think Oregon is gonna drop 42 on Ohio State, but 30+ is extremely likely. The only games this season where we didnt hit that barrier was when we were breaking in a green O Line on the road in the first game of the season, and the one game without our starting quarterback. Pryor will be called upon to take his team to equal offensive output, and while I respect his talent, I don’t think he’s capable of that at this point. (And please don’t get into the "Oregon hasn’t seen a good defense yet this year. " Just read this piece by Ted Miller, which does a pretty good job of breaking down that misconception. http://espn.go.com/blog/pac10/post/_/id/6119/myth-vs-reality-defense-in-the-pac-10")
I think it’s gonna be a great game, but Oregon’s offense will prove to be too much for the Buckeyes to match.
34-21, Oregon.
by emc503 on Dec 17, 2009 4:17 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
point of contention
(See Dennis Dixon’s 15 yard touchdown run against a good Michigan team, where he walked into the endzone untouched.)
“Good” Michigan team? The same team that lost to Appy St. the week prior and was curb-checked by OSU at the end of the season?
Sorry, I just couldn’t resist taking a pot-shot at the 2007 debacle that was Michigan (though it was substantially better than subsequent iterations).
by Estrada on Dec 17, 2009 2:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Whoops, my bad. I thought Michigan won against Ohio State that year. Though they did beat the Tebow child in the Gator Bowl.
by emc503 on Dec 17, 2009 4:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, I was kinda joking. Sorta.
I agree with your sentiment that the Big Ten “plays slow”. The focus on ball control and conservatism is obvious in the way most of the Big Ten plays and Ohio State is one of the best examples of “playing slow”. As far as individual player speed and athleticism, of course Ohio State is on par with the best of the country. If you want to compare athletes straight across, there is no doubt that Ohio State beats Oregon there. USC had better athletes than us too.
The difference is in how we play. Oregon (and the Pac-10 as a whole, but especially Oregon) plays very fast. What we heard from schools all year is “You’re guys ARE NOT FASTER than ours. You Oregonian’s are nuts.” That wasn’t what we were saying. Our guys are fast, yes. But our TEAM is fast. We play at an incredibly high speed that has worn down every single opponent we’ve played (except Boise St. -wk.1). Arizona’s coach talked about how it was impossible to recreate in practice, no matter how hard they tried. And Arizona has some very fast athletes.
Our team speed is more than just a whole bunch of 40 yd times added together, its how we play and how our offense runs and how our D plays as well. Its not something you see from very many teams in the country (if any), and its not something you can just “be ready” for. Ohio State has great athletes, no doubt, but playing at Oregon’s speed isn’t just a switch you can flip. There is more to it than that. After playing at “Buckeye/Big Ten Speed” all year, you better hope that you can control the game tempo, because I KNOW you can’t go 60 minutes at Oregon speed.
Thats why I said the key is running the ball. Both Boise St. and Stanford did it and it worked. Our D-line is great, but they are a little small and they do have a little trouble stopping a running back from picking up 3 or 4 yards at the line of scrimmage. If you are willing to take 3 or 4 yards most plays, coupled with a handfull of well timed passes down field, then you could negate our speed and give us a run for your money. But if Tressel thinks that Terrelle Pryor is a better athlete and “faster” than anyone we’ve got and trys to beat us at our own game, then you are toast. Ask USC how that worked.
by StuckeyDuck on Dec 17, 2009 10:55 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
You guys are responding to points I already acknowledged as true
Yes, Oregon playing “fast” is sure to give the Buckeyes fits. I don’t deny this.
.It bites the Big Ten in the ass come bowl time, too, as other teams from better conferences aren’t quite so willing to wrap things up and keep the game a low-scoring, defensive battle
But there is no “40 time” speed difference between these two teams, as the mainstream press and many Oregon fans are currently alleging. That’s all I was trying to say.
www.wewillalwayshavetempe.com
by Sam @ WWAHT on Dec 17, 2009 12:18 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
You are saying
what I said. Which I guess is what you said, before I said what I said. So we’re in agreement then. Oregon wins!!!
by StuckeyDuck on Dec 17, 2009 2:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Hey now
I’m holding off on an official prediction until I write the preview the day before the game. I’m keeping you on pins and needles.
www.wewillalwayshavetempe.com
by Sam @ WWAHT on Dec 17, 2009 2:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
We probably have more speed in the front 7...
only because we’ve purposefully gone small. We use a 245 pound end, a 270 pound DT, and a nickle backer on the strongside. Our end, Rowe, would be used as an OLB in the Big Ten, our DT, Bair, would be used as an end, and our OLB, Eddie Pleasant, would be used as a safety.
A really big, athletic offensive line can expose us on D. Purdue, Stanford and AZ all had olines that allowed their backs to run on us.
Of course, our D coordinator has been spectacular at stopping the run in bowl games with time to heal up and prepare. I haven’t checked the stats but I bet Okie State ran for less than hundred (they averaged over 200+) and they had a very stout oline. The same was the case in the fiesta bowl against the formidable rush of Colorado.
That is what we should be looking for: how well does tOSU run the ball.
by BisonDucks on Dec 17, 2009 4:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Trench battles are going to be interesting
Of course, they’re always interesting to me, in most football games. We got wickedly surprised by the improvement of OSU’s Oline late in the year. Even with a finally-healthy-together Sean Lee and Navorro Bowman, our front seven was surprised by OSU’s offensive toughness, and they rushed on us like no team has for quite some time. Brewster’s got a long career ahead of him, and while Shugarts & Adams have taken longer to get coached up, they’re both massive and athletic. Cordle’s solid and Boren’s a mean sob. I’ll be real curious to see how ‘purposefully small’ and quick manifests itself against OSU’s big athletic lineman and rushing game.
On the other side of the ball, we also got manhandled, but much less surprisingly so. We knew in the offseason our Oline was weak, and Iowa had already demonstrated it painfully. But knowing that didn’t diminish the impressiveness that Cam Heyward and Thad Gibson again displayed, another two with promising NFL careers. And their LBs this year are far better than their more famous predecessors. I can’t wait to watch this matchup of Rolle/Homan/Spitler against Masoli/James/Blount. Gonna be unbelievable football entertainment.
This is one of the very few times you’ll see this, ever, from a Penn State fan, but…..Go Bucks!
"For me the game wasn’t grounded in reality. It was about the uniform you put on that turned you into a warrior. It was about the mythology of the battle, the victory, the defeat, the struggle." - Mike Reid, PSU '69
by jtothep on Dec 29, 2009 11:32 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Small on purpose?
I don’t know if we’ve gone small on purpose. The reason we’re small is more of a reflection of who we’ve been able to recruit. It seems as if we continually lose out on the huge D-line guys and Alliotti would rather re-scheme and go with faster, smaller players than take on the second rate guys who are probably only playing D-1 ball because of their size and not their abilities. Some coaches just say “gimme the biggest guy out there and I’ll make him a football player by the time he graduates”. That doesn’t seem to be Oregon’s mentality.
You can bet that Alliotti would be all over another Igor Olshansky or Haloti Ngata in a heartbeat if we could get one right now. I don’t think our front 7 is small because Alliotti likes it that way.
I agree with your point about our coaches being able to put together a spectacular game plan when given enough prep time. I mentioned that earlier and it is one of the reasons I’m very confident for the game. Our D always seems to play great when Alliotti gets a week+ of extra time to make a game plan. I thought our defense played incredible against Boise St for example, only giving up 19 points on the road to a team that averages 44.
by StuckeyDuck on Dec 17, 2009 5:10 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I think we're going to be small...
in the future as well. We’ll get bigger at DT for sure. However, we’re always going to play with a hybrid DE (see McCain and Washington in this recruiting cycle) and a nickle backer on the strong side (see Malone and Dixon in this recruiting cycle). We really run a 3-4 disguised as a 4-3 but Rowe drops back into coverage a lot and we send a linebacker. I think the coaches are purposeful about this. Remember, the coaches said the want two DT to hold the point and 9 player to run like hell.
by BisonDucks on Dec 17, 2009 5:18 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
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