If you like a wide open, fast paced offense this Urban Meyer lead offense is for you.
I got the opportunity to watch an open practice today and what a great experience it was. It was held at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center due to the wonderful central Ohio spring weather. Very intimate setting to watch the practice which was a scrimmage of 1’s vs 1’s and 2’s vs 2’s.
What stood out:
The pace of the offense:
Get ready for a no huddle, blistering attack of every defense OSU plays. They didn’t huddle once and at times looked unstoppable. I’m referring to the 1st unit lead by QB Braxton Miller.
Braxton Miller:
He simply looks like a different player out there. Miller was throwing the ball with authority and accuracy. Tight, accurate spirals that seemed to explode out of his hand. He and Devin Smith connected on a beautiful touchdown off playaction that drew cheers from the crowd. Miller also threw a short TD to a TE (Heuerman?) at the goal line. Both QB’s were wearing the black jerseys and had limited contact, so they were limited to how dangerous they could be with there legs. Miller did have a really nice run off a zone read option. He took it to the right side after the DE crashed on the fake to the TB. The play was blown dead 25 yards down field, but Miller could have scored from 75 yards out.
The Defense:
Both units were impressive. The 2nd team offense was overmatched by the 2nd team defense. They manhandled a depleted 2nd string offensive line. Guiton was sacked many times. And while the 1st team offense did have some success, the 1st team defense held their own. They picked off 2 Braxton Miller passes and 1 was returned for what looked like a 100 yard TD by Orhian Johnson, though he may have stepped out of bounds before hand. Coach Kerry Coombs by be my new favorite coach:
Brionte Dunn:
This kid will absolutely be playing for OSU this year. He was running with the 2’s and had some really nice runs. One that stood out was a run to the right off a zone read. He ran into a WR blocking and reversed field to the left and had nothing but daylight. He made a few nice moves and ended up down inside the 5. It was a remarkable run.
Stoneburner/Boren:
Stoneburner looks SO fast out there in space. He is set to have a big year. FB Zack Boren will also be touching the ball more often. Boren had a few nice runs up the middle and caught a few balls from Miller as well. Boren was on the receiving end of Meyers famous speed option/shovel pass option shown below. This play was a play made famous by Aaron Hernandez and will be a fixture in the OSU offense. Both Stoneburner and Boren will benefit from this play.
Reverses:
They ran at least 2 reverses off the zone read/speed option look and it was absolutely devastating to the defense. Look for this to be in Meyers bag of go to toys. Philly Brown was on the receiving end of these and did well.
All in all it was a great atmosphere at the WHAC. Meyer is looking to make this an annual event which with weather permitting will be held at the Shoe.
Great write-up, Kade. Sounds like it was a lot of fun to watch.
I, for one, am very excited for the no huddle offense here, which I’d like to dub the nuddle offense. It’s going to be exciting to watch when it’s clicking on all cylinders.