Archives for November 2013

Welcome to the weekly installment where we look at the game from a statistical perspective. Feel free to add your thoughts. What stats impressed you? Any stats concern you? Here are 5 stats that stood out to me against Purdue.

0 – The so called experts will say it was Purdue and the Buckeyes should have won by a large margin. That is all well and good, but given the recent history against the Boilermakers it was nice to destroy them. Kudos to the defense for the shutout. 56-0 is nice regardless of the opponenent. In honor of the shutout, I will be focusing mainly on defensive stats.

116 – The defense yielded on 116 total yards. Impressive team defense. The Buckeyes have yet to give up a run of over 20 yards all season. The only team in the nation that can say that.

6 – Six players combined for a total of 6 sacks in the game. The Buckeyes sit atop the B1G with 17 sacks in conference games.

17% – Purdue managed only 2 (out of 12) first downs on third down. The Buckeye D was able to get off the field very effectivly on third down.

5-116-1 – I suppose scoring 56 points is worthy of one offensive stat. Jeff Heuerman was the leading receiver (and it wasn’t close) on Saturday. It was nice to see the tight ends getting some love. A lot of the credit goes to Braxton becasue of his ability to find the open guy. Jeff was open on Saturday; hauling in 5 catches for 116 yards and 1 TD. Nice game for Heuerman. Note: Nick Vannet also caught a TD. 11 players caught at least one pass.

Any other key stats against Purdue?

Now that the Buckeyes have dispensed with the Boilermakers, we can lean back in our chairs and enjoy the rest of the slate of games. Unfortunately with four of the top ten teams on bye weeks, this won’t be the greatest day for football.

Still, it will give us Buckeye fans a chance to do some advanced scouting on a potential match-up for the B1G Championship Game as Michigan and Michigan State get in their annual slap-fight at 3:30.

Florida State and Miami battle for dominance of the Old People’s state at 8.

Join us in the comments to share your thoughts!

Ohio State looked absolutely dominant for the second week in a row as they dominate Purdue in all facets of the game on their way to over 600 yards on offense while the defense held Purdue’s offense to under 120 yards. Whether Urban is making a statement or not, it’s clear that Ohio State is playing at a top level right now.

The first half was almost flawless. Outside of Braxton’s interception (to a pretty good Ricardo Allen) and a couple runs that only went for a couple yards the Ohio state offense was moving up and down the field at ease. Starting off with a pick six by Doran Grant to a Kenny Guiton jump pass for a TD, Ohio state suffocated Purdue in the first half to the tune of a 42-0 score.

They picked up where they left off in the second half (less the scoring outburst), starting with a huge hit from Ezekiel Elliot on special teams and continued on throughout as the defense piled up the sacks and the offense chewed up yards on the ground. Miller and most the first teamers took the second half off but Kenny G and Steve Miller set the tone and maintained the rhythm as both the offense and defense continued to take the money and run.

This game was the first time I can remember where the head coach basically laid out the game plan: Coach Meyer said they wanted to work the ball to the tight ends more, which they did and Jeff Heuerman was the benefactor of that plan. He also said he wanted to see Ryan Shazier get more opportunities to blitz, which they also did to the tune of six sacks.

So the Buckeyes move to 9-0 and have next week to rest before facing the Illini on November 16th.

The Buckeyes roll into West Lafayette for a noon tilt against the Purdue Boilermakers. We’ll be chatting it up and probably discussing the upcoming basketball season at some point in the second quarter.

Hit the jump to join the fun in the Live In Game Chat.

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This was meant to go up earlier, but a scheduling snafu and a forgetful blogger are an awful combination. But since this is Purdue week, we can be forgiven for some awful execution. Purdue’s been doing that the whole season. ZING!

So not a whole lot to discuss this week. Hopefully you’ve been keeping up here all week, because staying focused for a foe like Purdue isn’t just something the football players struggle with. We fans can overlook foes, too.

Can this be the first time a team struggles because they were looking ahead… to their bye week?

I kid, Boiler fans. I kid.

Some highlights from this week’s Purdue coverage:

Ronnie actually found more than one Boilermaker that will be worth watching on Saturday. Three of them, actually.

In this week’s gruesome scene of the crime, the statistics are not in Purdue’s favor. Like at all. The preview isn’t doing them any favors, either.

Shannon asks the question we’ve all been wondering in his Q&A session with BoiledSports:

MotSaG: This is the first time I have had to ask this question but whats Purdue’s secret at Ross-Ade Stadium versus the Buckeyes?

BS: Plain and simple- mind control. It’s odd that it hasn’t worked on any other opponent, but tons of subliminal messages are being broadcasted during the pre-game into the Buckeye locker room…it’s kind of a shame the same tactics don’t work versus Notre Dame or Michigan. Honestly, we have no idea…but hope the trend continues.

So it’s going to be lopsided right?

I’m hedging my bets. I think OSU could easily score ten touchdowns on these guys. But it’s in their stadium and there’s some Bermuda Triangle stuff going on over there. So I’m going to say:

OSU: 59
Purdue: 13

What say you?

And just for fun, here’s Kade’s video of Marcus Hall repeatedly decleating Deion Barnes:

When Tom Herman was initially hired as the Buckeye offensive coordinator there were some doubts and worries.  His name was not that familiar to Buckeye fans, however his track record spoke for itself.  Herman had extremely successful offenses at Iowa State and Rice, but would he be able to carry that success over to be a larger program?  In his first season there were several rough patches as play-makers needed development, and sophomore quarterback Braxton Miller was still an athlete playing quarterback due to poor quarterback coaching his freshman year.  Therefore, only about 60% of the offense was made available to Miller, and Herman’s play calling was much more reliant on designed runs for Miller, Hyde running the inside zone, and the occasional deep pass to Devin Smith.

Coming in to their second season as coordinator and head coach, Herman and Meyer were expecting much better offensive production.  If they got a polished passer in Braxton Miller, and improved play-makers, Herman would be able to open up the offense and allow this team to put up big offensive numbers.  Aside from the Cal game, Herman’s play calling has been questioned heavily.  The Buckeyes offense reverted back to what some called “Tresselball” late in games against Wisconsin.  And against Northwestern and Iowa the Buckeye offense struggled to convert on red zone trips.  Those struggles resulted in both games being closer than necessary.  So where was this high octane offense?  The play-makers were there, Miller was an improved passer, yet the plays being called were nearly identical to those of last year.  Finally, Saturday night we saw Herman’s play calling adjust to those red zone inefficiencies, along with abandoning conservative play calling, and let this offense loose.

In Game Evolution 

Herman’s play calling was near perfect Saturday night.  He got Miller off to a quick start with calling flash screens/inside zone options.  Those plays allow Miller to read the end and either hand the ball off to Hyde if the end doesn’t crash, or throw the screen to his receiver if the end crashes down.  Those screens were as effective as a Hyde run on Saturday due to the relentless blocking of the receivers.  When they are successful, the receiver normally is able to get 7-10 yards after the catch, which is exactly what happened against Penn State.  After the defense began to get stretched on the screens, that opened up the middle of the field for Hyde to run, and also allowed for Herman to selectively call designed quarterback draws for Miller.

Once the screen and inside zone became effective, the offense really began to roll.  Herman began to evolve the offense within the game, and take advantage of the momentum and rhythm his quarterback was building with the quick early completions.  The middle of the field was opened up off play action which allowed Braxton to hit open receivers on their crossing routes.  As the game progressed Herman set Braxton free, on occasion, to show off that NFL caliber arm he has.  That was exhibited on Miller’s big time touchdown throw to end the half.  However, Braxton’s down field throws would not have been as successful without the effectiveness of the flash screen and inside zone run, both of which were the foundation of the offensive game plan Saturday night.

Scarlet Zone

“We get paid to score touchdowns, not kick field goals.”  Those were the words of Urban Meyer early in his coaching tenure for the Buckeyes.  Against Iowa, Northwestern, and Wisconsin the Buckeye offense sputtered at times in the red zone.  Those stalls caused those three games to much closer than what many fans and Coach Meyer anticipated.

So what was the cause of the Buckeyes struggle?  The Buckeyes enjoy pounding Hyde in the red zone.  Those three teams took notice and implemented a Cover 0 defense.  That means that the corners have no safety help, and the defense brings eight men in to the box.  In previous weeks against this defense, the Buckeyes have stubbornly attempted to run Hyde, only using six guys to block eight.  This week Herman adjusted and developed two different responses to the Cover 0 which led to the Buckeyes 100% red zone efficiency on Saturday night. The first response was exemplified on the second touchdown scored by the Buckeyes.  Herman decided to run Miller on a power play where Marcus Hall pulled, and Carlos Hyde was the lead blocker.  Heuerman was also lined up on the play side of the formation, and ran his guy out of the space.  Hall’s pull was extremely effective on the play and occupied two players, which allowed Hyde to chip an engaged defender. When the Hall pulled, it provided the Buckeyes with as many blockers as there were defenders on the play side.  That balance of numbers allowed Miller to make one cut in the hole, and tip toe in to the end zone.

The second response to the Cover 0 could be seen on the Buckeyes fourth touchdown.  All Chris Fields does is catch touchdowns, and on Saturday he was once again the beneficiary of Herman’s play calling.  Since there is no safety help over the top in Cover 0, all of the corners are matched in straight man.  Therefore, Herman had Miller sprint out to the right, while the three receivers ran a snag route which resulted in a pick being set by the outside receiver to release the inside receiver, who was Chris Fields.  This play looks very simple, but if the receiver does not set a proper pick, or if there is safety over the top then it makes this play much more difficult to execute.

Keep it Coming

Herman has silenced any critics, for now, with his play calling on Saturday night.  He defeated the Cover 0, and kept the offense comfortable with what they were running.  Herman did not add any wrinkles in to the offense last week.  Those plays were always in the Buckeyes playbook, however Herman had to trust them and trust his guys to execute them.  The success of this offense was not due to several exotic plays being run out of complex formations; it was due to the repetition of plays that Braxton and the play makers were comfortable with.  Herman now has his quarterback and play-makers in a zone that will cause any defensive coordinator sleepless nights.