Ohio State Snowflakes: The Coaching

Submitted by LSAClassOf2000 on

Here's the repository for your quick thoughts and hot takes on the overall coaching in our game versus Ohio State. 

I Like Burgers

November 25th, 2017 at 4:01 PM ^

It wasn't working that well.  Even taking out O'Korn's 8 "rushes" for -35 yards, they still had 28 rushes for 135 yards...4.8ypc.  And 46 of those yards came on two plays.  The rest of their plays were at a 3.4ypc clip.  Which is the reason they were in so many 2nd and long situations.

They tried running. It just didn't work well enough the majority of the time.

Eat Your Wheatlies

November 25th, 2017 at 4:12 PM ^

True, but two runs of 3.4 yards a pop leaves a manageable 3rd and 3ish. Not sexy, but good enough to give you a shot when you mix in some of those big plays. Problem was that JO'K didn't have time/couldn't find open receivers when we tried to throw.

SeattleWolverine

November 25th, 2017 at 4:14 PM ^

Combo of both though. By passing, O'Korn put them in shit position several times in the second half by failing to get rid of the ball and taking sacks which effectively eliminated the option to grind out drives.

 

Also, 4.8 yards per carry doesn't look so hot but then throw in O'Korn's rushes with his passing (i'm not going to try to seperate out any non-passing rushing attempts) and he nets 160 yards on 40 drop backs. Only 4.0/pass play. 

GoBlueInAlabama

November 25th, 2017 at 5:21 PM ^

Maybe I watched a different game, but I felt Michigan ran the ball very well today. On the 4th down series, they had 2nd and 1. JOK took the quick snap and fell down on a play that was going to the FB. They called a perfect play on 4th down and JOK simply missed Evans.

It was a game of execution and JOK did not execute when the game was on the line. No more and no less.

I will take 3.4 yards per carry all day long.

JHendo

November 25th, 2017 at 4:00 PM ^

Overthrowing is nothing new to Okorn. Neither is holding on to the ball too long, missing reads, or losing his field vision as soon as pressure comes his way.

Part of "excellent playcalling" is working with the talent you have. Had they kept to screens and other short passes, then playcalling would have been good, but they didn't. They drew up 1st down down thw field pass plays for a QB who can't throw the ball downfield. It was better than usual, but not excellent.

I Like Burgers

November 25th, 2017 at 4:04 PM ^

They did do this.  I don't know what the hell game you people were watching, but there's at least four incompletions O'Korn had (two of which were on the second to last meaningful drive) where he flat out missed short passes across the middle. 

The other two I can think of were a miss to Evans, and a miss to Hill early.  Both of those were well set up plays and were going to go for LONG chunks.

Squash34

November 25th, 2017 at 4:15 PM ^

This is just factually inaccurate. Mcdoom alone had 2 first downs on down field throws by himself. They got one on a Gentry seem route early. These are 3 off the top of my head.
He missed down field shots but made more than one.
Never stretching the field would be literally the worst game plan because OSU would have everyone in the box every play.

JHendo

November 25th, 2017 at 4:23 PM ^

I never said they should have never tried to throw down the field and that he didn't make any completions. I said they were doing it too much on 1st down. The reality is he's not a good down the field passer (newsflash!) And it seemed like from halfway through the 3rd quarter until the end, they threw more on 1st down than they ran it.

2nd and long is lot worst for a qb who's not great at throwing than 2nd and 5 is.

JHendo

November 25th, 2017 at 4:50 PM ^

Nope. Not at all sure how you interpreted that from what I wrote. I literally said "they drew up 1st down down the field pass plays...", as in they kept calling plays on first down where OKorn would throw the ball downfield (just in case rewording it helps you out a bit here).

JHendo

November 25th, 2017 at 4:03 PM ^

I'm sorry, should I be tapdancing with jazz hands over our 6th straight loss to OSU just because our offensive coaches didn't have their worst coached game of the season?

I'm fairly certain I haven't been bitching and moaning on this board all season, so before you start namecalling me to prove whatever point you're trying to make, get some perspective first.

GoBlueInAlabama

November 25th, 2017 at 4:00 PM ^

The hell they did. This was a winnable game with a 2:47 left in the game.

This coaching staff had the team in this game from the very beginning. This boiled down to simple execution. The coaches can't play the game for the players. The coaches called a very good game for nearly four quarters.

I do question the play call on the int. I just don't think it is as the time to go for broke. The run was working and the short passing game was working. Putting the game in JOK's decision making process was not a great move in my opinion...but hindsight is always 100% correct

stephenrjking

November 25th, 2017 at 4:04 PM ^

Joel KLatt nailed this--it was an option route. DPJ properly curled into the wide open space 20 yards downfield, JOK missed the read. If JOK reads that safety and fired to where DPJ was, we're near midfield with the ball moving.

The call worked. But JOK's issues cropped up in the worst way.

Given the situation, you have to take that risk and hope he gets it right. Not on the coaches.

Ghost of Fritz…

November 25th, 2017 at 5:24 PM ^

why it was a bad play call, probably the worst pay call of the game.  Making that sort of read is exactly what JOK is not good at.  \

They did have several nice play calls in the 1st quarter that were both nice misdirections, and also withing JOK's strenghts.

Other than the JOK INT, the play calling was not the reason for the loss.  It was down to way too many poor throws and JOK not seeing wide open receivers.

 

I Like Burgers

November 25th, 2017 at 4:07 PM ^

That was also a great play call becasue they had it.  Maybe not a TD, but a very, very long completion.  O'Korn just opted to throw it to Crawford who was bracketed (on top of misreading the coverage and Crawford's move) and instead he threw it to Gentry who was WIDE open on the play.

bronxblue

November 25th, 2017 at 4:20 PM ^

I mean, the team just ran out of steam.  I thought the coaches called a fantastic game on both sides of the ball.  

I don't know how viable the running game would have been on that last drive, but at the same time maybe they would have called a run on the next play.  I don't get on coaches late in a game calling a perfectly reasonable play.  

What kills me is O'Korn air-maling that 4th-down ball to Evans.  That was the game in my opinion.  You get that, you are in business.  I wasn't remotely optimistic even with the missed FG.

GoBlueInAlabama

November 25th, 2017 at 4:56 PM ^

JOK misread the defense and threw a very poor interception, how hard is that to understand? They were in a position to win the game. They had plenty of steam all game long.

I would agree with you if the game was close at half and OSU pulled away down the stretch, but that is not what happened at all. JOK threw the ball to the other team and that ended Michigan's hopes of winning the game.

That is not my definition of running out of steam.

1WhoStayed

November 26th, 2017 at 8:55 PM ^

Who would you rather have at the helm? Yes, it’s disappointing but the team is so much on the upswing it’s silly.

JH could very easily be 4-2 against OSU/MSU. A couple bounces don’t make him the wrong coach. A coaching carousel is NOT something we want.

OSU/MSU fans see this and it’s why THEY will try to fan the flames. They know - MICHIGAN IS COMING!