OSU Harbaughs to victory
I don't have time to do a proper diary, but did any other coaches/educated fans out there notice this?
Meyer and Herman used pulling guards, traps, and whams in the run game all night. It was power blocking, and in many ways it was VERY similar to the running game Harbaugh deploys.
I have not watched much OSU this year, but to my eyes this was a different rushing attack than they normally use, and it was one that Oregon clearly had not prepared for.
Here's a great quote from ESPN:
When you peel away that fast tempo and the misdirection and the zone reads and all the rest of the bells and whistles of modern college football, the game is still about physical dominance. Controlling the line of scrimmage means one group of men moved the other out of the way. The bigger and stronger and faster team controlled the game Monday night, so much so that it could afford to give the ball away four times.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:58 PM ^
Yeah they kept running that same play all night. Oregon knew it was coming and couldn't do anything about it.
Dreadful nightmares of Wisco against RR pop into my mind.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:32 PM ^
Yes...to me, this looked like a new wrinkle. I don't remember many traps/whams from OSU this season, or from Urban teams in general. I remember them running more zone and belly stuff.
Have they been using this all year or was this new?
January 13th, 2015 at 4:06 PM ^
I think Oregon overestimated its ability to overwhelm Jones. Once they got burned by his legs (and sheer thumping size) after dropping 8 into coverage a few times, Oregon played itself into Ohio's strengths - power run and deep ball - and never quite figured how to play itself out of that trap. Once Ohio was able to consistently call Elliot's number with success, it was effectively tempo'ing the tempo'er - resulting in Oregon's front 4 sucking air like I've never seen. It was a bowling ball knocking over pins.
January 13th, 2015 at 5:49 PM ^
lol just laughing at your avatar. Surprised nobody has commented on it yet. I have no issue with it, for the record.
January 13th, 2015 at 6:03 PM ^
I didn't read this, just fyi. ( .Y. )
January 14th, 2015 at 10:29 AM ^
Four reasons for my current avatar:
- Solidarity: men, women and babies love breasts; they're essential to life and of universal appeal, and they need to be celebrated.
- Nostalgia: when I was in college, a popular phrase to use when a thing was good, was to say, "that's the Tits!" I stopped using the phrase about when I entered my 20s, but the excitement around Michigan football is bringing me back.
- ???
- Profit.
But I certainly don't mean to offend. I'll change it.
January 15th, 2015 at 4:51 PM ^
I have no issue with the avatar. I'm just saying that you shouldn't expect me to read many of your posts. I'll be... busy.
January 13th, 2015 at 6:40 PM ^
i read tempo'er as titties and "front 4 sucking air" as sucking titties.
January 13th, 2015 at 10:32 PM ^
Freudian slip?
January 14th, 2015 at 11:49 AM ^
More like Freudian nip slip?
January 13th, 2015 at 2:58 PM ^
I know this is really dumbed down, and over simplified, but I noticed almost every time Oregon rushed 3 on a pass, Cardale made them pay.
Alabama did the same thing.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:41 PM ^
This caused me to put my head in my hands multiple times last night.
Ohio State under Meyer is going to get what they want on the ground. Even last year, MSU's peak defense gave up 6.6 ypc to Hyde and 6.8 ypc to Miller. But when forced to throw, Miller was subpar and that's what killed them. Hell, against us, Miller was 6-15 and had we had our normal safeties, we probably stop a couple of the long balls that killed us.
Now, Jones/Elliot aren't the same guys, but the concept should be the same: You're not going to stop them on the ground so you better do your job when Jones drops back to pass. Maybe I'm alone in this, but Jones didn't impress me as a passer. He hit the open man when he had plenty of time (I know, I know, as a Michigan fan I shouldn't take this for granted), but it seemed whenever he was pressured, he was unable to create that much and usually ended up throwing the ball away.
So what does Oregon do? Rush three, give him all the time in the world and let his receivers get open for easy completions.
Awful stuff from the Ducks.
January 13th, 2015 at 4:40 PM ^
It seemed like early in the game, they were sending more then 3 and often times getting to Jones. Unfortunately, the Oregon defenders displayed piss poor tackling and usually tried to wrap him up at the shoulders. That didn't work and Jones was often able to get out of trouble. The long pass to Smith(?) by Jones was after he had been flushed from the pocket, but if I'm a DC and a QB makes that throw, I tip my cap and say let's see if you can do it again. Most of his scrambles weren't going for 20 or 30 yds. They were in the 5-10 yd variety. Why Oregon decided to go solely to a 3 man rush is frustrating.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:01 PM ^
Harbaugh's verison of the pro style offense is based on a lot of subtle deception to help the "downhilll running attack" work. It is not the typical "MANBALL" that we are used to. I think we are going to be pleasantly surprised in 2015.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:04 PM ^
I sure hope it's not the "MANBALL" that we're used to!
January 13th, 2015 at 3:08 PM ^
"MANBALLess"
January 13th, 2015 at 3:30 PM ^
I has a sad.
January 14th, 2015 at 9:07 AM ^
January 13th, 2015 at 3:05 PM ^
This is what excites me about Harbaugh, he doesn't seem particularly fixated on one thing (i.e. traditional manball) and is willing to incoporate modern elements into the mix.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:05 PM ^
Harbaugh was cheering for OSU, so of course they won.
If he had cheered for Oregon, obviously they would have won.
Harbaugh Effect.
January 14th, 2015 at 11:50 AM ^
FACT.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:06 PM ^
Harbaugh has a very similar downhill running game. I think OSU is going to get Harbaughed at the big house at the end of next season!
January 13th, 2015 at 3:10 PM ^
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/draw-it-up-the-49ers-and-the-wham-pla…
Chris Brown did a write up about it
January 13th, 2015 at 3:39 PM ^
Niners Nation has some stills from the play being described in the Grantland article in case folks want to see what the general lineup and formation looked like when it was used against the Detroit Lions (with much success - I was at this game actually). The link to their article and the photos is here - LINK
January 13th, 2015 at 7:02 PM ^
January 13th, 2015 at 3:11 PM ^
I noticed.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:12 PM ^
Yean but this kind of offense wont work in the Big Ten
/s
January 13th, 2015 at 3:17 PM ^
Urban runs a power spread, which is different from Oregon and RR's spread to run. Urban's utilizes a more "MANBALL" approach, whereas Oregon/RR use more spacing and offensive confusion to keep defenses on their heels.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:21 PM ^
Thank you, Im aware of the distinction, but "/s" for sarcasm. Apologies for the confusion.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:36 PM ^
I was aware of it. Just thought your comment was a good segway for the distinction.
January 13th, 2015 at 4:28 PM ^
ah okay, no harm no foul
also hate the spelling of segue
January 13th, 2015 at 3:44 PM ^
at the college level that I can think of is Auburn's
January 13th, 2015 at 3:46 PM ^
Ah, my favorite new paper-thin distinction invented to hold up the indestructable narrative that somehow offenses that work extremely well in other leagues won't work in the Big Ten.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:49 PM ^
I'm not saying one works over the other. There is a difference. You can't just lump all spread teams together. Baylor's =/= OSUs =/= RR ...
January 13th, 2015 at 3:53 PM ^
Fair enough, though I have seen it parroted over and over recently that RR's "finesse spread" would never have worked in the B1G while Urban's is lethal because it is a "power" spread. Every team has subtle differences, but I've yet to see anyone really demonstrate that Urban's is so much more power, aside from him having a few big tailbacks and everyone simply saying it's so.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:28 PM ^
January 13th, 2015 at 3:22 PM ^
I noted in the game thread last night that I would take solace in knowing that winning is still done in the trenches and that's the core of Harbaugh's philosophy and he and his coaches know how to implement that style of play. I'm excited for one, and think people need to cut the "woe is me" crap and understand that OSU isn't unbeatable.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:37 PM ^
OSU wasn't unbeatable in 2104 and won't be unbeatable come the Fall of 2015. Not sure about your timing though--cuz (at least) on January 12, 2105, OSU was virtually unbeatable.
January 13th, 2015 at 8:02 PM ^
Do you have a time machine? Will football still be played 90 years from now?
January 13th, 2015 at 3:39 PM ^
As much as I would love to agree with you. In the B1G regular season OSU is unbeatable...
January 13th, 2015 at 3:42 PM ^
Absolutely ridiculous statement. Alabama has amassed more talent in the last five years than any college football program in history, and they lost to Ole Miss. And were evisceratd by Oklahoma a few months before.
Not sure what's harder to live with: delusion or despair. Plenty of fans have plenty of both right now and it's frankly pathetic.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:44 PM ^
Yeah that's Alabama... From the evidence we have right now OSU is unbeatable in the conference regular season. Until they lose, they will remain unbeatable 3 years running going into the 4th.
How is that ridiculous?
I think they lose 1 game in conference tho this upcoming year preferably to us in Nov.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:51 PM ^
You're confusing "unbeatable" with "unbeaten." From the evidence we have, they are unbeaten in the conference regular season. This does not mean they are unbeatable. You said it yourself--you think they'll lose 1 game.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:52 PM ^
Fair enough.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:56 PM ^
It's ridiculous because it has no basis in history.
How about the USC team that Harbaugh beat as a 47-point underdog in 2007? Surely they were "unbeatable" under your standards? How about this very OSU team that needed horrible officiating and overtime to beat Penn State? The same Penn State team that lost to one of the worst Michigan teams in history.
January 13th, 2015 at 4:25 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
January 13th, 2015 at 3:36 PM ^
Run the Wham!
Run Run the Wham!
January 13th, 2015 at 3:38 PM ^