Why not spread in the Red?
First, I should say I believe we need to give RichRod a few years, and we cant blame him for the lack of high quality defensive bodies. No talk of termination here.
That said, I wonder why we keep trying to go smashmouth with our goal line offense. We have at least 2 losses that turned when we failed on the goal line....usually trying to run it up the gut.
RichRod designs some beautiful short yardage plays, like the sweet little WR/RB swing/screen that worked at Wisconsin. I would think using those wide options early would open up the middle of the defense a bit?
And I sure hope he has some new stuff stashed for the Buckeyes!
November 16th, 2009 at 1:56 PM ^
Just kidding. But someone will post that for real.
I've wondered that myself. Not knowing a ton about Xs and Os, I would conjecture that the main thing that makes the spread effective (getting the defense to have to play in space) is less able to be accomplished when the space is compressed.
Maybe someone else could clarify this.
November 16th, 2009 at 1:59 PM ^
Yes, we need to unleash some new stuff. Does anybody find it strange that we haven't run a single trick play all year? That's usually a staple of an underdog team. I guess we're trying to get our regular offense down first.
November 16th, 2009 at 2:19 PM ^
I'm glad I'm not the only one who was wondering this. I didn't watch a ton of WVU football under RR but I do recall seeing a good amount of trickeration (yes I said it) over the years when he was there. Maybe he's just been fine-tuning it the first 23 games and will unleash it this weekend.
I predict this Saturday: Tate and DRob both lined up in the backfield. Flat-pass to DRob, who then launches a halfback pass 60 yards for the go-ahead score. Subsequently I will rush the field and drink myself into oblivion at the Jug post-game.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:43 PM ^
OTOH, I would have voted you up if you'd said "trickery," which is an actual word. Those are the breaks.
November 16th, 2009 at 2:58 PM ^
was when Tate punted. Maybe we'll see something Saturday? I'd love for us to make it in the headlines for something positive again.
November 16th, 2009 at 2:09 PM ^
is the QB sweeps and draws on 3rd down we seem to call at least twice a game. last week, 3rd and 8 opening possession and we run a qb draw...stuffed. 3rd and goal from the 1 on the 3rd possession, qb sweep...stuffed. we did the same thing against purdue and illinois on critical 3rd down plays. very frustrating.
i agree rich should open up the bag of tricks this week. what do we have to lose?
November 16th, 2009 at 2:20 PM ^
I have been hoping all season that RR has a bunch of things waiting just for OSU. It would definitely show that he takes the rivalry as seriously as Tressel did in 2006.
November 16th, 2009 at 2:44 PM ^
The problem with a lot of these spread plays is that they count on the fact that the defense has to respect a longer play. They don't have to respect a deep ball of any kind at the 3 yard line. Can't spread the field when there is no field to spread - these little swing passes would get crushed more likely than not.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:21 PM ^
the biggest reason we haven't seen any is because RR has had to spend all practice time the last 2 years teaching the freshman qb's the basic playbook. He wants to get the regular plays in before making them spend time learning one play that may get tossed out. I'm stoked DG is committed to us, but I feel very strongly that this is an offense that is much more difficult for freshman qb's to grasp and that Tate has performed pretty well and will only get better. As Tate learns more and has a solid grasp on the playbook it will be much more common to see reverses and trick plays.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:34 PM ^
....the entire season has been a setup for the "pretend the snap went over the quarterback's head when it was actually direct-snapped to the RB" play.
at this point opposing defenses probably PRACTICE against bad snaps just to be better prepared for the inevitable.
the fact that the last couple weeks have been largely without incident snapwise is just more confirmation of my airtight theory.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:51 PM ^
I notice a lot of other teams using the pick or rub routes against our secondary. With some of our undersized receivers I think this would be a benefit to get someone open so that you didn't have to out muscle a bigger CB or OLB for position. Also I don't recall seeing any fade rates to the corner with Matthews as we've seen in years past with Edwards or anyone else. I think you have to give him a chance to make a play when you are that close to the goal line.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:53 PM ^
The defense is already in the flats, where are you going to pass it? They can commit about 9 players (Everyone but corners) to the run and up to 7 (Corner-Safety-Support on each side plus backer) on the pass because the condensed setting puts a ton of the defense in the box. In the end, when your down low, you've got to man up and drive them off the ball. If you can't do that you dont deserve to score.