OSU offense going pro-style?

Submitted by Decatur Jack on

From SB Nation:

With new coordinator Ryan Day and without their longtime QB, expect the Buckeyes to feature more of a drop-back game.
Now that Barrett’s gone, Ohio State’s offense will look more pro-style.

...

Replacing Barrett may actually be the easiest part of Day’s job, despite the considerable success No. 16 had Columbus.


...

The big shift seems to be toward a more modern and pro-style approach, featuring QBs who excel as pocket passers more than runners.

I read the article. Still sounds like a spread to me ... I personally define 'pro-style' as using a huddle and snapping the ball from under center ... but I found it interesting nonetheless.

link: https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2018/5/3/17315112/ohio-state-…

DrMantisToboggan

May 3rd, 2018 at 6:36 PM ^

Urban has been recruiting more passing-reliant QBs the last couple years. I think he certainly wants his QB to throw more. Does that mean he wants to change schemes? I doubt it.

Lakeyale13

May 3rd, 2018 at 7:01 PM ^

A couple of undefeated seasons.  A National Championship.  Complete and utter domination of your biggest rival.  Urban isn't going to change that formula or recipe.  Tweak it maybe...but he is gonna be running the same / similar thing that has made him probably the second most dominate college football coach in the last 10 years behind Saban.

bronxblue

May 3rd, 2018 at 10:16 PM ^

Yep.  And Barrett was known as a good passer coming from HS; that was the big difference between him and Braxton Miller at QB.  The fact he never improved much as a passer is an indictment of Meyer, as have basically every QB he's had at OSU.  So maybe he'll try to throw the ball a bit more, but Meyer and OSU have been very successful with the system he's implemented, and it would be foolish to change that up too much until teams show you they can consistently stop it.

MichiganFan1984

May 3rd, 2018 at 6:37 PM ^

But will they ever have a qb who plays a meaningful down in the NFL?... I think no.

Frank Chuck

May 3rd, 2018 at 11:28 PM ^

Since Tom Brady began his march toward GOAT status, how much has that tangibly benefited Michigan?

I want to see us fucking win rivalry games, conference championships, and national championships.

If our players go on to be beastly NFL players, then awesome. But NFL success means little if the program isn't accomplishing its primary goals.

M-Dog

May 4th, 2018 at 2:32 PM ^

The utility of putting players in the NFL for Michigan is that it helps recruiting.

If winning National Championships and beating your rivals helps recruiting, that will work too.

 

stephenrjking

May 3rd, 2018 at 6:38 PM ^

Pro style more closely resembles shotgun spread now than it resembles Michigan's offense. Given the quotes about "drop-back passers" this probably means, well, more passing. JT Barrett was not a great passer and the danger he provided came from his legs. It is likely that OSU this fall will use QB runs as more of a constraint and have more pocket passes, which is both compatible with the existing system and more "pro" looking.

This isn't really revolutionary even for spread running systems. Oregon's first peak occurred under Darron Thomas, a QB who wasn't fast at all and whose legs were never a real threat to defenses.

Decatur Jack

May 3rd, 2018 at 6:42 PM ^

"drop back" implies taking the snap from under center, hence dropping back

"Air raid QB" and "Gunslinger" are terms more geared towards pass heavy spreads

So "drop back" doesn't directly mean more passing, imo, it means a specific type of quarterback in a specific type of offense

stephenrjking

May 3rd, 2018 at 7:00 PM ^

The term "drop-back" only appears in the sub-headline, which the author may not have even provided. The entire article discusses the passing game and how Day may incorporate pro-style passing concepts that he used while working for (wait for it...) Chip Kelly. 

They also discuss that OSU is recruiting pass-first QBs. This is about play selection and what QBs will be expected to be good at, not some shift to taking snaps under center. 

Stringer Bell

May 3rd, 2018 at 6:41 PM ^

Not sure why Urban continues to try and do this.  Trying out for the NFL perhaps?  He's tried this multiple times and his teams have suffered for it IMO.  John Brantley at Florida went 8-5 in Urban's final year, Cardale Jones was benched in favor of Barrett.  He's a spread guru and his spread offense is ridiculously effective, so if he wants to go more pro-style I'm all for it.

micheal honcho

May 3rd, 2018 at 11:13 PM ^

Won them their NC. His downfield cannon was a far more deadly weapon than the power zone read of JT.



Ask yourself which Saban would rather face.



That’s my hesitation with spread is that once a D has dominant athletes with speed it’s advantages become liabilities. The LSU’s and Bama’s of the world seem most beatable vs. quality passers. I’d add with good mobility as well. Tough for a statue to survive that D line but I have to believe that JT’s lack of downfield threat would spell disaster real quick. The ideal college QB is probably of the DeShaun Watson, Andrew Luck, Jamius Winston, variety. Used in an offense that takes advantage of the whole field their arms allow paired with good to excellent mobility. I hope that’s where M lands in the near future. I have zero desire to see Denard style O trying to survive against the D’s of the best out there. That wasn’t fun.

lawlright

May 3rd, 2018 at 7:52 PM ^

Personal theory on that: Don Brown can, given a week, put together a scheme that has a high probability of completely shutting down a teams star player. When they knocked Braxton this year is proof of that. Don had no idea what the heck they were gonna do with the backup and OSU shred them. Just my wild theory.

Ghost of Fritz…

May 4th, 2018 at 7:40 AM ^

that Penn State's offense was more effective against Brown's Michigan D than OSU's offense  because Penn State has a serious passing threat in addition to the running game (Barkely).  So he wants to be able to pass as well as Penn State does with McSorley.  Incorporate some of the kinds o things Penn State does on offense.

Remains to be sees, however, if McSorely's passing numbers will drop with the loss of Barkely.

SunDiegoBlue

May 3rd, 2018 at 9:57 PM ^

I would be excited for that in 3rd in long.  With our front four we should be able to cause a very uncomfortable pocket while dropping 7.  

 

I think that could of helped us a lot last year in big games.  A lot of the dagger plays against our great D was perfect passes against our man to man.  The first two downs we owned them.  Then its like a fade way steph curry three dagger with 1 second on the shot clock. 

DoubleB

May 4th, 2018 at 6:11 AM ^

Defense was the same before and after the Braxton injury. 

Don Brown is going to play pressure and man defense. And many times that's going to look really good with sacks and stuffs on the run. But when the run gets into the secondary or the QB is able to scramble or the DB loses coverage and misses a tackle, big plays result.

Every big play in the game versus OSU was versus man: the scrambles by the QBs for 20 yards near the Michigan goalline, the big run towards the end of the game, the big pass plays by the backup QB.

One of the reasons Michigan's offense had such a good plan in that game is that Ohio State runs a ton of man coverage too. It was like watching 2 offenses put together their best man beating concepts on the field for the entire game.

Michology 101

May 3rd, 2018 at 7:56 PM ^

I truly feel OSU too over the rivalry when they changed their offense to a spread running attack. I mean, we were kicking their butts for awhile when both schools were using a more traditional type offense.

I hope they do get more confident with their passing and stop running the QB as much.

Most of the OSU victories within the last 15 years have come from Michigan’s defensive inability to stop a running QB. How many of us have sat in front of the TV during that game and said this line right here?

“All they’re doing is beating us with the quarterback draw because we can't fucking stop it.”