Bend Don't Break

[Nick Setta]

If you take him at face value, how's he wrong? Our defense was abysmal and embarassing. That said, there's almost no chance we're not vastly improved barring ridiculous injuries/off the field issues.

So like every year.

 

[TheTurningPoint]

I think its more of a combination of Oregons redzone offense isnt that great.

Ducks scored a TD on 65% of their red zone drives on the year for 41st in the nation. For a good measuring stick, Notre Dame was 45th.

Osu is made for stopping Oregon. Speed on the edges and enough power up the middle to disrupt their inside zone plays. Osu isnt one of the better defenses, but they got good matchups and played to their strengths. Notice how Oregon didnt try anything on the outside when they got in the redzone?

 

[connor_in]

I think its more of a combination of Oregons redzone offense isnt that great.

Ducks scored a TD on 65% of their red zone drives on the year for 41st in the nation. For a good measuring stick, Notre Dame was 45th.

Osu is made for stopping Oregon. Speed on the edges and enough power up the middle to disrupt their inside zone plays. Osu isnt one of the better defenses, but they got good matchups and played to their strengths. Notice how Oregon didnt try anything on the outside when they got in the redzone?

As is evidenced by MSU getting 37 on them and over 500 yds offense. That game was decided by the fact that OSU managed to stop MSU 2 more times than Sparty stopped them (which was pretty much never)

 

[ulukinatme]

Diaco was good at times, but he wasn't elite. The personnel we had in 2012 was amazing, I think any decent DC could have put together a winning season with that crew. Diaco struggled to game plan against an average Michigan team each year though, and he struggled with halftime adjustments as we witnessed from Navy. If BVG can come out with a healthy squad on defense next year and produce, 2014 will be forgivable. However, if teams are still racking up points on us, I wonder if they don't have his defense figured out and we need a new strategy.

 

[Rocket89]

Diaco was good at times, but he wasn't elite. The personnel we had in 2012 was amazing, I think any decent DC could have put together a winning season with that crew. Diaco struggled to game plan against an average Michigan team each year though, and he struggled with halftime adjustments as we witnessed from Navy. If BVG can come out with a healthy squad on defense next year and produce, 2014 will be forgivable. However, if teams are still racking up points on us, I wonder if they don't have his defense figured out and we need a new strategy.

One game pales in comparison to 4 years worth of evidence to the contrary.

OPPONENT SCORING BY QUARTERS
2010: 69-62-55-71
2011: 53-81-16-119
2012: 23-74-24-39
2013: 76-89-53-73

In fact, if there's one thing that Diaco did well it was make quality halftime adjustments. You don't give up less than 6 touchdowns across two seasons worth of 3rd quarters without doing something right.

 

[IrishLax]

I'm pretty disappointed this turned into a thread about Diaco/BV/ND. Really, I had hoped this would turn into a discussion on scheme. Truth is Diaco's defense got shredded by teams with mobile QBs but was great against pro style... so it's not even directly applicable to last night's matchup.

What was so interesting to me last night is that Oregon had one drive where they went down the field and scored at the beginning of the game. And then OSU got bailed out by errors. And it seemed from that they resolved to basically rush the minimum and play zone with their linebackers... their DL won up front enough to stop the run and the linebackers were decent enough to get some stops... and Oregon was never able to break a TD from out of the redzone. And once they got in the redzone, Oregon's inability to run the ball inside and general "panic" in play calling was disastrous.

The only time Oregon scored a long TD was when they brought a semi-exotic pressure with 5 guys, Oregon got the safety to bite up instead of playing 2-deep per usual, and they hit Marshall for the home run.

 

[ulukinatme]

One game pales in comparison to 4 years worth of evidence to the contrary.

OPPONENT SCORING BY QUARTERS
2010: 69-62-55-71
2011: 53-81-16-119
2012: 23-74-24-39
2013: 76-89-53-73

In fact, if there's one thing that Diaco did well it was make quality halftime adjustments. You don't give up less than 6 touchdowns across two seasons worth of 3rd quarters without doing something right.

Diaco didn't struggle every game with halftime adjustments per say, but he certainly struggled with some opponents in the 2nd half and late in games based on 4th quarter numbers. I think half those points in the 4th quarter in 2011 came from Michigan.

 

[irish1958]

I'm pretty disappointed this turned into a thread about Diaco/BV/ND. Really, I had hoped this would turn into a discussion on scheme. Truth is Diaco's defense got shredded by teams with mobile QBs but was great against pro style... so it's not even directly applicable to last night's matchup.

What was so interesting to me last night is that Oregon had one drive where they went down the field and scored at the beginning of the game. And then OSU got bailed out by errors. And it seemed from that they resolved to basically rush the minimum and play zone with their linebackers... their DL won up front enough to stop the run and the linebackers were decent enough to get some stops... and Oregon was never able to break a TD from out of the redzone. And once they got in the redzone, Oregon's inability to run the ball inside and general "panic" in play calling was disastrous.

The only time Oregon scored a long TD was when they brought a semi-exotic pressure with 5 guys, Oregon got the safety to bite up instead of playing 2-deep per usual, and they hit Marshall for the home run.

Exactly correct. They spied Mariota, took away the run and made him pass from the pocket or made him run for his life. He is great at hitting open receivers, not so good when thay are covered. The other thing, besides killing them with a ground attack (Are you listening, Kelly?) was to really concentrate on stopping them on first down. OU feasts off of 2nd or 3rd and short but can't handle long.
In short, urban (small "u" because of his lack of class in the final minute of the game) massively out-coached the OU coaching staff, much like saben did to our staff (small "s" for the same reason).

 

[Whiskeyjack]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Underrated storyline from national title game: Ohio State played base 4-3 defense against the spread and performed great.</p>— Ian Boyd (@Ian_A_Boyd) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ian_A_Boyd/status/554997436607766529">January 13, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[PANDFAN]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Underrated storyline from national title game: Ohio State played base 4-3 defense against the spread and performed great.</p>— Ian Boyd (@Ian_A_Boyd) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ian_A_Boyd/status/554997436607766529">January 13, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

it worked because they got great pressure...ATHLETIC lb's who can cover in space along w/ db's/safeties that are able to cover....a big thing i saw to was that the 1st defender wasn't being ran through by arm tackles

 

[gkIrish]

Bend don't break works if you have a pass rush that will cause a 3rd and long once a drive. ND did not have that this year and who knows if we will next year. There are no Joey Bosas on this team.

 

[Irish#1]

I think its more of a combination of Oregons redzone offense isnt that great.

Ducks scored a TD on 65% of their red zone drives on the year for 41st in the nation. For a good measuring stick, Notre Dame was 45th.

Osu is made for stopping Oregon. Speed on the edges and enough power up the middle to disrupt their inside zone plays. Osu isnt one of the better defenses, but they got good matchups and played to their strengths. Notice how Oregon didnt try anything on the outside when they got in the redzone?

They tried a few plays outside, but they didn't go anywhere.

I'm pretty disappointed this turned into a thread about Diaco/BV/ND. Really, I had hoped this would turn into a discussion on scheme. Truth is Diaco's defense got shredded by teams with mobile QBs but was great against pro style... so it's not even directly applicable to last night's matchup.

What was so interesting to me last night is that Oregon had one drive where they went down the field and scored at the beginning of the game. And then OSU got bailed out by errors. And it seemed from that they resolved to basically rush the minimum and play zone with their linebackers... their DL won up front enough to stop the run and the linebackers were decent enough to get some stops... and Oregon was never able to break a TD from out of the redzone. And once they got in the redzone, Oregon's inability to run the ball inside and general "panic" in play calling was disastrous.

The only time Oregon scored a long TD was when they brought a semi-exotic pressure with 5 guys, Oregon got the safety to bite up instead of playing 2-deep per usual, and they hit Marshall for the home run.

Exactly correct. They spied Mariota, took away the run and made him pass from the pocket or made him run for his life. He is great at hitting open receivers, not so good when thay are covered. The other thing, besides killing them with a ground attack (Are you listening, Kelly?) was to really concentrate on stopping them on first down. OU feasts off of 2nd or 3rd and short but can't handle long.
In short, urban (small "u" because of his lack of class in the final minute of the game) massively out-coached the OU coaching staff, much like saben did to our staff (small "s" for the same reason).

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Underrated storyline from national title game: Ohio State played base 4-3 defense against the spread and performed great.</p>— Ian Boyd (@Ian_A_Boyd) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ian_A_Boyd/status/554997436607766529">January 13, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

it worked because they got great pressure...ATHLETIC lb's who can cover in space along w/ db's/safeties that are able to cover....a big thing i saw to was that the 1st defender wasn't being ran through by arm tackles

Pretty much on point gents. OSU was simply stronger across the board and contained the LOS. The ducks receivers couldn't block worth a darn which is why the runs outside never went anywhere. Heard on the radio this morning that MM has everything to be an NFL QB except for one trait, passing from the pocket. He mentioned that this is the most important trait pros look for in a QB. He doesn't go through his progressions and has sloppy foot work. Urban and staff also knew this and made their plan accordingly. Oregon has trouble against strong physical teams.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Nah I'm not saying that, at all. In fact I don't think anyone did. I'm just saying it's crazy how OSU can get shredded yardage wise and not give up points. The key is clearly a powerful front 7 that can stop the run in the redzone. If you have that and you make teams kick field goals, the ceiling for points comes way down. If you can't do that, then a lack of negative plays will doom you.

You hit the nail on the head. A deep & talented front 7. The key is that they can work in true/RS frosh like McMillan to reinforce the experienced depth they already have. Isn't Bosa a true soph? ND's front 7 cupboard doesn't appear too healthy but time will tell. I hope BVG, Elston & Longo can develop these kids.