Previously: Ohio State offense
Now that I've let the OSU offense piece simmer for a couple days, and everyone has digested the horror of it (and their Thanksgiving meals), we can move into the slightly more optimistic phase of the opposition, the Buckeye defense. Ohio State's defense began the season reeling, surrendering 500 yards and 35 points to Oregon, as well as an additional 500 yards to Tulsa the week after. At that point the Buckeyes made some key schematic changes to their defense and also promoted Matt Barnes (neither the Red Sox pitcher nor the basketball player) to take over playcalling duties for the much maligned Kerry Coombs. The result was substantial improvement, allowing 7, 13, 17, and 7 points over the following four weeks, though quality of competition is an important qualifier- they faced Akron, Rutgers, Maryland, and Indiana in that stretch.
The last four weeks have included some good and some bad. OSU allowed nearly 400 yards to a struggling Penn S
This post analyzes the Line Stats provided by Football Outsiders when Michigan has the ball. A similar subsequent post will address the same stats when Ohio State has the ball.
Average Line Yards - Rushing yards per play attributed to the OL
Label Notes: Reminder that I’m combining all scores (except QB) in the charting. p=pass pro, y=YAC, c=catch, b=block for RBs, and route=route. It might be more than one or an odd number, in which case the higher one goes first, so if you see something like “Wilson(+3croute) that means Wilson got a +2 for a difficult catch and +1 for running a good route.
Formation Notes: I’m going to call Stretch Zone just “Stretch” now. Maryland spent much of the day in a Ravens-style 5-2 then walked down a safety and left one high. As Alex predicted in FFFF, they often brought five and left one high, running mostly man defense.
Substitution Notes: Filiaga got the start at LG but Keegan went most of the way. RB snaps were about 60/40 Haskins/Edwards before garbage time, with Hassan getting to rest early. More detailed snap counts are here.
[After THE JUMP: Looking past Maryland.]
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