An Ohio State offense that needed to keep pace with Alabama largely lost any chance to do so with Trey Sermon’s opening play injury in the Buckeyes’ national championship loss. Ryan Day’s offensive system is predicated upon the wide zone stretch play. Although the aim point of the play is the inside leg of the …
Tag Archives: Ohio State football analysis
Fulton Analysis: Death By A Thousand RPO Cuts
A short-handed Ohio State ran into a buzz saw in its 52-24 national championship loss to Alabama. The Buckeyes’ defensive scheme was a poor matchup—schematically and personnel-wise—for the Crimson Tide’s RPO-heavy offense. As previously discussed, Ryan Day utilizes a variant of Pete Carroll’s NFL scheme. The defense generally plays a coverage where the safety is …
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Fulton Analysis: Breaking down the Alabama offense
Despite operating the number one SP+ offense (an advanced statistical measure of efficiency—Ohio State is number two), Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian does not utilize a bevy of plays. Instead, he operates a few schemes that build off of, and are centered on, one core concept—the run-pass option. With an RPO, the quarterback reads a …
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Fulton Analysis: Hemming Clemson In
The Ohio State defense played effectively against Clemson by making critical adjustments within their defensive philosophy to slow the Tigers in the Buckeyes’ 49-28 Sugar Bowl win. Except on third downs and late in the fourth quarter, the Ohio State defensive staff did not play nickel against Clemson’s spread sets. Instead, the Buckeyes remained true …
Fulton Analysis: Running to win
Ohio State’s passing game inefficiency and questionable strategic decisions against a stellar Northwestern defensive gameplan kept the score closer than necessary in the Buckeyes’ Big Ten championship win. Last week, I outlined Northwestern defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz’s cover 4 defense, how successful Ryan Day and Ohio State had been against that coverage, and mused that …