Ohio State Game Thoughts

[NoBareFeet]

Where the hell was this defensive effort against Illinois? For all of his bluster about 1-0 and focusing only on that week's opponent, Franklin's teams may be the worst in the country at actually doing that. All talk, no action.

Curtis Jacobs was probably the best player on the field. Played a great game.

This running game is historically bad. A perfect blend of running backs with no vision/explosiveness, a line that can't open holes, and a scheme that can't make up for any of these shortcomings. No jet sweeps/reverses? No tries under center? I almost fainted when we did try one outside run in this game. First I remember all year.

Not sure what happened to Clifford between last week and this week, but he looked much better. BUT, he still looked far from 100%. Hopefully, whatever is wrong with him, he gets back to full speed soon.

Like seeing them try and work the tight ends into the passing game more. Would love to see them on the field more in general to try and help with blocking in the running game. I think Johnson, Strange, and Warren are good ones. More 2 tight end sets would be a welcome sight.

This offense against the blitz....not good. Not good at all. And it's been that way for a good while now. Hot routes just don't seem to exist in this offense.

I think if Clifford gets healthy, and the defense can play with this kind of effort from here on out, this team can win the rest of the games on the schedule. Michigan and Michigan State are good, but I think the talent on this team (minus the offensive line, of course) is better.

 

[not so fast my friend]

The defense gave up 10 points in regulation to Illinois. Seems we should be questioning the offense’s effort there regardless of Clifford’s injury and not defense’s effort?

 

[JWB389]

We need some semblance of a running game before I can be confident we'll beat any team remaining on our schedule.

 

[NoBareFeet]

The defense gave up 10 points in regulation to Illinois. Seems we should be questioning the offense’s effort there regardless of Clifford’s injury and not defense’s effort?

 

[Jerry]

Where the hell was this defensive effort against Illinois? For all of his bluster about 1-0 and focusing only on that week's opponent, Franklin's teams may be the worst in the country at actually doing that. All talk, no action.

Curtis Jacobs was probably the best player on the field. Played a great game.

This running game is historically bad. A perfect blend of running backs with no vision/explosiveness, a line that can't open holes, and a scheme that can't make up for any of these shortcomings. No jet sweeps/reverses? No tries under center? I almost fainted when we did try one outside run in this game. First I remember all year.

Not sure what happened to Clifford between last week and this week, but he looked much better. BUT, he still looked far from 100%. Hopefully, whatever is wrong with him, he gets back to full speed soon.

Like seeing them try and work the tight ends into the passing game more. Would love to see them on the field more in general to try and help with blocking in the running game. I think Johnson, Strange, and Warren are good ones. More 2 tight end sets would be a welcome sight.

This offense against the blitz....not good. Not good at all. And it's been that way for a good while now. Hot routes just don't seem to exist in this offense.

I think if Clifford gets healthy, and the defense can play with this kind of effort from here on out, this team can win the rest of the games on the schedule. Michigan and Michigan State are good, but I think the talent on this team (minus the offensive line, of course) is better.

To me, Sean looked close to 100%, which only deepens the mystery surrounding the injury that sunk us at Iowa and the following week during the Illinois debacle where he was far off his game and clearly hurting.

As for Ohio State, you can certainly find bright spots, and we obviously played better than expectations...what with a 19-point spread and all.

But the most discouraging part, and maybe it's just me, is that the whole time you kind of knew we weren't gonna win the game. Made it interesting. Made it exciting at times. But winning was never in the cards.

Thus, after a couple good defensive stands, holding the Bucks to field goals, we get the ball back in the 4th quarter down 3...and then 6...where a TD puts you in the lead and maybe sets the stage for a shocker. But predictable as rain, the offense splutters at the critical time, twice in fact. I don't know, I've gotten so fatalistic about these scenarios.

One thing for sure: Wisconsin and Auburn have shown they're very good teams. And for us to beat them means we're very good too. In fact, we're good enough to beat Ohio State. But you have to make plays at critical times, and the inability to do that has been a hallmark of the Franklin era...and even a big Franklin fan like me has to admit that.

 

[Cowbell Man]

The defense gave up 10 points in regulation to Illinois. Seems we should be questioning the offense’s effort there regardless of Clifford’s injury and not defense’s effort?

It’s always better to give up less yards and 3x the points.

 

[Obliviax]

Where the hell was this defensive effort against Illinois? For all of his bluster about 1-0 and focusing only on that week's opponent, Franklin's teams may be the worst in the country at actually doing that. All talk, no action.

Curtis Jacobs was probably the best player on the field. Played a great game.

This running game is historically bad. A perfect blend of running backs with no vision/explosiveness, a line that can't open holes, and a scheme that can't make up for any of these shortcomings. No jet sweeps/reverses? No tries under center? I almost fainted when we did try one outside run in this game. First I remember all year.

Not sure what happened to Clifford between last week and this week, but he looked much better. BUT, he still looked far from 100%. Hopefully, whatever is wrong with him, he gets back to full speed soon.

Like seeing them try and work the tight ends into the passing game more. Would love to see them on the field more in general to try and help with blocking in the running game. I think Johnson, Strange, and Warren are good ones. More 2 tight end sets would be a welcome sight.

This offense against the blitz....not good. Not good at all. And it's been that way for a good while now. Hot routes just don't seem to exist in this offense.

I think if Clifford gets healthy, and the defense can play with this kind of effort from here on out, this team can win the rest of the games on the schedule. Michigan and Michigan State are good, but I think the talent on this team (minus the offensive line, of course) is better.

All good. Defenses are attacking our guard spot where we are really weak. Plus, they know that SC isn't going to run which is about 80% of our running game (not that he runs 80%, but that the D must al least respect this option).

I think SC isn't very good as viewing the entire field. The key to beating the blitz is hitting the receiver flooding the abandoned zone left by the blitzer. Either SC isn't doing this or the receivers are not making the right adjustment when they see the blitz. Finally, Lovett isn't large enough to pass protect. So when he's in there, the D flexes to blitz on longer passing downs. The only option is to hit him on a screen or flair. But that goes back to SC making good decisions to get the ball out quickly.

Our TEs played an awful game against ILL. both Strange and Johnson dropped key passes. Warren missed an easy throw to SC in a philly special. Two of those three would have ended the game with a W. The third probably would have but was in the 4th quarter.

But you are right....dumb decisions and breakdowns cost us the tOSU game and the ILL game. Even if we beat ILL and lose to tOSU, we are still in a good position to get a top rate bowl game.

Finally, we've had an awful schedule and some pretty bad injury luck. We lost significant time at the three weakest areas: QB, Guard, DT. And don't look now, Auburn has only two losses and is ranked. Wisconsin is improving. So we've played four teams that were ranked in the top 15 when we played them. tOSU and Iowa were ranked in the top five. We still have an undefeated team to go (MSU) and one one-loss team (UM).

 

[PSUEngineer89]

To me, Sean looked close to 100%, which only deepens the mystery surrounding the injury that sunk us at Iowa and the following week during the Illinois debacle where he was far off his game and clearly hurting.

As for Ohio State, you can certainly find bright spots, and we obviously played better than expectations...what with a 19-point spread and all.

But the most discouraging part, and maybe it's just me, is that the whole time you kind of knew we weren't gonna win the game. Made it interesting. Made it exciting at times. But winning was never in the cards.

Thus, after a couple good defensive stands, holding the Bucks to field goals, we get the ball back in the 4th quarter down 3...and then 6...where a TD puts you in the lead and maybe sets the stage for a shocker. But predictable as rain, the offense splutters at the critical time, twice in fact. I don't know, I've gotten so fatalistic about these scenarios.

One thing for sure: Wisconsin and Auburn have shown they're very good teams. And for us to beat them means we're very good too. In fact, we're good enough to beat Ohio State. But you have to make plays at critical times, and the inability to do that has been a hallmark of the Franklin era...and even a big Franklin fan like me has to admit that.

We just have to get better at line play.

Both sides - always weak.

I can name a few times where we have had better WR play than OSU.

I can name more than a few times where we had better RB play than OSU.

I can't even think of a time where we've been better on either line.

I mean, not even close.

 

[JWB389]

Both sides - always weak.

True...BOTH sides. Something that's not talked about too much, we are #93 (tied with a few others, so 93-98) in sacks per game. We cannot get pressure on the QB. Stroud would have been in trouble if we could have put more pressure on him.

 

[Obliviax]

We just have to get better at line play.

Both sides - always weak.

I can name a few times where we have had better WR play than OSU.

I can name more than a few times where we had better RB play than OSU.

I can't even think of a time where we've been better on either line.

I mean, not even close.

True...but a lot of that goes back to depth. tOSU is always two-deep at least. we are not. We lost the guy who was going to be our starting RG and we lost our best DT. We simply had no good backup options. We are also weak, depth-wise, at QB (in case you didn't notice).

Last but not least, tOSU had a ton of true freshmen first-year starting and playing significant time.

 

[CaliLION79]

Advanced Stats pretty much back up the narrative we saw play out Saturday night...good enough to be close, not good enough to pull the upset.

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[Jerry]

We just have to get better at line play.

Both sides - always weak.

I can name a few times where we have had better WR play than OSU.

I can name more than a few times where we had better RB play than OSU.

I can't even think of a time where we've been better on either line.

I mean, not even close.

Agreed...but even so, we had Ohio State beat in both 2017 and 2018...and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by being unable to make plays on either offense or defense late in the game.

Saturday's game was winnable. We were very much alive in the 4th quarter. But needing a drive, the O couldn't come through. Not even close. Same old story.

Oh well, at least the zebras played no significant role. I thought the game was called pretty evenly. There's a kind of weird consolation in that.

 

[Obliviax]

Agreed...but even so, we had Ohio State beat in both 2017 and 2018...and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by being unable to make plays on either offense or defense late in the game.

Saturday's game was winnable. We were very much alive in the 4th quarter. But needing a drive, the O couldn't come through. Not even close. Same old story.

Oh well, at least the zebras played no significant role. I thought the game was called pretty evenly. There's a kind of weird consolation in that.

that's right...like CJF's "we are not elite" comments ring true. Not sure if it is coaching or the team just has a predetermined inferiority complex. You have to know you can win.

 

[slykens]

Saturday's game was winnable. We were very much alive in the 4th quarter. But needing a drive, the O couldn't come through. Not even close. Same old story.

Absolutely. I suspect many OSU fans were very nervous leading up to the interception late in the fourth quarter - they had visions of 2016 again and a return of the 1-point loss favors.

I felt somewhat optimistic that Penn State would win once they had the ball and down only six late, probably more so than I had even when Penn State had the lead. The offense had shown the ability to move the ball reasonably well for how poor the running game turned out to be and I thought Yurcich finally was calling the game in a way that gave Clifford an opportunity to succeed. I thought Clifford was pretty accurate most of the night but when he needed it the most he instead let a duck go. C'est la vie. I thought Clifford played a good game, overall, tho.

It doesn't feel like the same missed opportunities that 2017 and 2018 were, however. Earlier this year I really liked how PSU matched up with OSU and, if PSU were healthy, felt it was a win. I still think had PSU been healthy it would have been a win but without key players and then making too many mistakes to overcome it didn't work out. Even just Clifford not fumbling makes it a very different game late as PSU is working to close the game out and OSU has to scramble to get a score.

 

[The Spin Meister]

that's right...like CJF's "we are not elite" comments ring true. Not sure if it is coaching or the team just has a predetermined inferiority complex. You have to know you can win.

Except for the horrendous ‘snap infraction’ call. That was clearly a fumbled snap. Rest of the game pretty good.

 

[KnightWhoSaysNit]

No jet sweeps/reverses? No tries under center? I almost fainted when we did try one outside run in this game. First I remember all year.

I thought we were setting up for running wide early in the game with WR motion but then did not try it. As the game evolved we went back to the passing game. OSU then brought pressure, and it paid off for them, even with a fumble-six.

In general I agree with your analysis. When was the last time we saw an off-tackle toss sweep during the Franklin era? Instead we tend to run right where we are weakest, even with a Barkley in the backfield.

I think Yurcich has the creativity, but hasn't had the time with a clear and healthy #1 and #2 QB. Next year the offense might be better, but we probably take a hit on defense.

As for the tight ends, they've been unreliable in every way. And I think we run them too deep. Johnson had a low throw go right through his hands. Clifford placed the ball in the only location it could go, but they are not wide receivers. Catching a 25 yard throw in traffic is not their thing.

I agree that a lot of pass plays almost look like street ball. No hot read outlet, but also no clear #1 running back to learn the position for the passing game.

And yes, Clifford struggles to find a secondary receiver, but a lot of that is from pressure. Notice how our quarterbacks evolve to throw off their back foot. Clifford isn't the first. I give him really high marks for guts, but eventually getting hit is going to work into habits.

In the end our offensive weaknesses always come back to the offensive line. OL hasn't been a Franklin focus. He's more about finding speed and skill players, which he has done well, especially on defense. But for some reason he feels he can scheme around mediocre line play. That seems to be what gives if there is any give in recruiting. O'Brien was worse.