Frank had some very positive things to say about the offense in his post game remarks. He must have been watching a different game than I was. I can't believe how predictable we are. I seriously wonder what the hell Tim Albin is thinking in the booth.

+1. They turned out a pretty decent day.

I don't know, LC. I wish I shared your optimism. That was the worst defense in the country and for three quarters we made them look like the Ravens. 7 of those points were set up by the defense dropping us at the 5. We still have a lot of trouble getting the ball in the endzone when we hit the red zone. Add in the penalties and I thought all in all it was a pretty ugly day. I don't think that because we scored a few on Idaho after getting stuffed by Kentucky and Marshall it constitutes progress.

Ohio Drive Chart last night:

1. Two plays, 13 yards. Fumble on play which would've yielded first down in Idaho territory.

2. Five plays, 79 yards. Touchdown.

3. Nine plays, 59 yards. Field goal.

4. Five plays, 69 yards. Touchdown.

5. Seven plays, 30 yards. Punt. Illegal formation cost us a TD on this drive and a sack took us well out of FG range. Otherwise, a scoring opportunity.

6. One play, end of half.

7. Seven plays, 59 yards. FG

8. Five plays, 17 yards. Missed FG

9. Three plays, -3 yards. Punt. Chop block on first down play (legit call) changed a second and 3 at the 29 to a first and 21 at our 11.

10. 11 plays, 84 yards. FG

11. 3 plays, 5 yards. Touchdown.

12. 9 plays, 62 yards. Touchdown.

13. 3 plays, -4 yards. Victory formation. End of game.


We fumbled the ball away on the plus side of the field and had two penalties (and a third down sack) that cost us another scoring opportunity and a potential drive. Those are correctable situations.

I, for one, liked the play mix last night -- heavy run focus with a vertical passing game. I think we made the right calls for the personnel we had available and opponent scheme/talent.

We were six of seven in the red zone -- three TDs and three FGs. Would've liked one more TD.

How do we win the East and have a shot at the MACC? I think the team that runs the ball the best and stops the run best will win the East. Take a look at the box scores.

In addition, I think we need to figure out the right mix of press coverage and keeping the ball in front of our defenders. Last night, we leaned more heavily toward less press coverage and when Idaho had time to pass the ball, they were able to work underneath routes either by driving off cornerbacks or dragging receivers across the field. I thought they made very good adjustments to our scheme during the middle portion of the game which allowed them to sustain drives. We countered effectively later, pushing them into the middle which gave us interception opportunities and we had some physical plays in which we separated receivers from the ball. We also took away the passes to the backs late, but sometimes they made a play. Example -- the little fullback screen/shovel got blown up after a couple successes because we were able to knock the back off his feet. The QB, though, was able to scramble wide and break contain for a nice pick-up. Both teams played hard, but I think we were the better conditioned team last night. Just my two cents.

My view...I guess many will disagree.

I'm OHIO-centric but I didn't think Idaho was very good at all. And, didn't they have a few O-line starters injured. Yet this game was in doubt until about the 6 minute mark of the 4th quarter.

I'm thinking that we really have very few playmakers, none on the D-line especially. But then I've seen guys make plays (OUellette, receivers, Poling, Basham last year, pass rush vs. Kentucky) and I can't figure out why we don't see it consistently. I'm thinking it's scheme/coaching.

1) If we rip off a big run or pass, you can be about 100% sure that the next play will be the same (run by the same back if it was a run or a pass if it was a pass).

2) I don't know exactly what it is but our ability/willingness to let teams that are'pass first' have plenty of time to throw while leaving their receivers wide open is stunningly impressive.

We must lead the universe over the last few years in giving up first down on third and long.

3) If we are really any good then in our season home opener in front of a huge crowd, that game is over early in the third quarter. We led 17-0 and for my money it should have been 34-3 late third quarter. Instead...

Bingo Monroe!

And, has anyone else noticed that a whole lot of teams are showing various alignments and adjusting to down and yardage situations in their offenses? I've seen teams in the I, under center in a pro set up ,in a wildcat, with one and/or two backs and other formations in the SAME game. I just think OUr offense is getting a bit old. Maybe someone needs one of those sabbaticals? One thing is for sure in college football, if you don't adjust you fall behind.

NO team that runs this offense goes under center. The most important part of the offensive game is the the snap! And the under center snap is so different than the shot gun snap. The snap is a skill that must be perfected and not just used indiscriminately. I agree that I'd like to see the under center snap in short yardage and goal-line situations, either at the goal line or coming out of the goal line. However, I do understand why they do not do this.

My real question is: why can other teams run MULTIPLE offenses and formations during a game but OUr players can only run or are only coached ONE?

Billy, I can't list teams specifically ight now 'cause I am too old to rattle them off. But I can guarantee you I have seen it this year. Maybe even during the UC-Miami game one of them did it. I can assure you, I have seen teams running multiple formations in one game this year and I will start to make a list just for you to prove the point.

2011 running stats

NAME	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Donte Harden	187	986	5.3	81	2
Tyler Tettleton	166	658	4	48	10
Beau Blankenship	93	462	5	48	4
Ryan Boykin	104	430	4.1	33	1
Kyle Snyder	13	80	6.2	16	0
LaVon Brazill	5	73	14.6	67	1
Phil Bates	16	69	4.3	25	0
Paul Hershey	1	13	13	13	0
Devin Favors	3	11	3.7	7	0
Riley Dunlop	1	8	8	8	0
Totals	599	2750	4.6	81	18

 

2013 running stats

NAME	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Beau Blankenship	204	910	4.5	53	5
Ryan Boykin	103	399	3.9	17	7
Daz'mond Patterson	38	211	5.6	32	2
Tim Edmond	31	108	3.5	12	0
Derrius Vick	30	67	2.2	20	1
JD Sprague	5	33	6.6	18	1
Tyler Tettleton	43	24	0.6	31	0
Donte Foster	1	5	5	5	0
Chase Cochran	1	4	4	4	0
Totals	462	1742	3.8	53	16

Who can spot the difference?

http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/stats/_/id/195/y...







 

Interestingly your links did just that, provided one example:


I agree that Ohio is not usual in not ever running from under center. That doesn't mean they don't use a variety of formations; they do. One thing that is different this year, unfortunately, has been the lack of healthy tight ends. With only one, Mangen, it hasn't been possible to run the 2-3 tight end sets that Ohio used in the past few years. In the last game, though, I saw Davon Henry playing, and the one before I think Mason Morgan was in. Maybe as we get to the MAC games we'll see more of that.

Interestingly, rather that the Pro-set migrating back to college, now we're seeing the Pistol making it's way into the NFL:
http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2012/12/27/3792740/pisto...

Great points made on this...one thing I think we all know is the plays are really basically the same. The schemes/formations they come out of are different though.

I bet even L.C. agrees with me that it starts with the BIGGS up front and PLAYMAKERS at QB and outside! You give me that and I can run any offense I want and get results.

Back to teams that run "multiple" offenses, I now recall it was tOSwho a couple of years back against OUr bobcats where their QB was both in direct snap territory and shot gun like.

I'm definitely no expert on football scheming either, but I know we scored 36(and won) this past weekend, 22 more than last week and 33 more than the week prior. I was more concerned the defense could not get off the field and allowed too many 3rd and 4th down conversions.