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Biggest Problem: Defense

Crusty

Perfectly Unorthodox
5 Year Member
After my little ban for a joke I did my little analysis of the game and I’m fairly confident our offense can get it done. I’m starting to believe again. The offensive line and 3rd down conversions still bug me.

Purdue showed everyone that tOSU can be beat and beaten thoroughly.

Nebraska can do the same thing...as long as the defense can hold strong. There are a few glaring problems however. I’m going to start off with what I believe to be the obvious problem:
Pass defense, specifically the coverage. Chinander’s system can work but you need two things to work right, coaching the scheme correctly and have the right players to fit that scheme. I’m starting to think the team is falling short in both categories. Not by a large margin but still short.
The scheme: players are often in man coverage, which that isn’t the problem, the problem is leaving the players so far back and not having them being able to jam opponents at the line to throw off the route and timing. Too often there seems to be 5 yard cushions and any reciever within that cushion can easily get the ball, especially late in game. The coaches should be preaching “get in his face” for man coverage. That is how I view it. The cushions are also attributed to the 2nd problem:
Lack of agility and acceleration. We have talented backs for sure but too often the get burned on a route because they can’t recover from a reciever making a good cut on a route. Some defenders are too far back and a quick short route can leave them out of place but even if is a deep route, the back gets burned on a good move.

They need to scheme around the current talent better and look to get agile ball hawks on the team down the road.

Obviously a good pass rush can help a lot but if I was Ohio State I would do what we did to Minnesota.
 
My opinion, before you call out the D, you may want to state some of your D chops. If not you are entitled to your opinion. Best of luck posting the above.
 
After my little ban for a joke I did my little analysis of the game and I’m fairly confident our offense can get it done. I’m starting to believe again. The offensive line and 3rd down conversions still bug me.

Purdue showed everyone that tOSU can be beat and beaten thoroughly.

Nebraska can do the same thing...as long as the defense can hold strong. There are a few glaring problems however. I’m going to start off with what I believe to be the obvious problem:
Pass defense, specifically the coverage. Chinander’s system can work but you need two things to work right, coaching the scheme correctly and have the right players to fit that scheme. I’m starting to think the team is falling short in both categories. Not by a large margin but still short.
The scheme: players are often in man coverage, which that isn’t the problem, the problem is leaving the players so far back and not having them being able to jam opponents at the line to throw off the route and timing. Too often there seems to be 5 yard cushions and any reciever within that cushion can easily get the ball, especially late in game. The coaches should be preaching “get in his face” for man coverage. That is how I view it. The cushions are also attributed to the 2nd problem:
Lack of agility and acceleration. We have talented backs for sure but too often the get burned on a route because they can’t recover from a reciever making a good cut on a route. Some defenders are too far back and a quick short route can leave them out of place but even if is a deep route, the back gets burned on a good move.

They need to scheme around the current talent better and look to get agile ball hawks on the team down the road.

Obviously a good pass rush can help a lot but if I was Ohio State I would do what we did to Minnesota.
Number 1 problem on defense is depth.
 



Lets remember our defense finished the 2017 season at 101st! That should give everyone some idea what monumental challenges Chin is facing at the moment. Our defense is currently ranked 111th but when you're almost at the bottom does it matter... if we are 101 or 111? Both numbers are terrible but it's interesting that mighty Purdue is 103? So they had ONE GREAT game against OSU. Also OSU shot themselves in the foot inside the RZ more then once in that game. It happens........

My point is lets review where our defense finishes and give Chin time to recruit more defensive talent before throwing him under the bus.
 
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their is no doubt our defense is holding us back. By far the biggest weakness of this team... at several positions. It will take several recruiting classes to get that fixed.
 
CHinandar is committed to the type of defense that wins: sacks, turnovers and negative plays (tackles for loss).
Currently he lacks healthy players and an officiating crew (one damn holding call in two years!!!) to have an effective pass rush.

Second thing sacks is these with scheme and our guys have been slow to learn effective stunts. They haven't cut well off tackle/end twists to make them the most effective, its learned timing so that one guy sloughs his man off on to the other leaving a free rusher.

Third, its only been the last two games that Jackson's manned up on his receiver like Bootle, where interceptions maybe possible in coverage. Jackson's one INT was a fluke, he was beaten, but due to Stille's pass rush the ball was way under throw and Jackson recovered to pick it off.
Would like to see Bootle convert some PBU into INT, he is there, just needs to make that play.

Getting Ferguson back maybe critical down the stretch as I think he has "big play" possibility.

Finally, if DONU gets at least one, better two turnovers a game on defense the rest of the season, we can beat ANYONE we play, YES ANYONE.
 
Lets remember our defense finished the 2017 season at 101st! That should give everyone some idea what monumental challenges Chin is facing at the moment. Our defense is currently ranked 111th but when you're almost at the bottom does it matter... if we are 101 or 111? Both numbers are terrible but it's interesting that mighty Purdue is 103? So they had ONE GREAT game against OSU. Also OSU shot themselves in the foot inside the RZ more then once in that game. It happens........

My point is lets review where our defense finishes and give Chin time to recruit more defensive talent before throwing him under the bus.
But Chin's defense last year was #94 with an undefeated team and a much easier schedule.

No need to throw anyone under the bus yet but lets not pretend he has a glowing pedigree either.
 
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The issue is, that there are several issues. Most of the good ones have already been mentioned but special teams will also need to be improved. I think that'll come as we raise the overall level of talent on the team.
 

But Chin's defense last year was #94 with an undefeated team and a much easier schedule.

No need to throw anyone under the bus yet but lets not pretend he has a glowing pedigree either.
Hope that's not the impression I was conveying? Simply saying Chin needs time to upgrade the talent level before we can see if he can get it done.........
 

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