Football
By The Numbers
By Jeff Amey
Several times over the course of this season, I've said
that I hope Ohio State puts it all together in the upcoming week.
Against Michigan, we finally saw what can happen when the Buckeyes
do put it all together. In what had to be a surprise to all but the
hardiest of Buckeye fans, Ohio State completely dominated the Michigan
Wolverines in all three major phases of the game en route to a 37-21
thrashing.
Last week, I wondered aloud about the extensive use of the Shotgun
formation with Ted Ginn standing in a deep slot position. I said that
I hoped it wasn't a sign of things to come. Let me just say now that
when I'm critical of anything the Buckeyes do, I'm more than happy
to be proven wrong. I'm still not completely sold on it, but I've
seen enough to make me want to see more.
There are many heroes to praise this week, but before we get started
on that, let's take a look at the statistics. I promise they won't
make you cringe this time.
70 Total plays--445 yards--6.4 ypp
23 pass (33%)--13/23 for 240 yards 2 TD
47 runs (67%) for 205 yards 1 TD--4.4 ypc
14 Total drives
ave. of 5.0 plays--31.8 yards
ave. start--OSU 26
1st Down--29 plays (41%) for 147 yards
7 pass (24%)--4/7 for 66 yards
22 runs (76%) for 81 yards--3.7 ypc
ave. gain of 5.1 yards
2nd Down--23 plays (33%) for 91 yards
6 pass (26%)--2/6 for 22 yards
17 runs (74%) for 69 yards--4.1 ypc
ave. of 8.0 yards to go
ave. gain of 4.0 yards
3rd Down--17 plays (24%) for 207 yards
9 pass (53%)--7/9 for 152 yards 2 TD
8 runs (47%) for 55 yards 1 TD--6.9 ypc
ave. of 7.4 yards to go
ave. gain of 12.2 yards
conversions--8/17
4th Down--1 play (1%) for 0 yards
1 pass (100%)--0/1 for 0 yards
ave. of 1 yard to go
ave. gain of 0 yards
conversions--0/1
Playaction Passing
4/5 for 105 yards
First Downs--15
6 by pass
9 by run
0 by penalty
FORMATION BREAKDOWN
Formations w/ FB--15 plays (21%)
1 pass (7%)--1/1 for 26 yards
14 runs (93%) for 28 yards--2.0 ypc
Shotgun--33 plays (47%)
17 pass (52%)--9/17 for 187 yards 2 TD
16 runs (48%) for 126 yards--7.9 ypc
1 Back/empty formations--22 plays (31%)
5 pass (23%)--3/5 for 27 yards
17 runs (77%) for 51 yards 1 TD--3.0 ypc
RUN TYPE BREAKDOWN--47 attempts
counter/trap--2 (4%) for 1 yard--0.5 ypc
draw--0 (0%) for 0 yards
sweep--0 (0%) for 0 yards
base/iso--23 (49%) for 64 yards--2.8 ypc
reverse--0 (0%) for 0 yards
power--1 (2%) for -2 yards--(-2.0) ypc
QB run/scramble--17 (36%) for 132 yards 1 TD--7.8
ypc
stretch--2 (4%) for 1 yard--0.5 ypc
option--1 (2%) for 8 yards--8.0 ypc
Other Stats of Note
* 44 plays for 337 yards in first half (ave. of 300.9 yards per GAME
this season)
* No turnovers or sacks
* Brandon Joe--14 carries for 54 yards
* Troy Smith--19 carries for 141 yards
*5 offensive penalties--2 converted to first down
* 31 passes called (23 attempts and 8 scrambles)
*15 plays of 10 or more yards
* 24 plays went for no gain or negative yardage (34%)
Any discussion of this game HAS to start with Troy Smith. He was the
main reason why the Buckeyes won this game. There were many players
that stepped up and played their best game of the season this week,
but none more important than what Troy brought to the game on Saturday.
He made play after play with his arm and his legs, starting with the
early long touchdown pass to Anthony Gonzalez and continuing to the
46 yard scramble that put the Buckeyes in a position to take a 34-14
lead that pretty much put the game away. Altogether, Smith accounted
for 381 out of the 445 total yards the Buckeyes managed to gain.
I have been critical at times of Troy's play and the playcalling
when he has been in the game, but I think it's clear now that the
coaches have been tinkering with the offense to try to take advantage
of what he (and some of the other personnel) brings to the game. Troy
didn't play an absolutely perfect game, but he played perfectly for
THIS team, THIS game, taking the offense on his shoulders and leading
them to a win. He showed more touch and savvy in the passing game
this week than at any other time this season. I think it will be very
difficult for Justin Zwick to regain the starting spot at QB anytime
soon.
What did we learn about Ted Ginn this week? Other than ABC's revelation
that he's faster than a horse and an indy car, nothing much that we
didn't already know. He is simply incredible with the ball in his
hands. His 82 yard punt return in the third quarter transformed a
close 20-14 game with momentum on the Buckeye side to a 27-14 lead
and a huge uphill climb for the Wolverines that they were unable to
overcome with a Freshman quarterback in front of 105k+ screaming Buckeye
fans. Ginn will be giving opposing coaches nightmares for at least
the next two seasons.
Another thing that was clear in this game is that the Buckeyes were
going to go with a big set of backs in the backfield. The main beneficiary
of this was Senior Brandon Joe. He picked a great time to have his
best game of the season, picking up 54 yards on 14 carries. While
those numbers weren't spectacular, some of them came at very important
times in the game. Twice the Wolverines had the Buckeyes backed up
inside their 5 yard line, and both times Joe had big runs to get Ohio
State out of trouble and helped spark offensive drives of 99 and 97
yards that both ended in touchdowns. Those runs were almost as important
as anything Smith and Ginn did on Saturday.
Speaking of long drives, is there anyone out there that could've
seen that out of this offense? The Buckeyes had 5 drives of 50 or
more yards on Saturday and 5 drives of 7 or more plays. No drive so
far this season tops the two touchdown drives of 99 and 97 yards though.
Both drives had 4 plays of 10 or more yards (8 out of the 15 10+ yard
plays for the game). This was finally something to build on for the
bowl game and next season.
I have to turn my attention to the defense yet again this season.
This time it won't be to criticize. The Buckeyes picked a great week
to put together their best defensive perfomance of the season. A lot
of credit has to go to the much beleaguered Mark Snyder. He has taken
a lot of heat this season, but he deserves praise this week for the
gameplan the defense put together for the Wolverines. Michigan came
out smoking with two touchdowns on their first two drives, but after
that was only able to put together one more touchdown drive and were
held to numerous three and outs.
One of the keys to beating the Wolverines going into the game were
to stop HB Mike Hart. He gained only 61 yards on 18 carries after
putting up some astronomical yardage on the rest of the Big Ten after
taking the starting spot early in the season. They also had to stop
Braylon Edwards. He was able to catch several passes, and had a big
touchdown catch as the Wolverines were trying to come back, but the
jump balls that Chad Henne has thrown to him that he's come down with
against other teams fell incomplete this Saturday. Lastly, the Buckeyes
needed to put the pressure on Henne and force him to try to win the
game for Michigan. They did just that and he wasn't able to come through.
I saw Henne picking himself up after NUMEROUS plays on Saturday.
On that note, I thought the defensive line had their best game as
a unit against the Wolverines. Mike Kudla seemed to be all over the
field and had several good plays from the spy position and dropping
out in zone-blitz schemes. Simon Fraser may not have completely lived
up to the promise of his freshman season, but he had a great game
on Saturday rushing the quarterback as well.
The linebackers have been the heart and soul of the defense all year
long and they lived up to that again this week. Schlegel, Hawk, and
Carpenter helped shut down the passing game and pressured the quarterback
all game long with blitzes. They were also instrumental in stopping
Mike Hart and the running game. I saw A.J. Hawk climbing off of just
about every time Hart was tackled.
I haven't been overly impressed with the play of the defensive backs
this season, but this was probably their best game as well. There
were a few breakdowns in coverage early in the game and a few well
drawn up plays in the second half, but overall they played a pretty
solid game. Ashton Youboty has blossomed into a very good corner over
the course of this season and if he improves on his run support, I
think he'll be the best corner at Ohio State since Antoine Winfield.
When I watched this game, I was struck by how much transition we
saw in this game personnel-wise. This is a pretty small senior class,
but on their watch the Buckeyes have went 3-1 against Michigan and
won a national championship. While there aren't many seniors on the
roster that contributed greatly to this win, the leadership of this
class through what was a difficult season will be missed.
Congratulations to Dustin Fox, Simon Fraser, Lydell Ross, Maurice
Hall, Brandon Joe, Mike Kne, and the rest of the seniors for a third
set of Gold Pants and for putting so much of yourselves into this
program.
This is a team dominated by Juniors and even more so by Sophemores.
I have to think the future of this team is very bright. Maybe the
expectations for this team were too high, but a dominating win over
Michigan helps erase the bad taste that four losses this season put
in everyone's mouth and is something very positive to build on. Now
the Buckeyes are likely headed to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio (what
do you think the over/under on times Santonio Holmes is referred to
as San Antonio is?). I'm more excited than ever to see this team in
action next season.
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