Film Review: Penn State at Ohio State, 2021, Part 1

By -

I breakdown interesting plays - schematically, technically, and from and execution standpoint - from the 2021 Penn State at Ohio State football game.

Part 2 here. 

First, some thoughts:

Penn State Offense

  • This offensive line continues to be a massive liability for the offense as a whole. The right side particularly struggles, but the left side isn't without its issues. This is more pronounced in the pass game, but is pronounced in the run game as well, where poor technique and missed assignments occur often.
  • Clifford started out looking like his pre-Iowa self. Even before injury, he had issues facing the blitz. OSU put a lot of pressure on Clifford, and as the hits mounted, you started to see Clifford's eyes drop and technique suffer.
  • Jahan Dotson deservedly gets a lot of the attention, but I really like Parker Washington as well. With Dotson getting a lot of the focus, Washington has slowly improved his game and can do a lot of nice things out of the slot.
  • This offense features a ton of formation into boundary and a lot of screen RPOs (and still features some downfield RPOs as well). Combined with the regular use of motion (backs in and out of the backfield, TEs split out to in the formation, WRs moving across the formation), they find a lot of creative ways to win numbers, leverage, and help identify coverage.
Penn State Defense
  • Outside Wisconsin, I believe this is the best defense in the B1G. Iowa has an argument to be made as well, but I think the diversity and disguise that PSU brings to the table gives them higher upside (though may lower the floor a little). Since losing some DT depth, they have featured more odd fronts, but they have executed those well. Tons of games up front, lots of rotations on the backend. You never know what you are getting post-snap.
  • There are also playmakers at each level of the defense. I've heaped praise on Arnold Ebiketie, I believe he is has Day 1 draft pick upside, though he may end up Day 2 due to his size. Luketa isn't the pass rusher, but is great against the run. Their LBs are extremely fast, starting with former 5 star Brandon Smith. And the backend is very athletic and fun to watch, most prominently Jaquan Brisker. Also important, they really don't have a "weak" spot.
  • On the downside, while the heavy disguise and rotation is fun and often pays off, there are times it bites them as players start in non-optimal position. This can cause two problems: 1) Late getting to a spot they need to be either in coverage or gap responsibility; 2) More "wash" than you would typically see from standard levels, which can make bunch/drive/crossing routes dangerous.
Ohio State Offense
  • The offense as a whole remains extremely dangerous. They combine long-speed at all skill spots, with a high level of technical capability, particularly at WR. They do a great job attacking all three levels in the pass game, and because of that pass threat, are dangerous on the ground if you get your eyes out of the backfield. 
  • Stroud has made steady strides over the course of the year. He is reading coverages better than he was early in the year, and getting the ball out on time. I really like his timing on the short/intermediate game, which has really helped set route-artisan Jaxon Smith-Njigba off.
  • There are uncharacteristic issues on the OL, most regularly of the identification variety. Lots of issues getting stuck on defensive line slants in the zone scheme, not fluent enough in gap run schemes yet. They are starting to incorporate more gap, but they just aren't there yet. I think some of the size/leverage issues with playing "four tackles" has been a bit of an issue, as tackles are adjusting to the quicker game inside. It's still a very good unit, but they bust more often than we are used to them seeing. I also wonder if the course of the season is starting to wear on the young RB.
Ohio State Defense
  • Night and day disguise difference with this unit now compared to early in the year. Lots more pressure schemes and "creeper" pressures (still only bringing four rushers, but one an atypical rusher while you drop out a more typical rusher). You can see very clearly where the athletes are benefitting from the opponent having to actually process the coverage and coverage change ups that they are seeing, even if they still base Cover 3/Cover 1.
  • The defensive line had a good day. PSU OL makes a lot of DLs look good, but overall, some good pressure coming off the edge. The LB level is starting to flash too, particularly RB convert Steele Chambers (much better LB name than RB name). It still isn't where it needs to be overall, but compared to early season issues, it is at least solid now, though still capable of some busts.

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Football Fundamentals: Twins Passing Concepts

By -
Image
In this post we will look at some of the standard route concepts run from a twins alignment. Obviously, these can be paired with other routes (some I'll show including a RB), but this is to get the fundamental understanding of the routes. I'll try to explain the concept briefly, as well as provide names for what you'll hear the concept called elsewhere at times (these things get lots of names, some people use the same names but have different meanings too, so it can get confusing). If a number is visible near the end of a route, that is the nominal yardage the route will be run to. For more information on specific routes, we took a look at the  route tree earlier . In this article I will not discuss routes that utilize rub concepts close to the LOS (such as a switch concept). I will have a later article dedicated to rub routes from a Twins set. Many of these are similar to the TE-Flanker Concepts discussed earlier.
Read more

Football Fundamentals: 2x2 and Mirrored Passing Concepts

By -
Image
We are going to continue our look at various passing concepts, this time with 2x2 and mirrored passing concepts. In this post we are going to trim out the concepts that are designed to attack the middle of the field and put those into a separate post. 2x2 concepts allow an offense to attack a defense based on post-snap looks and coverages via a simple read of the safety. Completely mirrored concepts, when the same concept is run on the both sides of the formation (such as all-hitches), is something of which I'm not a huge fan, but there are advantages to it. You look at something like all-hitches, which overloads underneath zones, and you see a viable option in the short passing game against zone heavy teams; similarly, completely mirrored concepts can allow you to pick on certain defenders or to a certain side of the field based on defensive look. We'll also look at "base" concepts, which see the outside receivers run the same route, and a third receiver work the mid
Read more

Football Fundamentals: The Tite Front Defense

By -
Image
The defense du jour against modern spread attacks is what is commonly known as the “Tite” front. Over the past couple years, you’ve seen Big 12 teams run it increasingly often, and SEC and other teams start to incorporate variants of the look more often as well as they begin to deal with an increasing number of spread formations. But what exactly is the “Tite” front? Like any front, say, a 4-3 Under, it isn’t necessarily any one thing. You can have single-high, two-high, or even three-high safeties. You can attach your overhangs differently. And with Tite, it may even mean different box numbers. And of course, there are multiple techniques that can be employed along the way. This post is a primer to the Tite front. At the end, I’ll link some of the better articles that get into greater depth for those interested, but for now, we need to understand the basics, so that we can understand how to attack it.
Read more