Sherrone Moore has gotten well-deserved criticism for the offensive play while JH has been out. The extent to which Harbaugh helps or operates that Offense is only known by people within those walls. Regardless, he will need to do some self-scouting and break some tendencies to be successful. If he does, we can put up points on this OSU defense based on how I think they'll play. If not, then we will struggle again.
If you haven't already, rewatch the Ohio vs PSU game, as it's the most relevant when comparing the two against a good common opponent. (and don't let anybody else tell you otherwise) I believe we'll see a similar Ohio defense in this game compared to how Ohio has played others. Heavy box, Safety's keying on the run, wanting JJ to beat us with his arm. That said, Ohio Will not be as hyper-aggressive as they were last year, where they played a ton of cover zero.
Here's to me how we break our norm and give ourselves the best chance to win
If you haven't already, rewatch the Ohio vs PSU game, as it's the most relevant when comparing the two against a good common opponent. (and don't let anybody else tell you otherwise) I believe we'll see a similar Ohio defense in this game compared to how Ohio has played others. Heavy box, Safety's keying on the run, wanting JJ to beat us with his arm. That said, Ohio Will not be as hyper-aggressive as they were last year, where they played a ton of cover zero.
Here's to me how we break our norm and give ourselves the best chance to win
- Turn on QB reads and runs - most obvious and straightforward. It takes away a defender from a loaded box.
- Let JJ be JJ - he already alluded to this in his presser, but to me, this is to get JJ out of the pocket and give him run-pass options. It will slow down those speed rushes as well if they're worried about contain and force them to be true in their rush lanes.
- Throw when motioning TEs/Bredeson into the backfield/LOS. It's my opinion that teams are keying on this - you can tell by how the safeties are reacting.
- More Play action - how we're not the biggest PA team in the nation is wild to me.
- Have a plan for Barnhart if needed. Barnhart was going fine at RT vs Maryland, and most people don't realize that switching from RT to LT is like trying to throw left-handed - everything is backwards. However, chipping with a TE or RB will help if he struggles.
