Scipio's postmortem is out. It's not pretty.
I was very distressed about missing this game to coach youth football, but after checking the score and reading a few of the 200+ texts blowing up my iPhone, it turned out to be for the best. Rewatching it, even knowing the result and having scanned the box score, was remarkable.
I didn’t expect that my 6th grade volunteer staff would come up with a better game plan for the Spartans on two hours prep than what the Texas offensive staff dialed up for Ohio State after two months, but Saturday was full of surprises.
I pointed out that Matt Patrica would represent a unique challenge for Sark as he offered very little tendency to game prep. Patricia was going to build out a defense tailored to us. I didn’t expect total game plan domination and a diagnosis of our strengths and weaknesses like he was in our practice facility though. Patricia shrugged at the Longhorn running game as empty calories and focused solely on limiting passing game explosives.
The Buckeye DC assumed he’d get stops on money downs and in the red zone. He was right on both counts.
It’s difficult to bag on Sark’s game plan when execution by the QB and the larger passing game was so poor and our running game couldn’t punish overplay. Offensive success tends to allow for more success and we never got real traction. So it’s difficult to say what Sark’s game plan adjustments could’ve been if Arch hit basic throws or we had a legitimate running game.
The first Longhorn pass attempt was a wide open potential 25 yard gain to DeAndre Moore that Manning spiked five yards into the turf in front of him. We were in 11 personnel from the pistol with trips to the wide side and the TE split out up top. Ohio State busted their coverage and our reward was not a first down at midfield and a nice start, but 2nd and 10. That ain’t on Sark, folks.
Sark also schemed several numbers advantages in the run game where we had leverage and an opportunity to drop a big run and get them out of some of their shifting, occasionally junk defenses. Watch the sky view and sometimes Ohio State is misaligned with massive run bubbles. That yielded only workmanlike, irrelevant gains and apparently everyone has decided that this means our running game was good or adequate.
It was not.
Sometimes, I feel like Roddy Piper in They Live and I’m the only one wearing the special sunglasses that let’s you see the alien infiltrators.
I have good news though. There were several bright spots in this game and we’re really close to having a good offense if we can just tidy up a few executional areas.
Just kidding. It was mostly dog shit.
Quarterback
Manning threw 11 completely inaccurate balls in 30 attempts and made four high quality throws. He threw one pick and tried to throw another that ricocheted off of a DB’s hands. His misses ran the gamut from fastballs hurled at top speed to a receiver 5 yards away, to skipping balls in front of the receiver, to crossing routes thrown behind a receivers head.
Ohio State did a masterful job of keeping him contained while changing up their pass rush tempo and angles.
He struggled to recognize coverages and when he did have protection, he hurried throws instead of letting routes develop. There was a goal line sequence where Arch threw an errant fastball at DeAndre Moore on a crosser with perfect protection while Moore was blanketed. Spencer Shannon was wide open going to the other way for a walk in TD.
On the same series on 4th down, Wingo came open on a scrape route in front of him that could have been 6. Arch threw it early, incomplete to Livingstone in the end zone. You can find open receivers on any given play, but these were open receivers in front of him that were part of the read progression and he chose to throw to covered receivers from a clean pocket.
In fairness, Ohio State had our receivers blanketed for a lot of the game. Manning probably assumed his situation wouldn’t improve with time.
He scrambled somewhat successfully. The called QB run game didn’t really work.
I don’t understand what he’s done to his release. Are our QBs obligated to degrade mechanics the longer they’re on campus? We’ll see if it cleans up.
I thought he moved in the pocket well. He certainly competed through a lot of adversity.
Offensive Line
Trevor Goosby is a good pass protector. Surprisingly, Neto pass blocked better than he run blocked. Stroh and Baker hurt the offense several times.
No, the OL didn’t play well. Ohio State played a light box and we didn’t punish them for it. When space condensed they dominated us on money downs and they got consistent pressure on Manning when they needed it. They made up for a light or honest box with physicality and effort and we never matched either.
Please read this. The timing of my writing was not a coincidence.
Explosiveness? We had zero runs over 15 yards against a light box and some Buckeye misalignments where we had numbers before the snap. Want to run someone out of exotic coverages, blitzes, and crazy presnap shifts in a light box? Drop explosive runs on them. Texas couldn’t.
Consistency? No fumbles. Not a lot of negative runs. Passing grade. We met the JAG standard.
Situational? Fail.
The box score is lying to you. Ohio State conceded exactly what they wanted to.
On short yardage, the OL fired out like mummies and got jacked up. Feet stopped moving at impact. No control or fit. Defenders slip off and rally to the ball. Except for the 4th and 1 Manning sneak where the playside laid down on their bellies like they were on a slip and slide. Every Longhorn OL lost on that play.
Pad level? Generally bad. Finishing blocks? Not often. Initial contact, stand straight up, feet stop moving. Baker did have a pancake on Sonny Styles when he got low and drove him over a pile early in the game. That didn’t happen often enough. Cole Hutson also got a 1 on 1 with Styles early. He got jacked up and thrown into the runner.
Stroh is slow-footed. He makes initial contact and then defenders slide right off.
Kenyatta Jackson – a 265 pound DE – lined up in a 3 technique backside and drove Neto Umeozulu – who was blocking down on him – so far across the line of scrimmage that he used him to plug the playside hole three gaps away. That’s a 55 pound weight differential and the Texas guard had the angle advantage.
Our OL is not very strong at the point of attack. The ability to run the ball was directly correlated to Ohio State’s box count and whether they had reserves in.
Ohio State had so much contempt for our running game that they played a light box on 1st down on their 9 yard line, fearing we might try to throw it in.
We were 70% gap run, but our angles on pulls are terrible. The puller who should turn up in the hole and find the first enemy jersey is overrunning and then trying to loop back. They need to scrape it tight and turn quickly. Not drift aimlessly.
We had a goal line Arch run where we motioned the RB out to clear the safety standing at LB depth. Vacant spot. Ohio State had light numbers! Looking good. Going to stroll in. We ran counter towards the only LB remaining…and he made the tackle. Maybe run to the vacant space. That you vacated with the motion. It’s why you sent your RB in motion.
WR/TE
I love Jack Endries. Ball player. Willing blocker, super reliable receiver. Hands. Good routes. Played very hard. He overran on pulls like the OL. Pretty clearly not a teaching point for Flood.
Our receivers are an incomplete due to a great pass denying game plan from Patricia, inaccuracy, and a lot of Buckeye bodies in coverage. Livingstone won in single coverage for a TD against a grabby Ohio St cornerback.
I didn’t see a lot of separation, but I have no idea how DeAndre Moore can be evaluated with five bad balls thrown at him.
We’ll see, I guess.
RB
Baxter had some good blitz pick ups. Both he and Wisner repeatedly stumbled out of their breaks to daylight and neither added much to their runs after contact.
Watch Wingo’s acceleration on the end around. Then watch our RBs run. Very different explosiveness.
Matt Patricia was not scared of any Texas RB that played on Saturday hurting his defense, I can promise you that. They were game planned as an irrelevance.
Closing Thoughts
Use the next few weeks wisely. This offense has a few issues, some that were foreseeable, many that can be addressed, but a couple that are genuine surprises. Units can improve dramatically over time and openers can be particularly jarring, but this was a bit of a wake up call for the Longhorn offensive staff and players.