OSU Defense

[Cribby]

That why I don't think we want to be running hella condensed sets. Think about how all our inside runs were getting stuffed earlier - with guys on the back 7 activating early and downhill in run support. We allow downs to do that and we give him his biggest strength. You push him out and run some 3/4 wide and it can actually potentially give us a chance to run. Though I'm not confident given they have great LB play and a really good run stuffing DT that Brockermeyer is gonna have to win against...

Ultimately Beck has to play good and our WRs actually needs to get intermediate catches. Not just a bunch of dink and dunk and horizontal plays with a 6ypa...

Agree. Playing in a phone booth all game plays into their hands . I’d like to see a little more 10 personnel this week. That makes reads easier for Beck and gives more space for wr’s

 

[brcane1]

Agree. Playing in a phone booth all game plays into their hands . I’d like to see a little more 10 personnel this week. That makes reads easier for Beck and gives more space for wr’s

The wind forced us in there in Aggieland, but we must leave the Patrick Nix rectangle if we are going to succeed.

 

[Cane30]

McDonald and Styles are already a problem in the run game. Downs will already be in the box at times at Nickel. They move him around. He can be had in coverage, but I don't like Beck with 2 high S's with Patricia's pre snap disguises. I love what Patricia does with his exotic looks. I think I posted about it early in the season. I worry about Beck's reads. I think if we can score 24, we win. I won't be surprised if the winner scores 17. Just contain, JJ, Tate and Bo at RB and they aren't scoring much.

 

[joeB954]

see this alot but.......

Bryce Fitzgerald has more ints than downs has in his whole career this year.

Kid is a heat seeking missile on tackles....but he doesnt really turn the ball over for them. **** he only has 1 pass defense nt he whole year according to stats.

but he is everywhere making tackles for em.

I get that. Two different types of players. Bryce is a straight ball hawk. I will say this much. Regardless of draft projections, I would not trade Keionte Scott for Caleb Downs. Scott is our equivalent to Downs this year and I think he has more impact on this defense than any other player is the nation to their defense

 

[Hurricane23]

I actually think Miami has the better safeties overall. Downs is great but to be completely honest Thomas is having a better season by far.
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Not saying you're wrong, but I haven't really seen anyone test Downs this year. I guess the fearmonger is real.

 

[Hurricane23]

I have watched them play all year. They are not that 2022/2022 Georgia defense. They don’t have the speed and athleticism that those defenses possessed.

OSU has a good “Big 10” defense. They are really good for the teams they play in the Big 10.

Miami has a much more athletic defense.

I think I mentioned this in another thread, but their linebackers are more athletic than ours. Bryce Fitzgerald is just as talented as Downs, who is just a veteran. They also don't necessarily have a first-round corner either; they're already calling that 5-star freshman corner a bust.

 

[flips]

https://www.canesinsight.com/threads/one-thing-i-noticed-rewatching-tamu-game….204573/post-8094153

3 run explosives here when they had to defend 3 WRs to the right and the opponent ran to the left.

We don't do a ton of unbalanced OL (and definitely don't do any 2TE + 1FB on 2nd & 5) but they lined up really poorly on this big run by Michigan:



Think Downs was freelancing, can't imagine him and Sonny Styles were supposed to both be in the weakside B-gap.

Lineup trips right, run left, or motion toney late to get 3 WRs on the right is something we should do often against OSU.

 

[YankeesCane]

Completely serious question

Does Dawson actually game plan based on the opponent and look for ways to exploit a weakness or does he just "call my plays" and hopetey work

I know its the former but this really could be the game to scheme a bit differently, go a bit more wide, actually use screens, and then go back to the pounding the ball and play off of that

 

[B Run]

Their defense is like watching one of them SpaceX rocket launches

Hopefully like the ones that crash and fail

 

[B Run]

It may be elite statistically but I want to see it against a team with a great OL and depth at the skills.
They really did not see that much talent in any of the games they won.

Agree with this...no shade on them but its a legit observation.

 

[big cane fan]

Great defense. Play their best the closer their opponent is to the goal line.

They started the year off giving up 0 TDs in their first 8 non-garbage time red zone drives. Finished up giving up 4 TDs in 16 chances, so they got a bit leaky as the year went on. We need to score TDs when we get in the red zone.

They don't do much exotic pressure wise, though they will blitz on some obvious passing downs. Curry is the biggest worry as a pass rusher, but I think CiCi should be able to handle him. Am not worried about their pass rush unless we get really off schedule regularly (in which case we are screwed).

I think we can run on them in the B-gaps, especially on the right side. TEs will have to win their blocks. Gonna be tough sledding in the A-gaps but if we can do ok there we are in great shape. Toney decoy motion when we plan to run inside the tackles is a must. Pistol with Fletcher too. I would like to see some Pony sets with Fletcher and Pringle, and try to get Pringle on the edge. Haven't seen anyone try that in the 3 games - Texas, UW, and Illinois - that I rewatched so far. Illinois hit an explosive run with trips to the right then ran to the left side B-gap. Nice play.

They came out in a bear front against UW and UW had a couple of nice runs to the right side where #8 (Reese?) was lined up wide. I think they will do the same against us.

They are leaky down the seams when they're in 3 deep. TEs should have chances down the field against them. I would like to see us get Toney vertical from the slot when they're in zone. When they're in man we gotta take shots outside and win/get a PI flag. CJ/Marion/JoJo/Moore have to win outside. Run mesh and the whip route with Toney when they're in man too. How well Beck reads their defense presnap gonna be huge.

We aren't going to trick their defense with the flea flickers or double reverse passes, so we shouldn't try them. I hope we trash the WR screen game against them. Illinois tried that a bunch in the first half, along with pulling OL when running read option with a QB who wasn't a threat to run the ball, and got down 20-0 and the game was over. Illinois also ran a bunch of RPO slants when OSU was in man which doesn't work - why bring your outside WRs closer to their safeties and risk tip INTs?

Forget which team (either Texas or UW) hit a nice TE screen against them. Might be time to dust off that middle TE screen to Lofton that we just missed on earlier in the year.

If we are able to run between the tackles, Marion should get a chance or two on a reverse. Texas, who ran pretty well against OSU, hit a nice one with Wingo.

Think there is zero reason for Toney to throw the ball in this game IMO (except on crazy goal to go or 2pt play). When we use the MaliCat, run read option and pull Bell/McCoy from the left to try to get Jackson to crash down.

They are really, really good on defense. If we run block anything like we did against A&M, I think we can have sustained success running the ball against them, which is the key to beating them. It's going to be a heck of a challenge. Pray our OC got his bed****ting for the year out of his system at College Station.

Sorry for the long poast. Merry Christmas. Beat Taint

Great post