Ohio State-Troy: Something Resembling a Preview

By virtue of the above description, I do not anticipate a heavy dose of passing. You will see bubble screens and swing passes, but those are glorified toss sweeps. Get used to this one:

That’s the run-pass option and it should soon become Pryor bread-and-butter. With his speed, this play can be deadly as a linebacker is forced to commit, ala the option, and then tackle Pryor in the open field.

One of the nice parts of this play is that sets up the deep ball across the field later in the game (right side above). Incidentally, it may actually get the tight ends involved in the offense again. (Don’t hold you breath.)

There will be some obligatory deep balls from Pryor but they will be on sideline routes, and the down and distance will most likely be second-and-four. Any third-and-long situations will almost certainly be answered with the above-diagramed pass-run option play.

Troy has some good defenders, namely Boris Lee and Bear Woods, but they lost CB Leondis McKelvin, who was the 11th pick in the draft. Suffice it to say, the back four is a little weaker this season.

Troy Run Offense v. OSU
Sophomore DuJuan Harris will get the majority of the carries when it is handed off, but QB Jamie Hampton will run it given the opportunity.

Troy’s spread will mean that the OSU defense will be sporting the nickel almost entirely. Because the Trojans throw so quickly I would think that the safeties can creep up and disrupt the running game.

 

Troy Pass Offense v. OSU
This offense is similar, but most likely better, than Ohio’s and we all watched OU’s back-up quarterback give the Buckeyes fits. I actually thought the defensive line played well against OU, but they just could not get their hands on Jackson.

Look for the defensive line to get some push, and the defensive ends to crash inside more to force Hampton outside instead of creating a lane up the middle. I think the defensive line will register a few more sacks this weekend after coming very close on multiple occasions against the Bobcats.

As mentioned, Troy dinks and dunks it down the field. Most of those dinks go to Jerrel Jernigan and Kennard Burton. This type of passing game leads to a high completion percentage (66 percent) but a horrible third-down conversion rate (9-for-29, 31 percent).

Getting one negative play per drive (sack, penalty, no-gain rush, or defended pass) is usually enough to derail a Trojan march. If the Buckeyes have a good tackling day, it will be difficult for Troy to sustain drives.

 

Special Teams

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