Is Ohio State's Defensive Backfield Diminishing?

No matter how optimistically you look at the 31-27 win over Navy (which isn't as bad as people are making it), there were some definite red flags that presented themselves. The biggest one that is consistently being pointed out is the offensive line, and even though that is a concern, I think it is in fact the defense that should have fans worried.

In my opinion the defense has slowly been taking a nose dive since the 2005 season. Don't get me wrong, the defense has looked sharp against predictable Big Ten opponents, but on the large national stage they have been disappointing to say the least.

Whenever a team is consistenly balanced the Buckeyes get gashed, especially through the air. Let's take a look at some of the opposing quarterback numbers (big game losses) over the past several seasons: 

- Nov 10, 2007 vs. ILL: Juice Williams (12/22 140 yards, 4 TD, 0 INT)
- Jan 7, 2008 vs LSU: Matt Flynn (19/27 174 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT)
- Sep 13, 2008 vs USC: Mark Sanchez (17/28 172 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT)
- Jan 5, 2009 vs TEX: Colt McCoy (41/58 414 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT)

The only big game loss not shown is the Penn State loss this last season, where the Buckeye defense did do a decent job on Clark. Now, I know it is picky to pull out statistics from losses. With that said, you often can tell a lot from when you play quality opponents, and on top of that, this is starting to become a trend.

Also, to add insult to injury, the Buckeyes looked ridiculous while letting Ricky Dobbs go 9 for 13 for 156 yards and two touchdowns this past Saturday. Nothing against Dobbs, but its time for us to start questioning how solid our defense really is, especially in pass defense.

So we have to ask ourselves, is it personnel or scheme?
 

Personnel:

I think it is pretty obvious that a few players, especially in the Buckeye secondary, are not up to the standards Tressel set in his first five or six years. For instance, in 2005 the Buckeyes had Nate Salley, Donte Whitner, Ashton Youboty, Malcolm Jenkins, and Tyler Everett in the defensive backfield.

Now the Buckeyes have guys like Anderson Russell and Andre Amos. In defense of the staff, they have been unlucky in the secondary. Guys like Eugene Clifford and James Scott were recruited to be the big time players at this juncture, but neither is even on the team anymore. There is a lot of young talent that has been brought in, but most of those guys are at least a year from being studs. 

So, lets not act like the four guys we have starting are sufficient to be a big time team. Coleman is a serious player, Chekwa gets the job done (probably should be a No. 2 corner), but the other two guys are probably not up to the standards the Buckeyes need.

This is especially the case with Anderson Russell. He is a great young man and has always played hard, but just doesn't get the free safety position. He is solid coming up to stop the run, but much like are old friend Jamario O'Neal, he bites on even the poorly executed play action passes.

A great example of this was Saturday when Dobbs completed the 85-yard pass to Marcus Curry. The Buckeyes were in a two-deep zone, Curry ran an average route straight to Russell, and still Russell let Curry behind him because he bit on the play action. So, yes, there are some personnel problems!


Scheme:

To blame all the problems strictly on poor execution and players would be an error though. Now let me preface what I am going to say by reminding you that I am not a defensive coordinator, nor do I claim to be one. With that said, I do know a good defense when I see it. 

Anyways, I spent a lot of hours this past week watching game film from past Buckeye losses, and also watching some of the best defenses in both the pros and in college. I quickly noticed that the Buckeye defense, at least recently, is an either/or defense. When in pass coverage, the Buckeyes spend the vast majority of their time playing a standard two-deep zone.

When Heacock feels the need to bring pressure though, the Buckeyes use a man-to-man blitzing scheme. So, the Buckeyes either play a soft zone or bring lots of pressure in a risky blitz. Some of you may be scratching your heads because this seems like the norm, but in fact there are tons of problems here. 

First, Heacock plays way too much passive zone, and blitzes primarily after the opponent has already moved into Buckeye territory. A perfect example of this was Texas' last drive in the Fiesta Bowl. The Buckeyes played zone all the way down the field, allowing McCoy to complete pass after pass underneath.

Then, once they moved into striking distance, Heacock finally decided to bring pressure. What happened next was a man-to man coverage break down as Anderson Russell took a bad angle at the ball, and with no safety over the top, Cosby easily took it in for six. Take a look, and listen to what the commentators say:      

The other thing that hurts the secondary is how obvious most of the blitzes are for the Buckeyes. Rather than disguishing who blitzing, the defense often gives away who is coming, giving the quarterback an easy read for where he needs to get the ball. Good defenses bring pressure from an assortment of different places, and try to trick the QB into where that might be coming from.

After watching lots of film from the Ohio State's biggest games, I can tell you that most of the Buckeyes blitzing schemes are predictable and obvious. The only blitz that I saw that was consistent, was the delayed interior blitz coming from Laurinaitis or Freeman.
 
So, what is my answer to all of this? Well I can tell you in two words, zone blitz! The Buckeyes occasionally use the zone blitz, but with the studs we have on the defensive line I think it should be the primary pass coverage option. The best and most notable defenses use this strategy.

A lot of the SEC schools use it, the Baltimore Ravens use it, and of course the Pittsburgh Steelers use it (perfecting it in the '90s made Dick LaBeau famous). What is so incredible about this defense is that not only does the defense cover its bases back in a zone, but they are able to bring a vareity of blitzes out of that zone.

A defense then can have a heavy blitz diet, while constantly mixing up where the pressure is coming from. Watch the SEC defenses on any given Saturday, they blitz consistently to not allow opposing quarterbacks to get in a groove.

Not only would this solve many of Ohio State's either/or tendencies, but it would also allow the defense to play with more attitude and speed. The possibilities are almost endless on how the defense can disguise its pressure, and how it can come from so many different places.

It is aggressive, and allows the defense to force turnovers and mistakes rather than sitting back on its heals. Anyways, rather than spending all day talking about it, read up about the zone blitz here:

1) ESPN - Football 101: The zone blitz
2) The Fifth Down Blog - The Zone Blitz: Aggressive and Conservative all at Once
3) Scout - Chalk Talk: the Zone Blitz

So what do you think? Is the problem the personnel, is it the scheme, or is there really nothing to worry about at all?