Defensively Speaking: Passing The Test

The Ohio State defense faced their toughest test of the season on Saturday and, while it wasn’t perfect, I would still definitely give them a passing grade. Let’s take a look at the good and the bad from the Buckeye defense against Notre Dame.

As usual, Jim Knowles’ go-to coverage call throughout the night was Cover 1 Rat (below):

Note how Cody Simon had the freedom to “green dog” on this play – he was in man coverage on the running back but the running back stayed in to pass protect, so Simon inserted as a fifth pass rusher.

However, I believe it is important to note that Knowles does not always give his back-7 players the freedom to green dog. Below, for example, Ohio State is again in Cover 1 Rat. Will linebacker Steele Chambers is in man coverage on the running back while field safety Josh Proctor is in man coverage on the tight end – both of these players stayed in to pass protect, but neither Chambers nor Proctor inserted as extra pass rushers. Therefore, the coverage essentially became Cover 1 with two rats (Chambers and Tommy Eichenberg) and a robber (Josh Proctor):

For the second straight week, Knowles also used match-3 coverage. While it is good to see Knowles using more variety in terms of his coverage schemes, we also must understand that the added variety will come with some growing pains. An example of this can be seen in the following clip, where Ohio State runs match-3 while Notre Dame runs a typical mesh concept:

In the above clip, no one picks up the #2 (slot) receiver to the top of the screen on his crossing route. I am not sure what Ohio State’s exact rules are in this coverage but, if they follow typical match-3 rules, I believe Chambers needed to pick up the #2 receiver.

Knowles also used Tampa-2 coverage a fair amount. Below, he calls for Tampa-2 with Eichenberg, the Mike linebacker, as the pole runner in the high hole:

Also, for the first time this season, we saw Knowles use 3-high safety looks regularly throughout the game. In this look, Sonny Styles, the nickel, becomes the middle safety. When running Tampa-2 coverage out of a 3-high look, the middle safety will become the pole runner instead of the Mike linebacker:

The last thing I feel is worth noting in terms of the coverage calls on Saturday is that Knowles used more drop-8 coverages (all of which were Cover 3 variations) than I have ever seen him use in any single game. Below, for example, he calls for a drop-8 Cover 3 Cloud concept and Proctor makes a nice play on the ball:

Note how because it was Cover 3 Cloud, one of the corners (in this case, Davison Igbinosun to the field/top of the screen) stayed down as a curl-flat defender while the nickel (Styles) rolled to the deep third of the field to Igbinosun’s side.

Knowles also called for quite a few fire zones (5-man pressures with 3-deep/3-underneath coverage) on Saturday. One fire zone call that was essentially a variation of America’s Fire Zone worked to perfection against Notre Dame’s inside zone play:

Once again however, the added variety is going to come with some growing pains; Notre Dame had a lot of success moving the ball through the air against Ohio State’s fire zone calls. Below, for example, Ohio State runs the same exact fire zone as they did in the above clip, but this time Sam Hartman is able to find a wide open receiver in the seam to the boundary:

Then in the next clip, Ohio State runs a fire zone that sends the boundary safety (Lathan Ransom) through the B-gap and, despite solid coverage, Notre Dame’s tight end makes an incredible catch:

Knowles’ best pressure call of the day was undoubtedly the off-ball sim pressure he called in the second quarter that forced Notre Dame to settle for a (missed) field goal. See the clip and diagram below:

This pressure sent both linebackers through the B-gaps, while dropping both defensive tackles as rats, and everyone else was in man coverage (Cover 0 Double Rat Coverage).

As we all saw, Ohio State started off strong against the run but struggled in the second half as the game went on. Before we look at some of the run plays where Ohio State struggled, I think we should highlight a couple plays where Ohio State defended the run well. Below, Notre Dame runs split zone, but J.T. Tuimoloau spills the the tight end’s split block which forced the ball-carrier to bounce outside to Igbinosun (who was a free hitter on this play):

In the next clip, Notre Dame runs insert (iso). Knowles callls for a KNOB stunt (Nose to the B-gap) which worked well, Eichenberg does a good job taking on the fullback’s block to force the ball-carrier to bounce and Proctor is right there to make the tackle:

However, Ohio State definitely had some struggles against the run – particularly when Notre Dame ran out of 21-personnel (two backs / one tight end). In the following clip, for example, Notre Dame runs insert out of a 21-personnel look. Ohio State is in a 3-high safety look and there is no one there to fill once Chambers takes on the fullback’s block:

In the next clip, Notre Dame runs same-side GY Counter, but the play is spilled to no one which results in a big gain:

Then in following clip, Notre Dame runs split zone, but both Mike Hall and Chambers are in the same gap (the playside A-gap). While Ransom does a good job coming up and filling the B-gap to prevent the play from turning into too big of a gain, I believe Chambers should have been the one filling the B-gap.

While this was not a perfect performance from the defense, they still managed to hold Notre Dame’s great offense to just 14 points, and that is what matters most. They appeared to make a few mental errors down the stretch – presumably due to some fatigue – but they also made enough plays to win the game. All in all, I think the defense played fairly well.