Ohio State Exploits Personnel Changes and Matchups Against the Hokies

Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster indicated throughout fall camp there would be adjustments to his Bear defense that stymied Ohio State in 2014. An explosive Ohio State offense had a full year to prepare for the Hokies and adjustments are part of the coaches' chess match. Foster's biggest adjustment was a personnel decision. In the 2014 matchup, the Hokies kept two defensive tackles and two defensive ends on the field in the Bear front. The defensive end aligned to the boundary side of the field stood up and often played wide as a nine-technique. On Monday night, Foster went small. Instead of playing the defensive end on the boundary, Foster used three defensive linemen and kept Ronny Vandyke on the field as the nine-technique edge defender. In his postgame comments, Foster said that the defensive staff was concerned that the Buckeyes would utilize more quick screens and throws to running back Ezekiel Elliott.

"Instead of releasing their back, they were really aggressive blocking our mike," Foster said. "We were thinking more (about) all their guys out on quick screens, and we probably outsmarted ourselves a little bit from that standpoint as far as not getting edge pressure a little bit more."

Slow Playing the Speed Option

With the Whip in the game, the Bear front did help limit one part of Ohio State's game plan that hurt the Hokies in 2014—the speed option. Vandyke's presence seemingly added speed that allowed the Hokies to slow play the speed option. In last season's match up, the edge defender crashed hard on the quarterback against speed option, leaving Ezekiel Elliott and Curtis Samuel free for big runs. In my Ohio State preview, TKPer XHurler19 asked why the Hokies didn't slow play the option more. Slow playing the option means that the edge player doesn't commit to the quarterback or the pitch man. Instead, he splits the difference between the two in order to disrupt the timing of the quarterback read. Here is an example. Ohio State runs a speed option to the boundary.

Ronny Vandyke is on the edge. Rather than aggressively attacking the quarterback, Vandyke stays a step outside the quarterback and doesn't commit. Jones delays and delays the pitch, and then finally turns up field when Vandyke slides one additional step towards the pitch man. By this time the pursuit from the interior of the defense is in position to make the play. Using the slow play technique, the Hokies forced several negative or minimal yardage plays on the option, and didn't give up a big run (other than a Jones' touchdown that was called back on an obvious holding penalty).

The Buckeyes scored on successive drives early in the game, and Ohio State's adjustments (tighter splits on the offensive line) and significantly improved offensive line play forced Foster to make two in-game adjustments. First, instead of having his down linemen trying to shoot gaps like last season, Foster had his down linemen start slanting into zone blocking. This has been a strategy that the Hokies have used against zone schemes for years. If the offensive line steps to their right, the defensive line slants hard to the right side of the offensive line. The mike linebacker then fills the cutback lane created on the back side of the play. This leaves the mike unblocked to tackle the running back on an inside zone run, and the mike linebacker can take quarterback on a read play or a keeper. Once the Hokies' front started slanting, Corey Marshall and Luther Maddy started getting penetration and disrupting plays. Unfortunately, Motuapuaka had a brutal night with his positioning, getting off blocks, and tackling in space even when unblocked. I will have more on Motuapuaka later in the review.

The second adjustment that really slowed Ohio State's attack for a period of time was the movement of Chuck Clark into a monster position on the line of scrimmage. I have not seen Foster use that kind of alignment since Kyle Fuller played on the line of scrimmage as a whip linebacker against Georgia Tech in 2013. Clark's technique was different from Fuller's though. Clark often aligned as a five-technique almost on top of the strong side tackle, and Clark spied on the primary run threat (either Elliott, or the jet sweep). If Jones stuck the ball out like he could give it to a running back, Chuck Clark was going with the running back. Time and again, while the other defenders were being blocked or missing tackles, it was Chuck Clark delivering beautiful form tackles right around the line of scrimmage. He was my defensive MVP on the night by a large margin.

MIA: Pass Rush and a Heavy Shoulder on the Edge

Despite this success, the benefit of the personnel change didn't seem to outweigh the negative. As Foster noted, the Buckeyes kept Elliott into block more than he expected. Foster's plan of attack was to drop Vandyke into a short zone and blitz Motuapuaka on the interior when the back leaked to the flat. Elliott stayed put, and Motuapuaka was routinely picked up on the blitz. Deon Clarke rushed off the edge and the Buckeyes' offensive tackles had good success pushing him past the pocket, which allowed Jones to break contain. Dynamic edge rushers Dadi Nicolas and Ken Ekanem each had some pressures as three-techniques. I believe they would have been better utilized coming off the edge as pass rushers. Additionally, their heavy shoulders would have been beneficial against all the quarterback lead and quarterback counter trey plays that Ohio State used with success with both Jones and Braxton Miller.

Here is a brutal example from the fourth quarter when the game is still close. Ohio State has a first down in the red zone after a ticky-tacky pass interference on Terrell Edmunds. The Hokies are using a monster look, with the Bear formation, Vandyke as a boundary end, and Chuck Clark (the free safety) standing almost right on the line of scrimmage. Ohio State fakes the jet sweep, and Jones keeps on the quarterback counter with right guard Pat Elflein (No. 65) kicking out Vandyke and Elliott kicking out Motuapuaka.

Vandyke doesn't have the heavy shoulder that a Ken Ekanem (who would have been taking on Elflein's kick out block in last year's iteration of the Bear) does. Instead of taking on the trap block with his inside shoulder and squeezing the play down, Vandyke tries to jump around the block and is driven to the inside. He actually shields Ekanem, who has beaten his block, from scraping over to make the play. Motuapuaka comes up on the edge, and Elliott kicks him out way too easily, leaving a wide open lane for Jones.

Ekanem and Dadi provide a much bigger weapon against the run against those counter plays. Last season on the same play, quarterback J.T. Barrett was being hit almost when he finished his fake. I was stunned that Foster didn't use the same personnel deployment that was so successful. Also, I give all the credit in the world to Zeke Elliott. He is a heck of a running back. However, if a tailback is whipping your mike linebacker with lead and kick out blocks all night long, you have a serious problem at the mike spot.

The front-four of Ekanem, Nicolas, Maddy, and Marshall represent the strength of the defense. Ekanem and Nicolas' presence as edge rushers that could get up field and then turn the corner to get to the quarterback was sorely missed. Instead, both were used almost exclusively as three-techniques. Ohio State's improved offensive line play (and reduced line splits) took away the space needed for Nicolas and Ekanem to be disruptive. Jammed up inside, both guys wore down. Given that defensive tackle depth is the strength of the team (and that Woody Baron had a great camp and the quickness that could generate penetration), I was baffled that Foster didn't at least keep four defensive linemen with one on the edge the entire game. I almost convinced myself that Foster might go the opposite extreme and play five defensive linemen—Nicolas and Ekanem both on the edge, Clarke back in a traditional backer alignment, Maddy at the nose flanked by Marshall and Baron (with Mihota rotating in for Baron and Marshall).

Liabilities in Pass Coverage

The lack of the pass rush exposed Greg Stroman and Desmond Frye in quarters and man coverage. Any cornerback, when asked to cover man-to-man for too long, will usually get beaten, and Jones' ability to extend plays when escaping pressure put even more pressure on the secondary. Again, the lack of a pass rush from the boundary, especially when the boundary was on Jones' blind side, negatively impacted every other part of the defensive plan. Even Kendall Fuller (who seemed to be laboring most of the evening and grabbing at his leg in between plays) was beaten three times from his man coverage island.

As Foster noted, Tech's defensive staff was worried about Elliott as a pass catcher. Vandyke gave the Hokies an additional coverage player who could drop off into zone coverages on the boundary side while Motupuaka blitzed. Urban Meyer won that chess match. He kept Elliott in as a blocker on most downs, and when Elliott was used in the pass structure, it was often in motion away from Vandyke to the wide side of the field.

With Elliott (and Curtis Samuel) motioning over to the wide side of the field, the Buckeyes established a rub route that conceptually was very similar to how the Hokies attacked Ohio State last season. The Hokies man coverage (often rover Desmond Frye) would motion with the tailback from his spot in the deep defensive centerfield spot. At the snap, the wide receivers would try to run off the corner and nickel to pick Frye as he ran to cover the running back in the in the flat. Here is an example from an early third down conversion.

Frye couldn't get through the pick to make the play. Ohio State cashed in one more first down using this route structure, and had another sure first down (that could have been a touchdown) prevented when Deon Clarke deflected a pass.

As the game progressed, it was clear that Foster needed to make a coverage adjustment and match up differently against the motion to trips look. I expected that we would side the field corner widen and come up on the flat, while the free safety has responsibility for the deep receiver. When the Hokies tried to execute that adjustment, Ohio State took advantage of a busted assignment and connected for their biggest offensive play of the game. Let's take a look.

Instead of having Elliot in man coverage, Frye takes deep 1/3 responsibility. A corner should be coming up to take Elliott in the flat. Unfortunately, Facyson and Stroman come up to the flat, leaving Frye isolated in in the deep third with both No. 1 Braxton Miller and No. 21 Parris Campbell wide open. Miller runs a corner route, and Campbell runs a dig route (similar to the smash route concept we saw from the Hokies last year.) Frye is in big trouble here. He hesitates when he sees Campbell open, and Miller runs by him. However, even if Frye blankets Miller, Jones has an easy 15 yard completion to Campbell, and that doesn't factor in the yards after catch. This was a bad bust by either Facyson or Stroman up front, and a good example of how Ohio State uses play concepts in repetition to build muscle memory in the defense, and then catches them off balance with a big play using the same route structure.

Miles of Room for Improvement

Credit goes to Ohio State and their offensive line for executing much better than last season. However, there were three defenders who were exposed time and time again by Ohio State's scheme and athletic superiority. Far too often, the Hokies' best guys were beaten by Ohio State's best guys, and you can't win a football game when that happens. A case in point is the Elliott touchdown that put Ohio State in front 14-0.

Ohio State runs an inside trap play with backfield action that looks like an inside zone read. The Buckeyes double team Corey Marshall (three-technique over the left guard). Ohio State center Jacoby Boren (No. 50) blocks Luther Maddy one-on-one and turns him to the outside. The pulling guard kicks out Clark (one of the few not so great moments for Clark), and Elliott is off to the races. Maddy can't be blocked one-on-one by centers, especially not given other weaknesses in the defensive personnel.

Two defensive concerns are exposed on this play.

Desmond Frye missed a tackle in space. Frye had a decent game, however his upside is limited. You can see it here where Elliott easily shrugs off Frye's attempt to tackle him low. C.J. Reavis will be missed at that spot, and I expect Adonis Alexander (who came into the game on passing downs as more of a matchup coverage player on the tight end versus Ohio State) to get some more work at rover this week against Furman.

At mike, Andrew Motuapuaka has safety help to his outside, yet he comes up to fit his gap outside of Corey Marshall's double team. With safety help outside, Motuapuaka should shoot through the inside gap into the bubble created by two blockers occupying Marshall. To make matters worse, Motuapuaka sinks up into Marshall's back, essentially making the block for the Buckeyes' guard. By being out of position, Motuapuaka widens the hole already created by Maddy losing his one-on-one matchup.

Motuapuaka really struggled in every aspect of the game against the Buckeyes. I could show you a dozen clips of Motuapuaka struggling to get off blocks (re-watch the Clark play from earlier in the column and you will see Motuapuaka struggling to shed the guard's kick-out block). He only generated pressure on a handful of mike blitzes, despite rushing on almost every passing down. Perhaps most troubling was his inability to tackle in space even when unblocked as the free hitter. Many good players have been dazzled by Zeke Elliott, however not getting a hand on him when unblocked on an inside zone? Not great Bob.

The issue is exacerbated when Cardale Jones, who has a sort of awkward elusiveness, but is hardly Barry Sanders, is able to shake Motuapuaka even when he is unblocked and Jones has little downhill momentum.

This is a huge week for Andrew Motuapuaka. Tackling in space and fitting the correct gap on zones and zone reads are the same issues that challenged Motuapuaka against Miami, Duke, and Boston College last season. Despite the coaches praising his performance in the spring, Motuapuaka struggled in the spring game. On the biggest stage, he has been exposed and all those zone and zone read teams loom on the Hokies' schedule. If Foster thinks that Motuapuaka is his best option this season, Motuapuaka needs to have a monster game against Furman to justify that rational. Otherwise, Foster can use Furman to get a look at his other options at the mike spot with minimal risk.

What are those options? Sean Huelskamp has received a ton of praise from Foster, but the former walk-on is even smaller than Motuapuaka. He may get himself into the correct position, however can he tackle good athletes in space? Carson Lydon has the physical tools to be an upgrade, however he was slotted to redshirt for a reason (likely not being ready to make the calls for the defense and get other players aligned correctly). At the backer spot, the Hokies are four deep with Clarke, Dahman McKinnon, Jamieon Moss and Tremaine Edmunds. McKinnon worked at the mike spot last year, and certainly is an upgrade in terms of athleticism. I am intrigued by the possibility of Edmunds moving inside. His future is likely playing an edge linebacker role like Clarke plays in the Bear front now. However, Edmunds high school film showed that he has tremendous bend to take on blocks on the inside despite his height and size. We haven't seen a towering mike linebacker in Chicago maroon and burnt orange since Jake Houseright. Could he be the answer if Motuapuaka can't improve his level of play? I am certainly intrigued at the possibility.