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Looking forward to tonight's rematch. Spent a little time this morning going through Ohio State's previous games to get a better feel for what they bring to the table. Certainly not as talented as last year's team(insane defense), but still plenty of horses to cause problems.
Day and the Bucks are going to come out with A LOT of emotion. How that is handled early on will dictate much of the remainder of the game IMO. Notable that OSU does a great job at scripting early drives. Scored FG/TD on first 2 drives last year against Clemson to seize momentum.
This year, Ohio State has scored a TD on it's first possession in every game except the last one against Northwestern. Still got a FG, but had several pieces missing on offense as well so hard to gauge.
In watching OSU's offense, two guys really stand out. Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave. Easy to see why they pushed for covid rule change to allow for Olave to come back, as I'm not sure they have much of shot without him.
These guys are pretty scary. Olave typically lined up outside against top corner(DK likely gets him). Wilson often lined up in slot...they look for mismatch against LB or safety. This is concerning with Nolan Turner out first half, tough matchup 1-on-1 for Zanders or Charleston.
Might see V go with Greene at nickel against Wilson, as Malcolm showed out against ND a couple weeks ago. Here's an example of what they like to do with Wilson.
They follow that up with inside slant for a TD.
Fields is a strong QB, but he tends to lock into his 1st read majority of time and telegraph throws. He tries to go to the well again against IND and gets baited into this. Look forward to seeing the looks and mind games that Coach V tries to play.
Another example of how Wilson is utilized...getting him into space.
Why you have to be disciplined on the backend. OSU likes this hard PA deep look. Watch Wilson fake the block and then hit the jets getting behind the defense.
Moving over to Olave. This matchup is scary because it brings back memories of Zay Flowers giving the Tigers problems earlier this year. I would expect OSU to take a few shots early to Olave to test the CBs and refs, looking for either big play reception of interference call.
With Olave, it's critical that DK and Booth are full strength and available tonight. Not comfortable with Olave matching up with anyone else. If DK is ready to move on and wants an NFL shot, this is his "money game."
Fields is going Olave all the way with 1-on-1 coverage. Corner is all over him, it's just a better throw and catch. He's a playmaker.
Not only can he beat you over the top, but he gets in and out of his breaks really well. Easy separation here. Corners get so concerned about the deep ball, that it opens up everything underneath.
Olave with a little out and up for the deep ball TD. What's notable here is that PSU's corner went out and backup came in. OSU quickly diagnosed and took their shot. That's why if say DK goes out for a series and Goodrich is in, I'd expect a shot.
IMO Clemson's best bet is to play bend but don't break. Don't let Olave/Wilson spring big plays, force Fields to drive the ball and work through progressions. Notable that OSU is 102nd in RZ offense(62% TD rate) and Clemson is 29th in RZ defense(53% TD rate).
Moving to the other side of the ball, it's been pretty well documented by everyone that OSU's defense(especially secondary) has dropped off. If Clemson wins coin toss, I wouldn't be surprised if Dabo gave ball to Trevor immediately to try and set the tone.
There are certainly some issues in the backend, and not sure it's something that can be shored up in two weeks. Perhaps to biggest liability to Ohio St in only having 6 games to work with...young players getting up to speed, guys playing new positions, little change to gel.
As far as the OC situation goes, the gameplan and script of first few drives is already in place. The interesting time for Streeter/Dabo will be 2nd Q and 2nd half as offensive adjustments have to be made. Fortunately, there's this TL guy that's like having an OC on the field.
Few examples of Ohio State's issues against the passing game. This is just too easy. Not sure if CB expected help over the top or just got beat.
