September 25, 2007
Bucked-Up – Totally Owned
Much can be said, and little need be said regarding the passion play
that unfolded on the banks of the Olentangy River, in the venerable
‘Shoe. However, a single phrase can sum it all up: Totally
Owned.
The Wildcat-BuckNut mismatch was overwhelming. This disparity in
football skill sets isn’t any new revelation, but what has become
apparent is that the product on the field is the direct result of the
mentorship given that product. In short, the 2007 NU football
team is what we thought they were – not very good. It’s not that
the individuals on NU’s team have that much less talent than what the
BuckNuts field, it’s that the team lacks the direction and mentorship
to mold them into an effective unit to compete with the Big Dogs on
their schedule. Lack of mentorship in teaching the correct,
effective blocking, tackling, read & react techniques; lack of
mentorship in formulating a comprehensive game plan that can exploit
what holes the opposition present; lack of mentorship during game week
preparations to communicate the nuances of the aforementioned game plan
and practice those offensive & defensive formations and plays based
on those effective field play techniques; lack of mentorship in making
the proper real-time, field play adjustments to effectively counter
what the opposition is trying to exploit against your team; and most of
all, lack of mentorship in instilling the “want-to” hunger in their
players to execute under pressure.
When appropriate mentorship is not provided, breakdowns in field play
occur. In this game, the breakdowns were widespread and complete
– from the offense, to the defense and right on through the kicking
game.
Unfortunately, when it comes to mentorship, it all starts from the top
and trickles down through the individuals on the coaching staff.
And I’m talking HC Pat Fitzgerald. Simply stated, what we Wildcat supporters have witnessed in the first 4 games
in 2007 is his learning curve. And it ain’t pretty. IMHO,
as a newbie HC, Fitz is doing what any reasonable football fan would
expect of a relatively inexperienced head coach, meaning: delegate
responsibility and depend on his senior staff members to do their jobs
and direct their individual squads on what to do to get the “W”.
Unfortunately, the coaching deficiencies that have been revealed in
past seasons are now grossly magnified, primarily because a
30-something HC really can’t personally mentor staff members who are
10-25 years his senior. It’s equivalent to telling your parents
or grandparents what to do. Whatever recommendations or
admonitions you communicate, as appropriate and correct for the
scenario at hand that they might be; in the end, the old folks are
gonna do what they feel is best regardless of the advice given.
And right now the offensive and defensive coaching staffs are not
mentoring their troops well at all, and the field play of the team
reflects this
shortfall.
Most unfortunate, this headless horseman was on full display in front
of a Midwest broadcast on network TV, and its ramifications could be
far reaching.
So rather than belabor the commonly well known, I’ll attempt to be brief in my post-game commentary.
How the BuckNuts Owned the ‘Cats
Steam-Rolled
Obviously, game film unveiled a major deficiency in the NU kick-off
return game plan. Simply stated, NU’s kick return blocking was
soft and could be had. From the opening boot, the BuckNut
kick-off coverage just steamrolled the ‘Cats' return blocking schemes
to the point where it looked like there wasn’t a blocking scheme at
all. The members of the BuckNut suicide squad sprinted full bore,
blasted through the soft blocks, and met the ball with extreme
prejudice. It didn’t help matters that the BuckNut place kicker
was able to drive the ball 50 feet high and routinely drop it near or
past NU’s goal line - with a full 6 seconds hang time. What a
defensive weapon! Those 6 seconds were just enough for the
BuckNuts to shed the token resistance blocking and converge at the
return man then lay heavy lumber on him consistently around NU’s 15
yard line.
And dOSU repeated the process over, and over and over – forcing the
‘Cat O to look at very long green. Fitz and his special team’s
kick-off preparation were wholly inadequate to counter this juggernaut,
giving up deep field position to the BuckNuts on every kick-off.
Hellova way to start a war…
Lightning War
Blitzkrieg... or, Lightning War. Again, the BuckNuts identified
another glaring hole in the ‘Cat offense: NU’s OL just doesn’t pick up a
blitz well – even against weak-sister defenses like the Dookie Blue
Imps. From NU’s first offensive series through all of H-1, the
BuckNut defensive braintrust used well-disguised blitz packages to
penetrate the NU backfield and compress the field of the ball
carrier. Especially effective was the zone blitz, where the
BuckNut D would rush the MLB and an outside LB into gaps opened by the
DE & DT on a side opposite NU’s TE formation, giving a 4 against 3
blocking numbers mismatch, while the opposite side would drop off a DE
into short zone coverage against the TE and the DT would just “take-up
space” or drive the soft NU DT 3 yards into the NU backfield. And
similar to the Dookie game, the befuddled ‘Cat OL didn’t recognize the
defensive move and “peel off” the uncovered/free opposite side pass
blocker to provide inside-out protection to even the numbers of the
blitz. On television, NU’s OL resembled a sieve, with one or more
blitz defenders gaining an unopposed route into the NU backfield to
search out and meet the ball.
And meet the ball they did. The BuckNut defensive front 7 looked
lightning quick compared to the slow-reacting and labored ‘Cat blockers
who appeared to be playing in knee-deep mud. The result: ‘Cat RBs
gained a miniscule 18 yards on 17 rushes – for the entire 1st
half!!!. Strictly overwhelmed. NU’s QB, C.J. Bacher, fared
worse, completing 8 passes for 30 yards total in H-1, and was sacked 3
times in NU’s first 4 possessions, one of which was fumbled and the
ball picked up by the BuckNut D and subsequently run back for an giftie
TD. Stink-Ola!!!
All the while, NU OC Garrick McGee had absolutely no answer. His
game plan was totally blown up by the All-out penetration strategy of
the dOSU defensive front 7 and he was forced to call 3-step drop-back
passes and designed roll-out plays, which vaguely resembled the Nevada
“pistol” offensive attack that the ‘Cats faced 2 weeks prior.
Regrettably, all NU did, when executing this poorly planned offensive
strategy, was shoot themselves in the foot time and time again, while
the BuckNut D’s LOS penetration pinned the ‘Cat O deep in their side of
the gridiron on every possession. This was BuckNut HC Jim
Tressel’s genius defensive game plan, specifically geared towards
maintaining superior field position and setting up his O for
short-field drives.
Mr. McGoo’s offensive vision was not only myopic, his original
play-book and any possible variant adjustments that might have been
conceived looked wholly clueless in the face of this juggernaut
defensive assault. And on the sidelines, broadcast cameras
focused on Fitz clapping his hands after each overwhelmed offensive series
got stoned.
Rah-Rah, Boys!!!
Demos-lition Man
Contributing to NU’s field position woes was NU’s punting game turned
putrid. Whereas in prior games, NU’s quality punter, Stefan Demos
had been a dependable beacon of playmaking hope, he fell apart in the
face of the unrelenting defensive pressure of the BuckNuts, as did NU’s
poor punt coverage squad. If Demos wasn’t shanking his boots (one
for 18 yards and another for 24), his good punts were returned
constantly inside the NU 45, giving the 8th-ranked BuckNut O consistent
short fields. Not the best way to help a beleaguered, overwhelmed
defense.
Crispy Critters
To say the Wildcat CBs were the toast of the game would be a poignant
understatement. While the infamous Colby Cushion coverage
technique allowed the BuckNut WRs a free release off the LOS for
virtually the entire game, their deep pass patterns transformed the NU
corners into Purple traffic cones. Obviously, previous game films
directed the dOSU offensive braintrust to paint a bullseye on CB Dante
Battle in particular, as he was summarily scorched on 2 long-distance
TD play-action passes in the first 2 BuckNut possessions - with a mere
3:30 having elapsed in Q1.
Mmmm, aged over five years!
The BuckNut carnage continued as they scored another 2 TDs – the 1st on
a short field, 5-play drive off a punt that was returned 21 yards to
the NU 31, and the 2nd off the second of 5 Bacher sacks and a
subsequent forced fumble that was converted into an easy 25-yard scoop
& scoot TD by veteran BuckNut LB, Gholston.
With 5:20 left in Q1, NU had dug its own 4-TD-to-zippo grave,
stumbled-in headfirst and were declared dead at the
scene.
Colby’s Swiss Cheese defensive schemes had gone one up on itself – now his gameplan was Shredded Swiss Cheese.
Conclusion
Ouch… After the 5th BuckNut TD off another vertical pass at the
start of Q2, dOSU’s HC Tressel called off the balanced attack dogs, and
restricted his play-calling primarily to rushes to burn clock and limit
the blood-letting. By the end of H-1, even the broadcasters had
little to add but their vocal sympathy to the newbie Fitz and his
devastated team.
When Simmons’ 99 opening kick-off return for TD kept NU from doughnut
land at the start of H-2, Tressel let one last play action pass fly –
which of course was converted for another TD. After that, the
BuckNuts substituted freely and the game was essentially over as the
‘Cat O continued to struggle mightily in its feeble attempts to
establish anything remotely resembling a true scoring drive.
I don’t know what to say at this point. I’m still gonna support
the ’Cats, but this evisceration at the hands of Division 1A’s No. 8
team was nothing less than a late afternoon “Nightmare on Central
Street”.
The coaching staff has got to get their collective acts together and
motivate this demoralized squad. The Dazed & Blue Horde are
coming to town for a possible sequel to this replay from the Dark Ages.
I want to see fire across a competitive team.
The Waterboy
|
The Waterboy is a former football player
and a Northwestern
alumnus. Aside from these facts, he has no affiliation with
Northwestern University. The commentary he posts here is his
own, and does not necessarily reflect the views of HailToPurple.com.
