Football
By the Numbers
By Jeff Amey

Ugly. Unimpressive. Not looking like a number one team. All of these things and more were used to describe the Ohio State Buckeyes and their 28-6 win over Penn State this past Saturday. The analysts dropped the ball on this one. The win this saturday was as ugly as the weather, as unimpressive as the field conditions, and the Buckeyes did everything a number one team should do against a physically tough team in bad weather conditions to win the game. It didn't seem any of the talking heads on the television acknowledged the bad weather during the game or that the Penn State team might have done anything well at all in the game. Instead, it was "unimpressive" because the Buckeyes didn't blow the Nittany Lions out.

The stats aren't going to be much to look at, but here they are in all their glory.

Run/Pass Breakdown

51 Plays--253 Yards--5.0 ypp

22 pass (43%)--12/22 for 115 yards 1 TD 2 INT

29 runs (57%) for 138 yards 1 TD--4.8 ypc

10 Possessions

ave. of 5.1 plays--25.3 yards

Ave. start--OSU 28

1st Down--22 plays (43%) for 97 yards

7 pass (32%)--4/7 for 29 yards 1 INT

15 runs (68%) for 68 yards 1 TD--4.5 ypc

ave. gain of 4.4 yards

2nd Down--18 plays (35%) for 120 yards

10 pass (56%)--6/10 for 75 yards 1 TD 1 INT

8 runs (44%) for 45 yards--5.6 ypc

ave. of 7.4 yards to go

ave. gain of 6.7 yards

3rd Down--11 plays (22%) for 36 yards

5 pass (45%)--2/5 for 11 yards

6 runs (55%) for 25 yards--4.2 ypc

ave. of 4.8 yards to go

ave. gain of 3.3 yards

conversions--5/11 (45%)

Playaction Passing

1/4 for 3 yards 1 INT

First Downs--12

7 by run

5 by pass

FORMATION BREAKDOWN

Two back formations--17 plays (33%)

2 pass (12%)--1/2 for 3 yards 1 INT

15 runs (88%) for 67 yards 1 TD

Shotgun formations--20 plays (39%)

16 pass (80%)--9/16 for 91 yards 1 TD

4 runs (20%) for 37 yards--9.3 ypc

One back formations--14 plays (27%)

4 pass (29%)--2/4 for 21 yards 1 INT

10 runs (71%) for 34 yards--3.4 ypc

RUN TYPE BREAKDOWN--29 attempts

counter/trap--2 (7%) for 21 yards--10.5 ypc

draw--3 (10%) for 16 yards--5.3 ypc

sweep--none

end around--none

base/iso--4 (14%) for 10 yards--2.5 ypc

power--7 (24%) for 18 yards--2.6 ypc

QB run/scramble--2 (7%) for 17 yards--8.5 ypc

option--1 (3%) for 1 yard--1.0 ypc

stretch--10 (34%) for 55 yards 1 TD--5.5 ypc

Other Stats of note

* One offensive penalty

* OSU started on PSU side of the 50 one time--0 points

* One for one in red zone scoring--1 TD

* Zero sacks and 2 turnovers (2 INT)

* 15 of 51 plays took place on PSU side of 50--(29%)

* 13 of 51 plays went for no gain or loss--(25%)

* 3 sacks by OSU defense

* First quarter offensive stats--11 plays for 32 yards

As ugly and unimpressive as this game might have seemed on the surface, it really wasn't as bad as it looked. For one thing, the Penn State defense deserves a lot of credit for playing a tough, physical game in less than optimal playing conditions. Secondly, although the Ohio State players don't seem to want to acknowledge it, it seemed like the weather affected what the offense was capable of doing for most of the game. Ohio State has an explosive offense, and that explosiveness relies on a lot of speed, and it's well known that wet weather goes a long way to negating a speed advantage for any team. The weather worked in the Lion's favor and helped to equalize thing for Penn State to keep this game close.

The first half of this game was pretty much a battle for field position and the Buckeyes were on the short end of the stick for much of the half. Other than a missed opportunity on an LB James Laurinaitis' third interception of the season, the Buckeyes spent the entire half starting drives deep in their own end of the field. On the Buckeye's fourth drive of the game, starting at their own six yard line, it looked as if Ohio State might finally turn the field position problem upside down, when they downed a punt at the one yard line after moving the ball to the Penn State 38 yard line on a 14 play drive, but the Lions punted their way out of trouble after a three and out, and the Buckeyes started their next possession on their own 31.

The Buckeyes had a much better time of things in the second half of the game, coincidentally around the same time the rain seemed to lighten up a little bit. Ohio State's second drive of the second half looked more like the Buckeyes we've gotten used to seeing so far this season, with steady doses of Antonio Pittman, and Troy Smith going 4 for 5. Later in the half, we saw one of the most incredible plays of this young college football season. If you're a Buckeye fan at all, you already know which play I'm talking about. The day was ugly, and Troy Smith didn't look like a Heisman front-runner for most of the game, but that play could've only been made by a handful of quarterbacks, and I'm not sure any of them aren't in the NFL right now.

Looking at Troy's day, it's not really all that surprising considering the weather. Penn State did a decent job of getting pressure on him in passing situations, and throwing the ball well in wet weather takes more concentration on mechanics than in normal situations, otherwise quarterbacks have a tendency to overthrow and throw high balls. With the pressure the Lions were able to get on Troy, it's safe to say his mechanics weren't all they should be on several of his throws. It was a little disconcerting to see so many of his throws batted at the line, including one for an interception. The tackles look a little weak pass blocking, especially against speed guys coming around the end.

The running game, on the other hand, was fairly strong again, especially considering the Lions were bringing eight men into the box against the Buckeyes most of the time when they lined up in I formations. Antonio Pittman is really starting to come into his own running the ball, finishing with another 100+ yard game on 20 carries with another touchdown. He's really starting to become a workhorse for this offense, and in my opinion should be getting more carries per game at the expense of the other two running backs if necessary. It's now starting to look unusual when Pittman doesn't run for at least five yards every time he touches the ball.

As for the wide receivers, it wasn't really all that great of a day for them. Ted Ginn was virtually invisible in the pass game (he didn't play much in the second half due to what looked like cramps), Anthony Gonzalez finished the day with only two catches. Brian Robiskie seemed to solidify himself in the #3 receiver spot, adding three catches to the mix, one of them the receiving end of Troy Smith's incredible play early in the fourth quarter.

Overall, there are a lot of things that were glossed over, or not mentioned at all in the analyzation of the Ohio State offense this week. Weather was a factor, as was the fact that the Buckeyes only ran 51 offensive plays in the game. The Buckeyes only had 10 possessions for the game, and two of those were cut very short with interceptions on the third and second plays of the drive, and the offense missed out on two more when the Buckeye defense ran interceptions back for touchdowns late in the game. Looking at the box score, the Lions possessed the ball about 11 minutes more than the Buckeyes did for the game. Combining all of these factors, it should be no surprise that the Buckeye offensive numbers weren't as high as they have been through the first three games.

Flipping over to the defense, it was somewhat of a coming out party for a young group finally coming into their own. Penn State halfback Tony Hunt finished the game with 138 yards on 24 carries, but that was really the only player to do anything against the defense for the Lions. The longest pass play Penn State managed for the game was 13 yards, but bear in mind that the Penn State offense was facing the same problems with the passing game as the Buckeyes. The biggest difference in the game to me was how each team performed in third down short yardage situations. Penn State only managed to get one first down in a short yardage third down, and converted a fourth down late in the game. Ohio State, on the other hand, converted four different times on third down and 2 or less situations, all of them on their longest drives of the game (2 on the 14 play drive in the first half, and 1 each in the two TD drives).

The defensive line as a whole dominated the Penn State offensive line most of the game, getting good pressure on QB Anthony Morelli in passing situations and disrupting the running game on many occasions. Tony Hunt managed one long run of 34 yards during the game, but other than that, the longest run for the Lions was 9 yards. The defensive line is becoming a true force for opposing offenses to deal with, and is making life a lot easier for the back seven in the process.

With the defensive line wreaking havoc up front again, the linebackers and safeties were generally able to flow to the ball quickly and effectively unimpeded by blockers. It looks as if James Laurinaitis is truly starting to become a leader on the field, and added his third interception of the season to go along with his team-high 10 tackles. What started the season looking like the weakness of the Ohio State defense is slowly developing into a strength.

Not much has been said about the Ohio State defensive backfield so far this season, mainly because they haven't really seemed to be tested so far, but it looks as if there is a good reason why they haven't. Opposing offenses have completed a lot of passes on this defense so far, but have had very little success when going downfield with the ball, so most of the completions have been underneath the coverage. Malcolm Jenkins is asserting himself as one of the top corners in the nation with his play so far this season. We may not end up really knowing how good he is because he is being tested so seldom, but with the exception of one long pass caught in front of him, has passed every test.

Despite any explanations of why the offense might have struggled this week, the fact that the Buckeyes only gained 253 yards against a team that was blown out by Notre Dame is going to cause some apprehension heading into next week's game with the Iowa Hawkeyes. If the weather is better in that game, I don't think we'll see the same kind of problems moving the ball as we saw this week, and with the defense showing improvement every week, we should all be feeling better about this team's chances to run the table this season.

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