"Will Howard doesn't need to be great. Manage the game, limit turnovers, and let the skill players do the rest". This was a comment that I made on the 11W post announcing Howard's arrival. I doubt there are many Buckeye fans that would disagree with that statement. Well...here we are. And unless a reconfigured O-line finds fairy dust, Will Howard...you need to be great.
This film study is going to be very nitpicky. But guess what? When you can't run the ball, and the protection isn't holding up, the QB is going to have to play with near perfection in order to have consistent success. You have to be nitpicky. In this film, you will see how improved play from Will Howard, could have overcame the otherwise sluggish performance from the offense.
RPO's have been Howard's bread and butter this year. But for some reason, that was not the case in this game. While Henderson makes a fantastic play to pick up a good gain, Howard misreads it. Emeka Egbuka is wide open for a potential 91 yard touchdown. Howard knows it too, as he puts his hands on his helmet as soon as he realizes his mistake.
A 21-6 point lead would've felt a whole lot different than a 14-6 lead. Yes I know, scoring a TD is not a given if this play wasn't poorly executed, but it would've had a chance. This is the play that concerns me more than any other, and that is simply because it has been a theme for Howard. When opposing defenses change out of their base coverage, Howard has a tendency to lock onto a WR. Here, Howard is expecting Cover-1/3, meaning EE is going to get open. However, Nebraska rotates into Cover-4, but Howard's eyes never leave EE. JJ Smith is wide open at the bottom of the screen. Howard doesn't see him, and fumbles the ball.
More telegraphed balls. Howard is looking for a simple high/low read with JJ and EE. However, this play is ran into the boundary which really limits spacing. Combined that with his eyes being locked onto it, Nebraska DB's easily react. Had he got off his initial read, he would've found Judkins for a checkdown and likely a 1st down. Howard messed up here, but I also don't enjoy flood concepts ran to the short side of the field, especially on a 3rd and short.
This is either a poor decision or a floated throw. I'm leaning towards a floated throw. Let me explain what happened on this play, and I will do so showing a play from earlier in the game.
Both of these plays are related. They are slot fades to Emeka Egbuka. In both instances, Ohio State uses motion to identify Cover-1 or Cover-3. If the defensive player follows the WR, it is man. If the defense simply shifts with the motion, it is zone. On the 2nd play, Nebraska is clearly playing man defense, which makes the read to EE be a deep route over the top. However, when it is zone, like on the interception, the read is a quick pass to the ear hole of EE. QB's are taught to throw the ball as soon as the WR gets to the underneath defender. Howard does this. You can see him in his throwing motion as soon as EE is locked up with the underneath defender. But the pass sails, and because it is Cover-3, the corner is "switching" with the underneath defender to take the deep route. It honest to goodness looks like Howard is trying to throw a laser with how fast his arm is moving, but the ball simply floats. Which is also another common sight we see from him.
This is nitpicky as hell. But remember what I said, you have to be nitpicky if the entire offense falls on the shoulder of the QB. This HAS to be a quicker throw. With good pass-pro, Howard can get away with holding the ball a tad, and waiting for his WR to get open. But without pass-pro, he is going to have to be CJ Stroud, and throw the ball as WR's are in their break. Howard has to know EE is going to get separation on that Safety, and throw it as he is breaking, instead of waiting for him to get open.
Another RPO mis-read. OSU would fail on 3rd and short on the next play. EE is wide open on the quick curl, but Howard hands the ball of instead. In previous games, this error would go unnoticed, as OSU would've picked up that 3rd and 1. But with no running game, there is no room for these mistakes.
I love Will Howard. IMO, this performance was better than I even expected him to be at the start of the year. His deep ball looked better. But to reiterate once again, if we cannot run the ball, Howard is going to have to buy a back brace, and put this team on his back. The question: Can he do it? One way to do that, is to make coaching adjustments. With this in mind, let's look at the final scoring drive for OSU, which looked sooo easy, compared to everything else we saw.
Remember the interception? Chip Kelly sure did. They run the exact same play here, only this time, the inside WR runs a quick-out and go, which leaves 1 deep defender to cover 2. Easy big gain. That is an in-game adjustment.
A couple plays later, OSU shows their next adjustment. Nebraska was having loads of success getting to the inside of the LT and penetrating the backfield. OSU uses that against them and calls a QB draw RPO to the void left by the inside penetrating DE. Howard reads the overhang defender playing Scott. It is either a curl route pass, or a QB run.
On that short 4th down, OSU runs a very similar play as the failed 3rd and 3 play shown above. Only this time, they take the pass-pro out of the equation by making it a designed roll-out. Adjusting to their issues.
How do you help your LT run-block? Hell make him not even HAVE to block. A designed zone-read to the LT spot means the LT doesn't even have to worry about his assignment, and can get upfield. Again...adjusting to your issues.
My summary from this game: Will Howard wasn't perfect. That was the initial point of this. Regardless of the stat line and his career record passer rating, he had issues putting the team on his back. However, Chip Kelly and Ryan Day did nothing whatsoever to help him until they trailed 17-14. It looked like a flip of the switch on TV. And it was a flip of the switch, as OSU actually started to play away from their weaknesses, whether it was through zone-reads or roll-outs. And also, OSU started using what Nebraska was doing against them.
This was a weird game, in part because OSU only ran 47 plays. That, in itself, is going to delay how fast you can make in-game adjustments. This game quite literally could have been 38-17 without a few mistakes, which is why the advanced analytics tell you that OSU was actually one of the more dominant teams last weekend. The problem is that those same mistakes will cost OSU the game this weekend.
