"It's very useful. Very similar offenses."
Those were the words of Urban Meyer just days ago when asked about how useful the film of Houston's recent 33-23 win over Oklahoma will be as he prepares to face the Sooners. Of course, the Cougars are led by Tom Herman, Meyer's former offensive coordinator, and run an offensive system that closely mirrors that of his former team in Columbus.
Though Herman has made some tweaks to his playbook over the past two seasons, refining it to fit his personnel and leaning more on some of his own philosophies, it's hard not to watch his current team and picture J.T. Barrett running the offense in place of Greg Ward. For the Sooners, that's not exactly a welcome sight, given that Ward lit up their defense to the tune of 321 passing yards in the upset victory.
For those that didn't flip over during Ohio State's drubbing of Bowling Green that was played at the same time, Houston didn't simply dominate that week one matchup entirely.
"...it's not like they methodically moved the ball down the field on them," Meyer noted. "They made some big plays on them, and great two or three back shoulder throws, couple isolation passing routes and little trick play(s), the tailback swing out on the backfield, but it wasn't a methodical beating."
Turnovers and a now-famous 109-yard field goal return for a touchdown eventually tipped the scales in favor of Herman's team, meaning Meyer can't simply copy Herman's game plan and expect to come out a victor in this Saturday night's matchup in Norman. However, there are a few keys that the coach can take away when looking back at the tape of his former protege's big win.
Take It Outside
This story will sound familiar to regular Film Study readers: "in an effort to disrupt the base, inside running game of a spread offense, the defense aligns with an odd-man front."
Just as the Buckeyes regularly saw over the past two seasons, Oklahoma countered with a physical, three-man defensive front looking to force double-team blocks and stuff the inside run.
Unlike many of the teams we saw show this look against Ohio State, this isn't a change in philosophy for Bob Stoops' defense, but rather their base look. The key to the front is senior nose tackle Jordan Wade (#93), who is often asked to 'two-gap' and control both gaps on either side of the center, while the other members of the OU front look to penetrate the remaining run gaps.
Wade and his compatriots mostly succeeded in stuffing the Houston interior running game, limiting them to only 89 yards rushing, the lowest total since Herman took over the program. Luckily, the Buckeyes have plenty of counters to establish the run outside the tackles, with traps, sweeps, and counters specifically.
The Cougars found some success with similar concepts, specifically 'G Sweeps' to the wide side of the field, pulling both guards to lead the running back outside (and creating a potential cutback lane).
While the Sooners run a 3-4 defense in name, the jobs of the outside linebackers are far different, and should be attacked as such. Strong-side linebacker Will Johnson (#12) plays a role similar to the one formerly occupied by Darron Lee at Ohio State, splitting the difference between a slot receiver and the last interior lineman, and playing more like a defensive back than a true linebacker. Though his speed is key in stopping the passing game, he's no match physically for a pulling guard.
Conversely, weak-side linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo (#31) plays like a stand-up defensive end, rushing the backfield on nearly every play and providing little help in coverage. Instead of running right at him, the Cougars found success with Jet Sweeps and Tunnel Screens (as seen below), using his penetrating abilities against him and leaving the offense with more players at the point of attack.
The Buckeyes should follow this path and attack the alleys in similar manners, getting Curtis Samuel and Dontre Wilson the ball as quickly as possible to Okronkwo's side, while trying to run right at Johnson when possible. Not only does this attack the Sooners at their weakest points, it forces the big, physical defensive line to run laterally, which could wear them down and eventually open up the inside run game in the process.
Back-Shoulder Blues
With Johnson often working so far outside, the Sooners like to replace him in run support with one of their safeties, meaning they're regularly in 1-high safety looks, much like the ones we've seen lately from the Ohio State secondary. Unfortunately for OU fans, the results haven't been the same.
Ward and the Cougars picked on cornerbacks Dakota Austin (#27) and Jordan Thomas (#7) all afternoon, sending big receivers like 6'3" Steven Dunbar on deep vertical routes. Austin and Thomas are both good athletes and seemed to have little trouble running with Dunbar, but given that they're all alone with no safety help as they ran down the sidelines, there was little they could do when Ward would throw to his receiver's back shoulder.
Meyer's quarterbacks haven't been known to throw a ton of passes in this manner, although we did begin to see some go Michael Thomas' way in the back half of last season. As the Buckeyes look to identify a new go-to possession receiver in this mold, the chance to make big plays on such a stage may be just the opportunity Noah Brown has needed to step up into this role.
With a big 6'2" frame, Brown outweighs both Sooner corners by at least 25 lbs, meaning he should have no trouble fighting for position with either player (assuming they can find the ball first). But regardless of who is on the receiving end, the OU corners are simply asking to be taken advantage of in this manner by keeping their heads turned away from the backfield, unable to find the ball in the air until it's too late.
Game-Breaking Backs
Although the Buckeyes are most similar to Houston on the offensive side, there is still plenty for Meyer and his staff to take away defensively, simply from a personnel standpoint. When asked about whether Herman gave him any specific tips in their discussions this week, the OSU head coach noted, "We did talk to Tom. Just got their thoughts on personnel. Because you see what you see on videotape."
What anyone can see on videotape is that although quarterback Baker Mayfield was touted as a Heisman candidate in the preseason, the most critical pieces of the Sooner offense are running backs Samaje Perine (#32) and Joe Mixon (#25). The duo both carry heavy loads in the Sooner backfield, and often line up there at the same time.
Perine is known to be the better inside runner, a 235 lb ball of muscle that is no fun for anyone to tackle. However, he's also a capable receiver, regularly releasing from the backfield and losing the linebacker assigned to him in coverage before forcing much smaller defensive backs to make tackles in space.
But although Perine may get more carries, Mixon is the far more dangerous receiver. In many ways, he is Mayfield's #2 target behind receiver Dede Westbrook, and showed everyone in Houston why. After breaking a 32-yard touchdown run off a counter-trey concept on the game's opening drive, he'd follow it up with a 60-yard reception right down the middle of the field on the next possession.
As we can see above, Mixon releases from the backfield with four receivers split out wide, attracting the attention of the Houston safeties and leaving the speedy back one-on-one with a middle linebacker in coverage. While most Buckeye fans would put their own middle linebacker, Raekwon McMillan, up against anyone else nationally at the position, I doubt they'd like to see him forced to run 40 yards downfield with a back like Mixon.
As the OSU defense has shifted to more man coverage this fall, the likelihood of a linebacker getting stuck on Mixon in pass coverage is high, and one that free safety Malik Hooker will have to help with as he roams centerfield. However, the Buckeyes should try to get strong safety Damon Webb matched up with the Sooner running back in these scenarios, but they'll need to communicate and watch for the misdirection the Oklahoma offense uses to get their backs sprung free. This chess match will certainly be one to watch.
The Inside Job
Perhaps more than any other, the question surrounding the outcome of the Houston-Oklahoma game was 'why didn't Oklahoma run the ball more?'
Perine and Mixon each tallied only six carries each that afternoon, a questionable number even before looking at their solid yards-per-carry totals of 5.2 and 6.7 respectively. But once you remove Mixon's touchdown run and Perine's game-long of 15 yards, each player's average dropped significantly. For that, they can thank Ed Oliver.
Oliver is, of course, the first five-star recruit to ever sign with a school outside of a 'Power-5' conference, and the crown jewel of Herman's recruiting efforts thus far in Houston. In his debut for the Cougars, he made it clear that any praise heaped his way in high school was well-founded.
Seen above wearing #10, Oliver quickly reads the outside zone step of the opposing guard and penetrates so quickly that the tackle (#78) can't even get a hand on him. Although he doesn't make the tackle, he forces Perine right into the arms of one of his teammates, stuffing the play almost entirely by himself.
Oliver abused the Sooner line with his athleticism, racking up seven tackles and two sacks on the afternoon. But unfortunately, he won't be lining up in Scarlet and Gray for the Buckeyes this Saturday.
Luckily, the Ohio State defensive line should have some pieces of their own to replicate his performance. With the injury to Tracy Sprinkle in week one leaving the unit short-handed at defensive tackle, a bulked-up Jalyn Holmes has begun seeing more snaps on the inside.
While the Sooner offensive line is certainly not lacking in size or strength, averaging 6'4" and 315 lbs apiece, Oliver showed that they can be beaten with quickness, meaning Holmes may finally have his opportunity to shine. If he, or any of the other Buckeye 'Rushmen' aren't up to the task, it may be a long night for the entire defense.
