Fulton Analysis: Mixing it up

Like their offensive counterparts, the Ohio State defense faced some early struggles against the Indiana offense – partly due to the Buckeyes’ simplified approach. But Ohio State was largely able to limit the Hoosiers’ offense in the last two and a half quarters, through a combination of mixing coverage and defensive line pressure from multiple units.

Indiana’s game plan largely recognized that they would be largely unsuccessful running the football against Ohio State. So the Hoosiers sought to use tempo and pace to throw almost exclusively outside fade and fade stop routes in an attempt to neutralize the Buckeyes’ pass rush and isolate Ohio State’s inexperienced corners.

Indiana succeeded early with this approach behind the stellar play of quarterback Richard Lagow, who threw those aforementioned back shoulder routes with anticipation and accuracy, and its wide receivers, led by Simmie Cobbs Jr., who made several one-handed sideline catches.

But they were aided in their efforts by the Buckeyes playing almost exclusively cover 1 man-free (man coverage with a single deep safety) early.

In other words, Indiana designed a game plan around pass plays that attack man corner coverage, and Ohio State almost exclusively used that scheme. Without having to worry about reading coverage, Lagow could confidently throw his first read at the bottom of his drop, allowing his wide receivers to plant and come back to the football even against tight corner coverage.