Why did we pass it 42 times?

[NittanyLionRoar]

We’re in a close defensive matchup on the road against a top 5 team with a young quarterback and a very green wide receiver room. Yet we throw the ball 42 times? After Singleton and Allen were showing they could get room on the ground?

The frustration and disgust on Singleton’s face was palpable after he ripped off a couple of the best runs of the season early in the game and then we never tried those runs with him again. Instead, he had to watch stupid flea flickers and double passes get completely blown up and 30 more pass plays for which the wide receivers are running god knows what direction.

 

[rrdd2021]

Maybe adjustments by OSU? We don't see what goes on in the coaching chess match.

 

[Rip_E_2_Joe_PA]

We’re in a close defensive matchup on the road against a top 5 team with a young quarterback and a very green wide receiver room. Yet we throw the ball 42 times? After Singleton and Allen were showing they could get room on the ground?

The frustration and disgust on Singleton’s face was palpable after he ripped off a couple of the best runs of the season early in the game and then we never tried those runs with him again. Instead, he had to watch stupid flea flickers and double passes get completely blown up and 30 more pass plays for which the wide receivers are running god knows what direction.

This and a delayed handoff b******* Are the questions of the week.

 

[okinburg1]

#geniusYurcichknowsbest

 

[lazydave841]

Yet we throw the ball 42 times?

I think the lack of 3rd down conversions plays a part in this, but the play calling just didn't seem to match our season MO, and it failed to capitalize on our early rushing success (Allen gets 6 yards on 1st down, we then throw twice; Singleton rips off 20 and 15 yard runs and we proceeded to throw 3 times after that).

The offense also seems to lack a true check down to the RBs as an outlet on most passes, yet when we finally tried one Allar throws it behind Singleton and Nick fails to catch it. Of courses, in the shadow of our own end zone didn't quite feel like the place to break that out either.

Portions of our playbook seem missing as well. What happened to the rollout where our TE crosses left to right with a WR running a crossing route behind it? Flood concept. Didn't see that play once. No quick screens to the WRs. Not enough slants, the one pass was accurate on.


Run game you said? I dunno. It's like we were ashamed to try it. Did the media really hurt our coaches feelings to the point where we gave up running the ball 3 yards and a cloud of dust?

Also, if our TEs can't run block effectively, how about we do something different? Bring in Shelton, go 6 OL. Go 4 WR, spread em out and force smaller boxes.

 

[LionDeNittany]

Maybe adjustments by OSU? We don't see what goes on in the coaching chess match.

Neither did our OC

 

[Ian]

No sure our offensive coaches are that creative or responsive to what’s going on. Adjustments at the half “game” was definitely won by the Buckeyes defensive staff. PSU didn’t adjust at all.

 

[cubfan3]

I think the lack of 3rd down conversions plays a part in this, but the play calling just didn't seem to match our season MO, and it failed to capitalize on our early rushing success (Allen gets 6 yards on 1st down, we then throw twice; Singleton rips off 20 and 15 yard runs and we proceeded to throw 3 times after that).

The offense also seems to lack a true check down to the RBs as an outlet on most passes, yet when we finally tried one Allar throws it behind Singleton and Nick fails to catch it. Of courses, in the shadow of our own end zone didn't quite feel like the place to break that out either.

Portions of our playbook seem missing as well. What happened to the rollout where our TE crosses left to right with a WR running a crossing route behind it? Flood concept. Didn't see that play once. No quick screens to the WRs. Not enough slants, the one pass was accurate on.


Run game you said? I dunno. It's like we were ashamed to try it. Did the media really hurt our coaches feelings to the point where we gave up running the ball 3 yards and a cloud of dust?

Also, if our TEs can't run block effectively, how about we do something different? Bring in Shelton, go 6 OL. Go 4 WR, spread em out and force smaller boxes.

Amen! All season long on short yardage we ran a QB push play or that T formation with both backs. against OSU we didn’t run those plays at all. Now if that ball isn’t tipped Lambert Smith may still be running, but on the road you try and milk the clock. We went away from what was successful this season so far.

 

[lazydave841]

Our RBs: 18 rushes, 74 yards.

Their RBs: 33 for 84.

 

[jbenedict]

No sure our offensive coaches are that creative or responsive to what’s going on. Adjustments at the half “game” was definitely won by the Buckeyes defensive staff. PSU didn’t adjust at all.

This seems to be the case in many games

 

[okinburg1]

Our RBs: 18 rushes, 74 yards.

Their RBs: 33 for 84.

Trust #geniusYurcichknowsbest

Singleton rips off 2 nice runs back to back? Don't 'run it til they stop us,' that's far too 'old school, impose your will on them' for PSU. Go fancy, mix it up and throw 3 times in a row. Not scoring will always confuse the other team.

 

[PSU Soupy]

second half tOSU seemed to say we are not going to let the RPO run to #13 or #10 beat us.......perhaps that is when we need to scrap the RPO and go to more conventional runs or if the RPO, then have Allar keep it a few times as the O stands for Option........

 

[KnightWhoSaysNit]

The thing that bothers me about our offense is that it centers on a mesh point that tends to not only delay the play, but also distract the quarterback from making a downfield read and handcuffs our running backs. I think that's fine as a play but not as a staple. I felt the same way when we had Barkley. Just so many ways to use running back talent like that. I thought our backs were far superior to what OSU had on the field.

To win this game with that game plan our wide receivers were expected to beat man coverage when it was pretty much a given going into this game that this was not going to happen. So what did happen? It did not work. We didn't adjust, and Allar lost confidence and imploded. We had no answer except trick plays, which fail for the same reasons.

If you want to know how really detached from reality was our leadership, we go for it on 4th down on our own side of the field when we hadn't made a 3rd down conversion to that point in the game.

I don't put this loss on the kids. That was a total mind-numbing lack of preparation and sanity for the biggest game of the year when we had weeks of time to get it done.

 

[Rip_E_2_Joe_PA]

The thing that bothers me about our offense is that it centers on a mesh point that tends to not only delay the play, but also distract the quarterback from making a downfield read and handcuffs our running backs. I think that's fine as a play but not as a staple. I felt the same way when we had Barkley. Just so many ways to use running back talent like that. I thought our backs were far superior to what OSU had on the field.

To win this game with that game plan our wide receivers were expected to beat man coverage when it was pretty much a given going into this game that this was not going to happen. So what did happen? It did not work. We didn't adjust, and Allar lost confidence and imploded. We had no answer except trick plays, which fail for the same reasons.

If you want to know how really detached from reality was our leadership, we go for it on 4th down on our own side of the field when we hadn't made a 3rd down conversion to that point in the game.

I don't put this loss on the kids. That was a total mind-numbing lack of preparation and sanity for the biggest game of the year when we had weeks of time to get it done.

This!

 

[proud2bpsufan]

Trust #geniusYurcichknowsbest

Singleton rips off 2 nice runs back to back? Don't 'run it til they stop us,' that's far too 'old school, impose your will on them' for PSU. Go fancy, mix it up and throw 3 times in a row. Not scoring will always confuse the other team.

Singleton needs to be trusted and given the opportunity to carry the rock 20 times at least once this season. It should have been this game after how he started with some nice runs. Let Allen spell him when he gets tired. This strategy of giving them 50/50 carries is good against weaker teams to keep them healthy for the big games. However, giving the ball to the best athlete on the offense more often is necessary in a big game like OSU. He has the biggest playmaking potential on the offensive side and I guarantee he was pi**ed yesterday. Get him the ball in any way possible so he can make plays. Franklin has to be careful about losing a player like him to the transfer portal if he doesn't feel he's being utilized to his full potential at PSU.

 

[johnmpsu]

When it's 3rd and 3 on your side of the field and you plan to go for it on 4th down. RUN the damn ball. If you can't get 3 yards on 2 plays with those running backs then the problem is in the coaches room.

Early on when it's 3rd and less than 1. RUN the damn ball. What's wrong with keeping the other guys offense off the field.

With that talent, it was the worst play calling I think I've ever seen.

PS Gadget plays usually don't work against good teams.

 

[PSU20]

No sure our offensive coaches are that creative or responsive to what’s going on. Adjustments at the half “game” was definitely won by the Buckeyes defensive staff. PSU didn’t adjust at all.

+1000.....Some things never change. Day made his adjustments and JF did nothing, or at least it appeared that way. Allen rips off 6-7 yards on the first play, then we throw a sideline pass all the way across the field for an incompletion????

 

[bvillebaron]

Singleton needs to be trusted and given the opportunity to carry the rock 20 times at least once this season. It should have been this game after how he started with some nice runs. Let Allen spell him when he gets tired. This strategy of giving them 50/50 carries is good against weaker teams to keep them healthy for the big games. However, giving the ball to the best athlete on the offense more often is necessary in a big game like OSU. He has the biggest playmaking potential on the offensive side and I guarantee he was pi**ed yesterday. Get him the ball in any way possible so he can make plays. Franklin has to be careful about losing a player like him to the transfer portal if he doesn't feel he's being utilized to his full potential at PSU.

Gee and I saw a thread on here about Joe Allen was the No 1 RB and it wasn’t even close. I agree with you about Singleton.

 

[NittanyLionRoar]

We might need to go Coach Prime on the wideout room. Clear house and bring in transfers who are ready to be on the big stage.

 

[bvillebaron]

When it's 3rd and 3 on your side of the field and you plan to go for it on 4th down. RUN the damn ball. If you can't get 3 yards on 2 plays with those running backs then the problem is in the coaches room.

Early on when it's 3rd and less than 1. RUN the damn ball. What's wrong with keeping the other guys offense off the field.

With that talent, it was the worst play calling I think I've ever seen.

PS Gadget plays usually don't work against good teams.

Agree with on gadget plays. A WR option pass to the short side of the field on the first play after getting the turnover on the punt. Huh? Also agree with another poster who said why would you pass the ball 3 straight times after Singleton ripped off 2 long runs?

 

[bvillebaron]

The thing that bothers me about our offense is that it centers on a mesh point that tends to not only delay the play, but also distract the quarterback from making a downfield read and handcuffs our running backs. I think that's fine as a play but not as a staple. I felt the same way when we had Barkley. Just so many ways to use running back talent like that. I thought our backs were far superior to what OSU had on the field.

To win this game with that game plan our wide receivers were expected to beat man coverage when it was pretty much a given going into this game that this was not going to happen. So what did happen? It did not work. We didn't adjust, and Allar lost confidence and imploded. We had no answer except trick plays, which fail for the same reasons.

If you want to know how really detached from reality was our leadership, we go for it on 4th down on our own side of the field when we hadn't made a 3rd down conversion to that point in the game.

I don't put this loss on the kids. That was a total mind-numbing lack of preparation and sanity for the biggest game of the year when we had weeks of time to get it done.

Good points. But let’s not give the players a complete free pass. I like Allar and hope he learns from this but he was really bad yesterday. While none on our receivers got the type of separation Harrison got, on those occasions when they were open, he frequently missed them by a lot. He also seemed to be feeling pressure and not setting his feet and stepping into throws when rushers were 3 yards away.

 

[PAgeologist]

I think the lack of 3rd down conversions plays a part in this, but the play calling just didn't seem to match our season MO, and it failed to capitalize on our early rushing success (Allen gets 6 yards on 1st down, we then throw twice; Singleton rips off 20 and 15 yard runs and we proceeded to throw 3 times after that).

The offense also seems to lack a true check down to the RBs as an outlet on most passes, yet when we finally tried one Allar throws it behind Singleton and Nick fails to catch it. Of courses, in the shadow of our own end zone didn't quite feel like the place to break that out either.

Portions of our playbook seem missing as well. What happened to the rollout where our TE crosses left to right with a WR running a crossing route behind it? Flood concept. Didn't see that play once. No quick screens to the WRs. Not enough slants, the one pass was accurate on.


Run game you said? I dunno. It's like we were ashamed to try it. Did the media really hurt our coaches feelings to the point where we gave up running the ball 3 yards and a cloud of dust?

Also, if our TEs can't run block effectively, how about we do something different? Bring in Shelton, go 6 OL. Go 4 WR, spread em out and force smaller boxes.

We did see the flood concept. Harrison caught a ball for a big gain on what looked like one.

 

[MacNit2.0]

Singleton needs to be trusted and given the opportunity to carry the rock 20 times at least once this season. It should have been this game after how he started with some nice runs. Let Allen spell him when he gets tired. This strategy of giving them 50/50 carries is good against weaker teams to keep them healthy for the big games. However, giving the ball to the best athlete on the offense more often is necessary in a big game like OSU. He has the biggest playmaking potential on the offensive side and I guarantee he was pi**ed yesterday. Get him the ball in any way possible so he can make plays. Franklin has to be careful about losing a player like him to the transfer portal if he doesn't feel he's being utilized to his full potential at PSU.

Singleton has been outplayed by Allen this year.

 

[Mat Burn]

Maybe adjustments by OSU? We don't see what goes on in the coaching chess match.

Franklins' Coaching = Checkers

 

[LandoComando]

Singleton needs to be trusted and given the opportunity to carry the rock 20 times at least once this season. It should have been this game after how he started with some nice runs. Let Allen spell him when he gets tired. This strategy of giving them 50/50 carries is good against weaker teams to keep them healthy for the big games. However, giving the ball to the best athlete on the offense more often is necessary in a big game like OSU. He has the biggest playmaking potential on the offensive side and I guarantee he was pi**ed yesterday. Get him the ball in any way possible so he can make plays. Franklin has to be careful about losing a player like him to the transfer portal if he doesn't feel he's being utilized to his full potential at PSU.

He's had 17 and 21 carries in 2 prior games (Northwestern and Illinois iirc) and didn't produce. I agree with the logic he started fast and we needed to commit to the run game but Allen has been more productive this year. I'm not giving Singleton snaps simply out of fear he may leave.