Watching some more OSU tape (a full season takes a while Gents, hang in there, my scouting is in progress) and I thought I'd share a couple notes.
All I have heard from the media talking about the Fiesta Bowl is OSU's defense and how they are so good. A couple things that I have noticed that are OSU's weakness on defense (so far)
1) TEs in the red zone
-Particularly in the Oklahoma and Michigan games, the "sweet" spot that both these teams attacked is getting the TE behind the LBs but in front of the safeties. OU in particular had #81 wide open on more than one occasion.
2) Secondary in 1 on 1 coverage against a team with a spread offense
-Go watch the OU game for some good scouting on their secondary. Almost routinely during the 1st half, OUs receiver (not even their top receivers) were beating the OSU secondary in man to man coverage. In particular, #24 (safety) and #2 were beat a few times by OU receivers.
3) Left Side of the D-line against the run
-OU had a lot of success running the ball early to the right side of their offensive line (the left side of the OSU d-line). I think you'll see us attack there with the run game more because Crowder/Morris with Pollard at RT have done better at run blocking than Hyatt and Hearn (Hearn being the weak link here).
Just a couple quick notes before I get back to watching more film. I'll say this much too, I've watched their first 7 games from start to finish and bits and pieces of the other 5 so far, and I'll be honest, nothing I have seen so far has me all that concerned. LB #5 is a legit next level LB who is excellent at tackling and attacking the gaps, but outside of him and Samuel #4 on the offense, I'm not impressed.
I wanted to go back and watch that OU game to see what happened. Even with those weaknesses you mentioned, Ohio St had no problem with OU in Norman. With that being said, I'm impressed with Ohio St ability to only lose 1 game this year after losing so many starters to the NFL last year. If I'm not mistaken, they one of the tops in creating turnovers with their secondary. Plus they score defensive TDs. I believe their defense is legit though. I have a healthy amount of respect for Meyer. He knows how to coach in big games. Plus I don't know if he was being conservative with his offense because he knew that his defense could keep the games close in the Big 10. Also, OSU has 3 rushers with 700 rushing yds or more. JT Barrett is a proven winner. It should be a classic. I'm happy we have Watson and crew on our side.
Great notes. Can't wait to see what else you find while looking at their tape.