I think that TA has said it before, and I agree that the Linebacker play will probably determine how far this defense goes. I also think that the loss of Marcus Oliver really showed up in the first game. I wanted to grade the linebackers out and note some critical errors that the group has to watch out for against UVA. I graded Chris Covington, Scales and Jones. I'll add Ball to the list next week since he is an outside LB hybrid Safety essentially lining up in the slot.
Chris Covington- Covington logged 62 snaps. Covington did have 7 tackles and 3 stops (a stop is a tackle of 3 yards or less that does not result in a first down). 5 of the tackles were solos and 2 were assisted. He showed great effort the entire night in sprinting to the football, and had a couple of hustle plays that prevented big gains. Where Covington struggled severely was in pass coverage. He was targeted 4 times and Barrett was 4/4 for 98 yards and a TD when looking covingtons way. That is a staggering 24.5 yards per target and an NCAA passer rating of 388.3. On play #52 Covington is supposed to be giving Scales help inside. This was a critical 3rd and 2 play in the 4th quarter when IU was still ahead. Scales is in man coverage against the boundary slot receiver and Covington is supposed to give help inside on any crosser. Instead, his eyes are in the backfield, Scales has no help, and the ball is thrown on a drag route across the middle where convington should be. This leads to not only a conversion, but an explosive 28 yard gain that leads to a touchdown drive that gives Ohio State the lead. Later on play #68 IU is in cover three. This means Covington has the low hook zone and must relate to the #3 receiver. Ohio State runs another mesh route and for some reason Covington is looking in the backfield again. This is where Campbell breaks free for a 59 yard touchdown. No doubt Campbell is extremely gifted but this play should never occur because Covington has to be there. The will linebacker will take the other dragger and Chris has got to at least be in his zone. If Chris is in his zone it is either a no throw or at best a catch and tackle. But when you gave a 4.3 receiver wide open access to the middle of the field, bad things happen. Covington also struggled the entire night with getting cut off on zone running plays. His reaction and anticipation appears to be a bit slow, but correctable. I think that Covington is a good athlete, and after a little film review he should be able to recover. His issues seem mental, clearly not physical. What Oliver didn't have in athletic ability, he made up for with high football intelligence. Covington will have to really focus the rest of the way. Covington finished the day with a -7 grade which simply won't cut it.
Scales- Scales logged 65 snaps. Scales showed great effort and was the best linebacker on either team imho. He finished the day with 12 tackles, and 6 stops. Scales struggled severely in coverage however, and fell over on a couple of plays in man to man coverage. He was targeted 5 times. He had one pass defended, but 4 were completed for 110 yards and a touchdown. He gave up 22 yards per target. As I mentioned above, on play 63 he simply lets the Wideout continue to run. Although he should have help from Covington, he has to communicate this and he can't stop running with the wide out. On multiple plays he simply fell over, tripped, didn't communicate, and generally looked lost in coverage. He allowed JT to accomplish a 330.8 NCAA passer rating when looking his way. Scales had a great 4th down stop, excellent hustle, and played with a lot of energy. I think that when you take his pass coverage out of the equation he had a near perfect game. But in today's college football linebackers have to be able to cover. As we know, Scales has the physical ability to cover and has multiple career interceptions. As with Covington, his issues appear to be mental in pass coverage, not physical, and these are correctable errors. He finished with a -2 grade which must improve, and I expect it to improve in week two.
Raekwon Jones- Jones had a rough day, and he highlights the depth concerns behind scales. Who's going to give Scales a break? Jones finished with a -5 grade on only 9 snaps, and almost gave up two touchdowns. He did have 1 assist. On one position alone he had a missed tackle, was pancaked and then almost give up a vertical touchdown to a tight end who outweighs him by 40 pounds. Luckily JT overthrew the tight end on that play. As if typical of CKW however, they'd come back to attack Jones in pass coverage in a couple of positions. On the first play from the minus 26 yard
Line the Hoosiers played a cover 4 concept to the boundary. Jones has to be the curl player and relate to the #2 receiver. Ohio state runs a middle stretch concept where #2 to the field runs a drug, and #2 to the boundary crosses behind him at a 10 yard depth. When number #2 to the boundary leaves Jones his eyes should automatically turn to see if anyone is coming to replace that #2 receiver. He does not do his jobs and begins to look in the backfield. #2 sneaks in front of his face, catches the pass uncovered, and takes off for a 74 yard score. You have to seem the theme by this point... this has nothing to do with talent, but a lack of focus and being in the right position. Jones gave up an NCAA passer rating of 525.8 to Barrett and finished -5 for the day, and all of this came in only a handful of snaps.
As you see, many of the breakdowns can be attributed to the linebacker group in the third quarter. If you take away mental breakdowns, OSU may not take the lead when they did, and that would've completely changed the course of the game. Many of the long touchdowns were on simple short crossing routes, and I'd wager that CKW noticed in the first half that Scales was actually falling over in coverage, that Covington looked a bit lost in coverage, and he saw that Jones didn't look comfortable. OSU made it a point to expose the IU linebackers in coverage and this comes down to great coaching and play calling. The good news is that these aren't physical or talent issues... but the bad news is that they're mental issues that must get corrected or else teams will consistently pick on our linebackers. Oliver may have not been the fastest Linebacker, but he was consistently in the right zones which limited big passing plays. The current linebackers have to pick up the slack because during the 3rd quarter stretch when they broke down is when OSU began to pull ahead.
Chris Covington- Covington logged 62 snaps. Covington did have 7 tackles and 3 stops (a stop is a tackle of 3 yards or less that does not result in a first down). 5 of the tackles were solos and 2 were assisted. He showed great effort the entire night in sprinting to the football, and had a couple of hustle plays that prevented big gains. Where Covington struggled severely was in pass coverage. He was targeted 4 times and Barrett was 4/4 for 98 yards and a TD when looking covingtons way. That is a staggering 24.5 yards per target and an NCAA passer rating of 388.3. On play #52 Covington is supposed to be giving Scales help inside. This was a critical 3rd and 2 play in the 4th quarter when IU was still ahead. Scales is in man coverage against the boundary slot receiver and Covington is supposed to give help inside on any crosser. Instead, his eyes are in the backfield, Scales has no help, and the ball is thrown on a drag route across the middle where convington should be. This leads to not only a conversion, but an explosive 28 yard gain that leads to a touchdown drive that gives Ohio State the lead. Later on play #68 IU is in cover three. This means Covington has the low hook zone and must relate to the #3 receiver. Ohio State runs another mesh route and for some reason Covington is looking in the backfield again. This is where Campbell breaks free for a 59 yard touchdown. No doubt Campbell is extremely gifted but this play should never occur because Covington has to be there. The will linebacker will take the other dragger and Chris has got to at least be in his zone. If Chris is in his zone it is either a no throw or at best a catch and tackle. But when you gave a 4.3 receiver wide open access to the middle of the field, bad things happen. Covington also struggled the entire night with getting cut off on zone running plays. His reaction and anticipation appears to be a bit slow, but correctable. I think that Covington is a good athlete, and after a little film review he should be able to recover. His issues seem mental, clearly not physical. What Oliver didn't have in athletic ability, he made up for with high football intelligence. Covington will have to really focus the rest of the way. Covington finished the day with a -7 grade which simply won't cut it.
Scales- Scales logged 65 snaps. Scales showed great effort and was the best linebacker on either team imho. He finished the day with 12 tackles, and 6 stops. Scales struggled severely in coverage however, and fell over on a couple of plays in man to man coverage. He was targeted 5 times. He had one pass defended, but 4 were completed for 110 yards and a touchdown. He gave up 22 yards per target. As I mentioned above, on play 63 he simply lets the Wideout continue to run. Although he should have help from Covington, he has to communicate this and he can't stop running with the wide out. On multiple plays he simply fell over, tripped, didn't communicate, and generally looked lost in coverage. He allowed JT to accomplish a 330.8 NCAA passer rating when looking his way. Scales had a great 4th down stop, excellent hustle, and played with a lot of energy. I think that when you take his pass coverage out of the equation he had a near perfect game. But in today's college football linebackers have to be able to cover. As we know, Scales has the physical ability to cover and has multiple career interceptions. As with Covington, his issues appear to be mental in pass coverage, not physical, and these are correctable errors. He finished with a -2 grade which must improve, and I expect it to improve in week two.
Raekwon Jones- Jones had a rough day, and he highlights the depth concerns behind scales. Who's going to give Scales a break? Jones finished with a -5 grade on only 9 snaps, and almost gave up two touchdowns. He did have 1 assist. On one position alone he had a missed tackle, was pancaked and then almost give up a vertical touchdown to a tight end who outweighs him by 40 pounds. Luckily JT overthrew the tight end on that play. As if typical of CKW however, they'd come back to attack Jones in pass coverage in a couple of positions. On the first play from the minus 26 yard
Line the Hoosiers played a cover 4 concept to the boundary. Jones has to be the curl player and relate to the #2 receiver. Ohio state runs a middle stretch concept where #2 to the field runs a drug, and #2 to the boundary crosses behind him at a 10 yard depth. When number #2 to the boundary leaves Jones his eyes should automatically turn to see if anyone is coming to replace that #2 receiver. He does not do his jobs and begins to look in the backfield. #2 sneaks in front of his face, catches the pass uncovered, and takes off for a 74 yard score. You have to seem the theme by this point... this has nothing to do with talent, but a lack of focus and being in the right position. Jones gave up an NCAA passer rating of 525.8 to Barrett and finished -5 for the day, and all of this came in only a handful of snaps.
As you see, many of the breakdowns can be attributed to the linebacker group in the third quarter. If you take away mental breakdowns, OSU may not take the lead when they did, and that would've completely changed the course of the game. Many of the long touchdowns were on simple short crossing routes, and I'd wager that CKW noticed in the first half that Scales was actually falling over in coverage, that Covington looked a bit lost in coverage, and he saw that Jones didn't look comfortable. OSU made it a point to expose the IU linebackers in coverage and this comes down to great coaching and play calling. The good news is that these aren't physical or talent issues... but the bad news is that they're mental issues that must get corrected or else teams will consistently pick on our linebackers. Oliver may have not been the fastest Linebacker, but he was consistently in the right zones which limited big passing plays. The current linebackers have to pick up the slack because during the 3rd quarter stretch when they broke down is when OSU began to pull ahead.
