To continue my point from earlier, I am posting this to a new thread to be sure that people see it.
I ran the numbers and you can draw your own conclusions.
We had 37 first down plays on Saturday.
Redding carried the ball 19 times for 32 yds (1.7 avg)
Howard carried the ball 9 times for 14 yds (1.6 avg)
Total for the running backs on 1st down; 28 carries for 46 yds (1.64 avg)
Only 5 of those 28 carries were at least 4 yards, and 20 of the 28 were for 2 yds or less
Diamont had 3 carries for 84 yds (included 79 yd TD)
The QBs only threw 6 passes on 1st down out of 37 plays and were 4 of 6 for 58 yds (9.7 yds per play). Two of the 6 passes came on the final drive so of the first 34 1st downs, only 4 were pass plays.
So, I ask the question. Should we have thrown the ball more on 1st down or at least done something other than run the back? Had we done so, might it have opened up the run for us and perhaps led to a victory? I am still shaking my head at the disparity. Woody Hayes must have been smiling from his vantage point down below, although there was no 3 yards and there was no dust. What era is this and what game was Wilson watching? If that is not the epitome of stubbornness, I don't know what is. I think he came in with a plan of running his backs at every opportunity and he never deviated despite the lack of success. For those of you who say that his plan must have worked because we almost beat 1 ranked OSU, I say we would have won if the offense was not so bottled up by the coaching staff. The defensive effort was off the charts and a victory of a lifetime was there for the taking.
I ran the numbers and you can draw your own conclusions.
We had 37 first down plays on Saturday.
Redding carried the ball 19 times for 32 yds (1.7 avg)
Howard carried the ball 9 times for 14 yds (1.6 avg)
Total for the running backs on 1st down; 28 carries for 46 yds (1.64 avg)
Only 5 of those 28 carries were at least 4 yards, and 20 of the 28 were for 2 yds or less
Diamont had 3 carries for 84 yds (included 79 yd TD)
The QBs only threw 6 passes on 1st down out of 37 plays and were 4 of 6 for 58 yds (9.7 yds per play). Two of the 6 passes came on the final drive so of the first 34 1st downs, only 4 were pass plays.
So, I ask the question. Should we have thrown the ball more on 1st down or at least done something other than run the back? Had we done so, might it have opened up the run for us and perhaps led to a victory? I am still shaking my head at the disparity. Woody Hayes must have been smiling from his vantage point down below, although there was no 3 yards and there was no dust. What era is this and what game was Wilson watching? If that is not the epitome of stubbornness, I don't know what is. I think he came in with a plan of running his backs at every opportunity and he never deviated despite the lack of success. For those of you who say that his plan must have worked because we almost beat 1 ranked OSU, I say we would have won if the offense was not so bottled up by the coaching staff. The defensive effort was off the charts and a victory of a lifetime was there for the taking.
