Full Transcript for Ross Fulton Analysis: How Ohio State's Offense Evolves Under Luke Fahey

month in November. We'll be doing something 35 00:01:33.980 --> 00:01:36.920 for that as well. Don't worry. Get all that and 36 00:01:37.019 --> 00:01:38.980 access to our whole team of insiders and the really 37 00:01:39.019 --> 00:01:42.599 fun community, that all at BuckeyeInsiders.com. Just go there, click 38 00:01:42.659 --> 00:01:45.459 on subscribe, get access to all that today. All right. 39 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:48.120 So now we're going to look ahead to this weekend's game. 40 00:01:48.939 --> 00:01:51.620 And the new quarterback, Luke Fahey, again, that is not 41 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:53.920 official yet, but it sure seems like that's where things 42 00:01:53.969 --> 00:01:56.090 are trending. So we're going to be looking at Luke 43 00:01:56.129 --> 00:01:59.250 Fahey against Indiana. And I know there were some big 44 00:01:59.349 --> 00:02:02.730 emotions and big thoughts as to how doomed Ohio State 45 00:02:02.769 --> 00:02:05.489 was based on the few snaps from Luke Fahey. But 46 00:02:05.530 --> 00:02:07.290 I think I'm going to guess that when we welcome 47 00:02:07.329 --> 00:02:09.900 in Ross, Ohio State will probably not be quite as 48 00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:14.280 doomed as Twitter experts were telling us. So Ross, we're 49 00:02:14.300 --> 00:02:17.680 going to start with the run game. Obviously, the run 50 00:02:17.719 --> 00:02:20.680 game is the best friend of a young quarterback, and 51 00:02:21.020 --> 00:02:22.870 he was probably, and the Ohio State offense was probably 52 00:02:22.909 --> 00:02:26.509 not in a particularly fair situation where Indiana, I suspect, 53 00:02:26.569 --> 00:02:28.229 knew that Ohio State would like to run the ball, 54 00:02:28.590 --> 00:02:31.090 and you probably did not get quite as fair a 55 00:02:31.150 --> 00:02:33.990 shake on the ground as you would in a normal situation. 56 00:02:35.150 --> 00:02:38.289 Yeah, we were talking about this offline, and like, I 57 00:02:38.349 --> 00:02:42.310 actually don't think Ohio State was particularly conservative with Luke 58 00:02:42.349 --> 00:02:44.949 Fahey in there. If anything, they were trying to take 59 00:02:45.050 --> 00:02:47.650 shots downfield and still go for that kill shot. I'm 60 00:02:48.050 --> 00:02:49.919 going to put out an example and bring up a 61 00:02:49.960 --> 00:02:54.280 couple others. When they did try to run the ball, 62 00:02:54.300 --> 00:02:56.659 it's interesting. Every time they tried to run it, they 63 00:02:56.719 --> 00:02:59.900 basically ran one play. They got an under center 21 64 00:02:59.900 --> 00:03:04.270 personnel and tried to run stretch to the left. That 65 00:03:04.310 --> 00:03:04.930 goes to your point. 66 00:03:04.949 --> 00:03:05.509 We talked about. 67 00:03:07.370 --> 00:03:11.310 Yesterday, like Luke Fahey's increased mobility and how he can 68 00:03:11.330 --> 00:03:15.889 bring some of that, you know, run read quarterback element 69 00:03:16.169 --> 00:03:19.090 to help the run game out. I think they're going 70 00:03:19.110 --> 00:03:21.740 to need that, you know, it's at least in some doses, 71 00:03:21.780 --> 00:03:24.439 particularly like, you know, the less comfortable they feel with 72 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:28.280 him throwing run pass options, you know, particularly like second 73 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:30.500 and third level ones, like those glance routes that, you know, 74 00:03:30.520 --> 00:03:32.860 we've shown so many times with Julian saying, you know, 75 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:34.520 the more they're going to need him as a threat 76 00:03:34.539 --> 00:03:36.460 in the run game to constrain the backside. I think 77 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:38.979 you'll see like more, like kind of bubble and wide 78 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:44.080 receiver screen reliefs. But like, so, but this is the problem, right? 79 00:03:44.219 --> 00:03:46.530 So if you're just sort of, if you don't do 80 00:03:46.590 --> 00:03:48.990 that stuff, like the defense can always overload the box. 81 00:03:49.030 --> 00:03:53.169 And so one problem that Fahey had on Saturday is 82 00:03:53.189 --> 00:03:55.330 they were always behind schedule when he was at the game. 83 00:03:55.349 --> 00:03:58.569 He obviously came in at second 28. I'm guessing some 84 00:03:58.610 --> 00:04:00.009 of this is on him because there were a couple 85 00:04:00.030 --> 00:04:03.150 of full starts. Like again, like they probably weren't prepared 86 00:04:03.169 --> 00:04:05.810 for him to be a quarterback. put them behind the chains, 87 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:08.620 but they also couldn't run it efficiently once he was 88 00:04:08.699 --> 00:04:11.500 in there. This is a good example. They're running stretch. 89 00:04:12.060 --> 00:04:14.020 They did have success as the game went on with 90 00:04:14.060 --> 00:04:16.759 stretch and that toss play because, as I talked about yesterday, 91 00:04:16.779 --> 00:04:20.079 Indiana's linebackers were just screaming really hard over the top 92 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:24.819 in pursuit. Isaiah West, in particular, had a few nice cutbacks. 93 00:04:24.839 --> 00:04:29.240 He let the linebackers overrun themselves and then cut it back. Here, 94 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:32.000 it's just impossible because you don't have a blocker for 95 00:04:32.019 --> 00:04:35.290 the frontside safety. Indiana doesn't cover one. They're expecting Ohio 96 00:04:35.310 --> 00:04:39.180 State to run. It's first down. Ohio State blocks this 97 00:04:39.259 --> 00:04:41.819 up pretty well, but there's no one to account for 98 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:47.180 the safety number one there. And so again, they have 99 00:04:47.220 --> 00:04:49.220 to fully expect the teams are going to try to 100 00:04:49.540 --> 00:04:52.850 load the box, particularly in first down, particularly when they're 101 00:04:52.870 --> 00:04:55.490 under center like this. And so we talked about the 102 00:04:55.529 --> 00:04:58.910 importance of bootlegs with Fahey. They did try to

run 103 00:04:58.990 --> 00:05:02.350 one bootleg. That was one of the false starts I mentioned. Um, 104 00:05:02.589 --> 00:05:03.949 and so they're going to have to use a lot 105 00:05:03.970 --> 00:05:05.769 of that, but I, I just still think that like 106 00:05:06.410 --> 00:05:08.910 having him as a run threat, at least like in 107 00:05:09.069 --> 00:05:13.009 critical situations, you know, um, what will help as well. 108 00:05:13.810 --> 00:05:15.689 Well, and so we're going to move right onto one 109 00:05:15.889 --> 00:05:17.970 where he is a run threat and this was not 110 00:05:18.050 --> 00:05:19.569 a design run. At least I don't think so. It 111 00:05:19.589 --> 00:05:22.750 looked like he was, this is a pretty pure scramble here. 112 00:05:23.290 --> 00:05:25.750 And this is something that you've seen more of from 113 00:05:25.790 --> 00:05:28.029 Julian saying this year. And it felt like that brought 114 00:05:28.089 --> 00:05:30.600 a lot to the Ohio state offense. Fahey, I think, 115 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:32.779 might be even a little better in the open field 116 00:05:32.819 --> 00:05:35.139 than Sane is. And it feels like it is very 117 00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:37.180 easy to look at all the areas where there's a 118 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:39.459 little bit of a step back from Sane to Fahey. 119 00:05:39.860 --> 00:05:41.220 This feels like an area where there could be a 120 00:05:41.240 --> 00:05:42.110 little bit of a step forward. 121 00:05:43.470 --> 00:05:44.970 Yeah, I mean, I don't think there's any doubt that 122 00:05:44.990 --> 00:05:48.670 he's better as a runner. He also is more apt 123 00:05:48.829 --> 00:05:51.649 to scramble. Like we talked about yesterday, like Julian Sane's 124 00:05:51.709 --> 00:05:54.569 willing to hang in there for better or worse. I 125 00:05:54.610 --> 00:05:58.459 think Fahey, there'll probably be times where he scrambles when 126 00:05:58.500 --> 00:06:01.779 he shouldn't. in fact, as he, you know, is not 127 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:03.600 going to be comfortable at times. And like, I wouldn't 128 00:06:03.620 --> 00:06:06.120 be surprised if he sort of like looks, you know, 129 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:10.310 primary read, maybe second read and then goes. But here's 130 00:06:10.329 --> 00:06:12.430 like a good example where, you know, the play before 131 00:06:12.470 --> 00:06:16.170 Philip Dan, this is God beat. He gets beat here 132 00:06:16.209 --> 00:06:19.740 again with another SIM pressure. Indiana, you know, brings again, 133 00:06:19.750 --> 00:06:23.860 the nickel off the edge. And yeah, but, you know, 134 00:06:23.899 --> 00:06:25.800 we're saying may have stayed in there. This is a 135 00:06:25.980 --> 00:06:28.980 three verticals against Tampa too. So like I was, as 136 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:31.019 I was saying, like I say, it didn't really like 137 00:06:31.060 --> 00:06:33.459 stop trying to push the ball downfield with Fahey, even 138 00:06:33.490 --> 00:06:38.430 against

Indiana, like multiple downfield concepts. Nothing's really open here. 139 00:06:39.149 --> 00:06:41.290 Maybe you could say if you hung in there, you know, 140 00:06:41.329 --> 00:06:43.389 there was a couple of times, like the, the wide receiver, 141 00:06:43.430 --> 00:06:45.829 like that escort screen to the top of the screen 142 00:06:45.870 --> 00:06:48.370 where they, they could use the 10 as a lead 143 00:06:48.410 --> 00:06:51.009 blocker was there a few times. And like, you'd like 144 00:06:51.029 --> 00:06:53.740 to see fate hit that maybe, but, You know, here 145 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:55.720 he scrambles. Obviously, they get the personal foul, so he 146 00:06:55.740 --> 00:06:57.790 gets the first down. So I do think that is 147 00:06:57.819 --> 00:06:59.199 something that you're going to see a lot more of. 148 00:06:59.949 --> 00:07:02.029 And it may, in fact, like lead to the sack 149 00:07:02.069 --> 00:07:04.230 numbers that we talked about, like going down, even if 150 00:07:04.269 --> 00:07:06.810 the offensive line doesn't really improve and picking up twists 151 00:07:07.170 --> 00:07:09.850 and stunts, just because he'll bail out of there. You know, 152 00:07:09.870 --> 00:07:12.389 it may not be a big game, but I don't 153 00:07:12.410 --> 00:07:15.170 think he'll stand in there like Julian Sand did. 154 00:07:15.850 --> 00:07:17.829 Well, and this next one is kind of a little 155 00:07:17.870 --> 00:07:21.629 more of a subtle example of where he might be 156 00:07:21.670 --> 00:07:24.449 a little bit better than Julian Sane in avoiding sacks, 157 00:07:24.509 --> 00:07:26.220 where this is not, you know, he takes off and 158 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:29.560 runs for 30 yards, but he's able to kind of 159 00:07:29.699 --> 00:07:32.220 just sort of shift himself around in the pocket a 160 00:07:32.259 --> 00:07:36.019 little bit to avoid the rush. This feels like that 161 00:07:36.779 --> 00:07:38.689 if you can get a little more of this out 162 00:07:38.750 --> 00:07:40.610 of him, this is one of those things that might 163 00:07:40.649 --> 00:07:43.129 make a pretty big difference in terms of you know, 164 00:07:43.149 --> 00:07:45.699 number one, keeping him healthy, but number two, not taking 165 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:46.720 big negative plays. 166 00:07:48.139 --> 00:07:51.860 Yeah. And again, like Ohio state goes three verticals here again. 167 00:07:51.959 --> 00:07:54.500 So again, trying to take a shot. It's interesting. Like 168 00:07:55.100 --> 00:07:59.209 Indiana kind of didn't attack Phil Daniels early in the game, 169 00:07:59.230 --> 00:08:01.129 but then once they had success, like they just kept 170 00:08:01.149 --> 00:08:05.529 bringing pressure off the edge and you know, wide. And 171 00:08:05.589 --> 00:08:07.949 so like here, I don't know what he, it's a 172 00:08:08.069 --> 00:08:11.889 half slide and like, Daniels does not get out there 173 00:08:12.089 --> 00:08:14.269 in time. Instead, he gets hung up. Like we talked about, 174 00:08:14.290 --> 00:08:16.939 like people need to trust their slot. You know, the 175 00:08:16.980 --> 00:08:19.800 gap responsibilities in the slide and not get hung up 176 00:08:19.819 --> 00:08:21.519 on a man here. He kind of locks on nine. 177 00:08:21.740 --> 00:08:23.420 And so he's laid out there. And like, as you said, 178 00:08:23.459 --> 00:08:26.759 like Fahey gets out of the pocket. So this, you know, 179 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:29.540 could have been a sack, but isn't. It's unfortunate. Like 180 00:08:29.699 --> 00:08:32.990 Devin McEwen, again, we talked about like other, excuse me, 181 00:08:33.019 --> 00:08:35.830 other guys, you know, making plays. Like he was open 182 00:08:35.850 --> 00:08:38.929 a lot on Saturday. He's open here again against a nickel. 183 00:08:39.490 --> 00:08:41.879 you know, for a potential touchdown, if the protection holds up, 184 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:46.519 excuse me. And so they need better offensive line play, 185 00:08:46.679 --> 00:08:52.179 like getting Austin Seragol back, uh, presumably playing tackle will help. Um, 186 00:08:52.200 --> 00:08:54.019 they're going to need to run the ball as I said, 187 00:08:54.120 --> 00:08:56.600 but like, I do think they like seem to like, 188 00:08:57.120 --> 00:08:59.759 you know, they, we talked about like, you know, shorter 189 00:08:59.820 --> 00:09:01.740 passes with Faye, but they do seem to be willing 190 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:04.379 to take shots with them and trust his arm. Um, 191 00:09:04.889 --> 00:09:06.730 and so, you know, I think he'll, he'll get out 192 00:09:06.750 --> 00:09:10.360 of there, but he, uh, I wouldn't expect them to 193 00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:13.259 fully go away from taking their downfield shots either. 194 00:09:14.100 --> 00:09:15.659 And the last one we're going to look at, this 195 00:09:15.740 --> 00:09:19.340 is one where I think the Twitter opinion on Fahey's 196 00:09:19.379 --> 00:09:23.379 performance was probably a little more accurate. Sometimes you can 197 00:09:23.460 --> 00:09:26.120 just see the game is moving a little fast. This 198 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:28.000 feels like one where the game was moving a little 199 00:09:28.019 --> 00:09:30.960 bit fast for Fahey, but when you're coming in as 200 00:09:31.019 --> 00:09:34.220 a quarterback off the bench and you've been repping as 201 00:09:34.299 --> 00:09:39.620 QB2 all week, you're not necessarily... prepared for the game 202 00:09:39.629 --> 00:09:42.000 you haven't had the reps but also you're just mentally 203 00:09:42.100 --> 00:09:46.519 maybe not quite as involved all week and it's a 204 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:48.080 little bit more of an adjustment to sort of get 205 00:09:48.179 --> 00:09:50.480 thrown in in the middle of the game towards the 206 00:09:50.519 --> 00:09:52.870 end of the game in a very close game you 207 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:55.350 know how much of that is understandable and how much 208 00:09:55.629

--> 00:09:59.129 is that something that's maybe potentially going to improve with 209 00:09:59.370 --> 00:10:01.840 a week or two repping with the ones now? 210 00:10:02.779 --> 00:10:05.740 Yeah. I mean, it's understandable. Obviously you'd like to see 211 00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:08.620 it not happen, but I mean, I think it's, it's 212 00:10:08.990 --> 00:10:11.950 certainly understandable and certainly something you'd hope would improve after 213 00:10:11.970 --> 00:10:13.610 a couple of weeks of repping with the ones and 214 00:10:13.629 --> 00:10:16.870 the game plan built around you that you're involved with, 215 00:10:17.429 --> 00:10:21.009 you know, and prepping. And so like, But there were 216 00:10:21.029 --> 00:10:25.159 a couple plays, again, like the one, third and 18, 217 00:10:25.159 --> 00:10:30.779 where there wasn't much chance any ways to get that 218 00:10:30.820 --> 00:10:32.950 first down no matter what. And this one where you 219 00:10:32.970 --> 00:10:35.429 can see him spit up. His feet are moving. He's 220 00:10:35.490 --> 00:10:38.970 not comfortable in the pocket. This is a PPO, so 221 00:10:38.990 --> 00:10:41.049 a pass-pass option, right? So it's either you have the 222 00:10:41.090 --> 00:10:43.169 screen to one side or double slams to the other. 223 00:10:44.110 --> 00:10:47.200 So he needs to read the Mike linebacker. It's cover one. 224 00:10:47.259 --> 00:10:49.460 He's following the running back, so he should work his 225 00:10:49.500 --> 00:10:52.730 way back to those slants. And the slants are open, 226 00:10:53.570 --> 00:10:56.669 but he just needs to set his feet and trust 227 00:10:56.710 --> 00:11:01.529 the pocket, right? So it's like anything else. There's too 228 00:11:01.570 --> 00:11:03.009 much of a good thing. It's one thing to be 229 00:11:03.029 --> 00:11:05.580 able to move in the pocket and get out of 230 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:07.399 there if you need to, but you don't want to 231 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:09.340 be skittish in there if you don't need to be. 232 00:11:09.379 --> 00:11:11.500 And so he kind of runs right into the pressure 233 00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:14.360 here instead of stepping up and setting his feet. I 234 00:11:14.379 --> 00:11:14.980 will note that he. 235 00:11:16.610 --> 00:11:20.909 He has in obviously, you know, caveat of playing back 236 00:11:21.169 --> 00:11:23.950 backup Mac teams. Like he had shown a nice ability 237 00:11:24.009 --> 00:11:26.799 earlier this year to step up in the pocket. So I, 238 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:29.620 I do think it's there. I mean, we're, you know, 239 00:11:29.980 --> 00:11:33.399 what we will all have to see. But, you know, 240 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:36.870 it's again, I think that they were calling, they, they 241 00:11:36.909 --> 00:11:38.789 showed some trust in him. It wasn't like they just 242 00:11:38.830 --> 00:11:40.610 handed off every play and just like, try to get 243 00:11:40.669 --> 00:11:43.549 out of there. Like, they're

calling different concepts. You know, 244 00:11:43.570 --> 00:11:46.440 that screen that hit off of Ian Moore's helmet, like, 245 00:11:46.460 --> 00:11:49.100 that was wide open. Like, if he was able to 246 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:52.399 get that pass completed, that could have been a big gain. 247 00:11:53.299 --> 00:11:56.159 You know, but, like, and people obviously have, like, made 248 00:11:56.179 --> 00:11:59.250 a big deal about that relative to his height. You know, again, 249 00:11:59.259 --> 00:12:01.149 you need your starting left tackle to not get, like, 250 00:12:01.190 --> 00:12:04.549 deposited back into the quarterback. So, like, they are going 251 00:12:04.570 --> 00:12:07.549 to need other people to step up and make plays. And, like, 252 00:12:08.129 --> 00:12:10.399 you know, we've looked at ways where they can use 253 00:12:10.419 --> 00:12:12.460 Jeremiah Smith to get other people open, but they're also 254 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:14.100 going to make me to make sure like they get 255 00:12:14.179 --> 00:12:17.139 Jeremiah Smith touches. So like, you know, even if they're 256 00:12:17.159 --> 00:12:19.970 just throwing in bubble screens, you know, reliefs, give them 257 00:12:19.990 --> 00:12:21.769 a reverse, like make sure he's in the flow of 258 00:12:21.789 --> 00:12:24.230 the game. And so they're going to have to obviously 259 00:12:24.250 --> 00:12:26.389 like everyone step up their game. As I said, it 260 00:12:26.409 --> 00:12:29.029 will be helpful to get Austin Saraville back, but I 261 00:12:29.090 --> 00:12:32.850 do think it will help him if they can, you know, 262 00:12:32.889 --> 00:12:35.009 take advantage of some of his strengths. As I said, like, 263 00:12:36.139 --> 00:12:38.519 Use him as a threat in the run game, at least, to, like, 264 00:12:38.570 --> 00:12:42.169 constrain a defender, right? You know, zone read, bash concepts. 265 00:12:43.009 --> 00:12:45.629 Get him outside the pocket. You know, give him some 266 00:12:45.789 --> 00:12:49.029 easy reads on, like, sprint out passes, bootlegs, to get 267 00:12:49.070 --> 00:12:52.460 him going. So, you know, obviously it remains to be seen. 268 00:12:52.500 --> 00:12:54.399 He's got to be more comfortable in the pocket than this. 269 00:12:54.899 --> 00:12:59.519 But in a very less high-pressure situation, he has shown 270 00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:00.639 an ability to do so. 271 00:13:02.230 --> 00:13:02.549 All right. 272 00:13:02.570 --> 00:13:02.990 So there you go. 273 00:13:02.990 --> 00:13:05.769 A little breakdown of Luke Fahey and some things to 274 00:13:05.789 --> 00:13:07.909 maybe keep an eye on this weekend in areas where 275 00:13:07.929 --> 00:13:09.330 there might be a little bit of a step forward 276 00:13:09.350 --> 00:13:11.340 from Julian saying in areas where they're going to have 277 00:13:11.379 --> 00:13:13.320 to sort of figure some stuff out. But man, oh, man, 278 00:13:13.340 --> 00:13:15.399 what a fascinating game this is shaping up to be 279 00:13:15.460 --> 00:13:18.460 this weekend in Los Angeles. Our whole team of insiders 280 00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:21.700 will be out there covering the Buckeyes and Trojans for you. 281 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:24.340 Could be a really, really fun game and a really 282 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:26.470 fun weekend as well. We'll have lots of coverage for 283 00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:28.970 you at Buckeye Insiders dot com and of course, at 284 00:13:28.990 --> 00:13:32.620 YouTube dot com slash at Buckeye Insiders as well. Thanks 285 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:34.269 again to our friends at Jeff Ruby's at Columbus, the 286 00:13:34.289 --> 00:13:36.929 award-winning upscale steakhouse in downtown Columbus, named one of the 287 00:13:36.970 --> 00:13:39.629 top 50 steakhouses in America by Food Network. Just go 288 00:13:39.669 --> 00:13:42.259 to jeffruby.com slash Columbus and check out the menu and 289 00:13:42.279 --> 00:13:44.779 make a reservation today. That'll do it for today. Thank 290 00:13:44.820 --> 00:13:46.340 you guys all for joining us. Have a great day. 291 00:13:46.860 --> 00:13:47.659 We'll talk to you tomorrow.