In a championship game against another top team, aggression is important. Ohio State learned that on Monday night. Arguments can be made that both sides of the ball needed to be more aggressive at points in the game and certain plays or play calls could have flipped the script. But let’s start with defense.
The Buckeyes knew coming into the game that they were not going to stop Alabama’s two Heisman Trophy finalists — wide receiver DeVonta Smith and quarterback Mac Jones — along with running back Najee Harris, who finished fifth in the award’s voting. The idea was to limit the damage as much as possible, similar to what happened against Clemson. The problem was, Clemson didn’t have five All-Americans on its offense.
Instead of really game planning for the Tide defensively, the Scarlet and Gray elected to go with what got them there.
“We wanted to make sure we didn’t change what we do, just fundamentally, but we also had to have some change-ups because if you just sit there, they’re going to pick you apart,” head coach Ryan Day said after the game. “But again, I think it goes back to it’s one thing to have some ideas, it’s another thing to execute them.”
For much of the game, Ohio State played its base defense with a single-high safety. That’s the defense that ranked 116th in the country coming into the game against the pass and was going against a Heisman Trophy winner at wide receiver, a quarterback who has proven he can get the ball to his many weapons and an offensive coordinator who showed all season he can scheme players open, especially when he knows what defense is coming.
The “change-ups” Day referred to consisted of blitzing more and playing more four-linebacker sets. The blitzes worked to some degree early, specifically the Baron Browning strip sack on Jones that forced a crucial turnover, but the Crimson Tide adjusted and started to provide Jones with options when an extra rusher came. Having four linebackers on the field more may have helped against the run, but put the Buckeyes in difficult situations when Alabama threw the ball against the pass.
Despite seeing it on film, defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs had no answer to Crimson Tide’s pre-snap motion, something the team ran all year. If the defense was in man, the motion often led to players being out of position. If they were in zone, Alabama could run an RPO and Jones made the throws to holes in the zone.
This pass defense, which was statistically was one of the worst in program history, was a problem all year and there was little attempt to solve some of the problems against a high-powered offense. Questions will certainly be asked about this decision and the defense as a whole this offseason.
