Thanks for the recognition Duane.

I'll just summarize my Bucknuts post. By putting Ballard at H-back and bringing him across the formation the offense has, at least for now, slowed down defensive pursuit and allowed the OL to operate against better numbers. OSU has all of the following plays at it's disposal when Ballard starts across the formation: Trap/counter, wham ISO, inside zone with big cut back lane, stretch, QB keeps with pass/run options. It has some similarity with FL's counter play, and what RR is doing to counteract the scrape exchange tactic for stopping the zone read. But it is OSU's adaptation.

When Ballard comes across the formation the running back has at least three options, and the quarterback two. It could be any of at least 7 different plays to either side of the line. The backers and safeties can't react until they know where the ball is, and by then the OL has a huge advantage. No more just getting on your horse and running to the flow of the OL or following the guards to the play.

Hi Sherman, thanks for the truncated version. Is the Bucknuts post a premium subscriber thing, like an article, or is it just a forum post from a paying member? I'd love to read the full length report, but my budget just doesn't include Bucknuts at this moment. Either way, thanks again for the summary--it was quite informative.

Keep em coming Lex.

And thanks for putting in the work. Trust me we love it.

Keep em coming too Sherm. We need some cerebral stuff from time to time as a counter to some of the mindless posting that seems to have won favor lately.

Sweet Video!