The Ohio State defense got Jim Tresseled throughout 2021. It’s a cruel, explicit and effective strategy – Tressel used to do everything but email the Buckeyes’ game script to his opponent each Saturday. He would run the same plays, repeatedly. It was telegraphed right down to the choreography and snap count. The outcome sometimes took a few dry runs to crystallize, but Tressel was simply building sustainability for four quarters. Individual drives were merely pieces of that puzzle. Only the scoreboard mattered. Which was why studying Tresselball too narrowly clouded the bigger picture. Here are five identical off-tackle handoffs which all took place inside of a single quarter of one game: BEANIE WELLS VS. MICHIGAN, 2008 ATTEMPT RESULT 1st 0 yards 2nd -1 yards 3rd 1 yard 4th 4 yards 5th 59 yards, TD Why do we keep running tha— oh. Fans were annoyed the fourth time Beanie ran smack into Michigan defenders waiting for him at the precise gap they knew he…
Continue Reading: The Remystification of the Ohio State Defense
