Ohio State football: Charting the offense, Clemson

In the 40-35 loss to Clemson in the 2014 Orange Bowl, the Ohio State offense played with a good tempo and ran 73 offensive plays. In their first loss of the season versus Michigan State, the Buckeye offense went 1-10 on 3rd down; against Clemson, they were 2-13 on third down. Coincidence? For a team that excelled on third down for the majority of the season, it was troubling how tight the third down play calling and execution was.

• Statistically, this was a very good performance by Braxton Miller, but in key situations, it was suspect. He finished 16/24 passing for 234 yards, but it just seemed that once again, Miller and his receivers were not on the same page. Two of their biggest passing plays were due to broken coverages, and there was a complete lack of consistency overall in the passing game.
• What is equally troubling is that Miller sometimes reverts back to his old ways of predetermining in the read option.

Miller keeps the ball and is tackled for a loss on the play, resulting in a punt. This play is inexcusable on Miller's part, and it looks as though Hyde would have easily gotten the first down (and possibly more).

• It seems as though Coach Herman did not learn from his huge mistake in the Michigan State game as Carlos Hyde touched the ball on a hand off only twice after the Buckeyes went up 29-20 with 5:50 left in the 3rd quarter. When they got the ball back down 40-35 with 6:16 left in the game, there was still enough time to run their offense and not put the offense on Miller's throwing arm. I do not understand why they went away from Hyde in both of their losses; there is no justification for their reasoning.
• On 4th-and-1, Hyde made one of his best and most clutch runs as a Buckeye.

Somehow, he split the two defenders, broke another tackle, and rumbled down to the 1-yard line before being tackled. This is an NFL type run by Hyde and he showed excellent vision, power and speed on it. If only they went to Hyde more at the end of the game...

• Dontre Wilson must have had a great set of practices before the Orange Bowl; he played only three snaps against Michigan State. In particular, they used Wilson in jet motion with much success. Jet motion extends the outside linebacker and forces the defensive end to peek in the backfield to make sure Wilson doesn't have the ball. This creates a bigger hole for the ball carrier to run through.

• As noted, Miller and his wide receivers haven't been on the same page since the Purdue game. It was very troubling to watch the passing game as a whole become nonexistent after showing so much promise in the middle of the season.
• Corey Brown was moved around a lot in this game. He lined up in the slot 23 times, outside 22 times and in the inside/outside slot 19 times. He would have had a touchdown before the half if Miller hit him in stride.
• I was very surprised that they did not take a shot down field to Devin Smith, as that has been a staple of their offense 1-2 times per game this season, and it usually was successful during the regular season.
• The wide receivers could not get separation on the Clemson defensive backs, and seeing how the Clemson wide receivers attacked the ball and plucked it at its highest point should have made Miller a little jealous. With an influx of Meyer's recruits coming in and getting a year older/better, expect the wide receiver play to improve next season.

• In one of the bigger changes from the regular season, Nick Vannett emerged as the main option at tight end on passing downs (possibly in part due to Jeff Heuerman's illness).
• Vannett played only two snaps in the B1G Championship Game. As I noted in past articles, I did not see a huge talent gap between Heuerman and Vannett and I expect to see more two tight end sets next season. Their size will give defenses fits in the red zone, and both have legitimate pass catching abilities.
• Out of Vannett's 22 snaps, he only lined up on the line of scrimmage once; the majority were in the slot or in the flex position.