After breaking down the passing game 3 things stand out: a) we really missed the vertical threat provided by Knowles, b) nobody else proved to be a legitimate deep threat, and c) OSU did a very good job of mixing up coverages along with keeping a spy on Thompson most of the game.
This first play really set the tone for the game. While Gilbert was wide open off of the fake, the real issue here is that even though K-State only ran a 2 WR route (the TE leaks out late), neither could get enough separation for Thompson to attempt the throw, even though each had one on one coverage. Note that OSU sold out for the run here; in the first circle 9 OSU players are at or near the LOS. The play is designed 1st to get the ball to Schoen on the post and then to look for the bottom WR on likely a deep comeback. Neither is able to get open and Gilbert isn't really an option, even though no one accounts for them. OSU recovers nicely after the run fake and is able to keep leverage on Thompson and force him out of bounds. So two things happen here; 1st the notion that K-State WRs can't beat OSU corners 1 on 1 and b) OSU isn't going to allow Thompson to beat them with scrambles, something K-State has had success with all season.
Here is K-State's 3rd down play on the same drive, this time a drop back pass. Here OSU plays man on the outside WRs and brackets the two inside WR routes before coming off late on Gilbert leaking out of the backfield. We can also see that OSU is going to keep a spy on Thompson, in this case the LB that drops late from the LOS. Again, K-State is showing they can't beat single coverage from OSU's corners while taking away Thompson's inside options, including scrambling.
Here K-State again tries to test single coverage on the outside, this time with Schoen. OSU employs their LBs as a spy and option to pick up the back if he leaks. OSU doubles the underneath routes at the sticks and Schoen is unable to create separation even though he is even at the 30 with his defender.
This is actually a good adjustment to the play action call that was used on the first drive. This time instead of leaking the TE late, Lenners runs up the seam and is able to beat his man. K-State narrowly misses a big play as he is unable to make a tough over the shoulder catch.
Again, this is a nice play call where K-State WRs can't create separation. The now fake to Gill sets up one on one coverage for both Schoen and Brooks. Even though the defender reacts late, Brooks isn't able to beat him down the sideline and another ball is incomplete.
K-State tried another option here by getting the ball to Brown in space. The shallow crossing routes is a nice comboand the post from Gill was designed to hold the safety to free up Brown. However, both OSU defenders are able to react late and still make a play to keep Brown short of the sticks.
K-State once again has a decent concept here with Brooks running a crossing route across the formation behind a couple of deep routes to clear the sideline against man. OSU again has a spy on Thompson (circled) and Brooks is unable to create enough separation to get open. OSU also does a nice job of taking away Brown down the middle.
This was a play that got Thompson a lot of criticism, but I can see what caused him to scramble here. OSU again employs a spy that Thompson thought was in zone coverage on the crossing route by Weber. OSU has played a lot of man so far, but this zone coverage really seems to mess with Thompson's reads as we see here. I don't blame Thompson too much for leaking the pocket to the right because he makes a lot of good throws on the move. By this point K-State also likely realizes that OSU is using a spy on Thompson, especially on 3rd down plays which is why he seemed reluctant to scramble, especially in the middle of the field.
Again, I think this is a really nice play call. This is a similar concept that K-State got their only big play of the first half on to Wheeler after the delay. The jet play action is able to hold OSU defenders and Brown gets open on the wheel; he just feels the hit of the safety coming and drops the ball. This is a well designed play though.
Honestly at this point, OSU's mixing coverage has K-State completely out of sync. This is a great disguise of coverage; going from a man or cover 2 look to cover 3. Again, OSU uses a spy on Thompson and here he makes a pretty good read, but the OSU defender makes a play, though pass interference could have easily been called here as well.
This time K-State gets man coverage while OSU brings a pair of defenders on the blitz. K-State gets one on one across the field with no safety help, but again K-State WRs can't get separation enough to get a big play.
OSU continues to bring the blitz against man coverage with no help. K-State is looking for the deep post here, but its clearly not there. By the time Thompson pulls it down, OSU's late blitzers have pressure and he is forced to throw it away.
This pass is complete, but completely where OSU wants the ball. Again, OSU uses man coverage with a blitz to force an early/forced throw. The crossing concept from Brooks is sound, but what doesn't make sense is Youngblood running a comeback route (short of the sticks) and Brown flaring out to the same side. Even if Brooks' defender doesn't make the tackle, he'll have no shot at the first down.
Like the run game, there were clearly some execution issues in this game; but the loss of Knowles was huge. With K-State having to bump assignments for all their receivers, they could simply never find an option to create real separation. I think its clear they hoped Brooks' speed could come into play here, but that simply wasn't going to happen. Youngblood may have some ability, but he's not quite ready for that role. I would imagine if he's not able to do that, then any other realistic option isn't either. Schoen is a nice secondary WR, but when forced to be the main guy, he's simply not that type of player. Gill and Weber are supporting guys (walkons for a reason). Here is where Messingham and his staff will really have to be creative this week and as long as Knowles is out; clearly what they thought was possible without him failed miserably at OSU. IMO, this hurt more than the issues in the running game because K-State created the one on one match ups they wanted, they just couldn't win them. A big talking point has been that this team was going to struggle with depth, I think we've seen in ways more than we likely imagined how big the loss of Knowles is to the offense. I'm not sure we win in Stillwater with him healthy, but I think its a closer game; likely within one score.
A final conclusion is that much of the criticism of Thompson is unjust. I'm not trying to protect him at all, I simply think he was trying to execute what he was asked to do this week and the supporting task simply wasn't up to task. His frustration was more from knowing that they were getting what they wanted and game planned for in the passing game, they simply couldn't make those plays. Its one thing to simply get beat, is another to know that you are getting some great match ups, but you simply can't win them.
This first play really set the tone for the game. While Gilbert was wide open off of the fake, the real issue here is that even though K-State only ran a 2 WR route (the TE leaks out late), neither could get enough separation for Thompson to attempt the throw, even though each had one on one coverage. Note that OSU sold out for the run here; in the first circle 9 OSU players are at or near the LOS. The play is designed 1st to get the ball to Schoen on the post and then to look for the bottom WR on likely a deep comeback. Neither is able to get open and Gilbert isn't really an option, even though no one accounts for them. OSU recovers nicely after the run fake and is able to keep leverage on Thompson and force him out of bounds. So two things happen here; 1st the notion that K-State WRs can't beat OSU corners 1 on 1 and b) OSU isn't going to allow Thompson to beat them with scrambles, something K-State has had success with all season.
Here is K-State's 3rd down play on the same drive, this time a drop back pass. Here OSU plays man on the outside WRs and brackets the two inside WR routes before coming off late on Gilbert leaking out of the backfield. We can also see that OSU is going to keep a spy on Thompson, in this case the LB that drops late from the LOS. Again, K-State is showing they can't beat single coverage from OSU's corners while taking away Thompson's inside options, including scrambling.
Here K-State again tries to test single coverage on the outside, this time with Schoen. OSU employs their LBs as a spy and option to pick up the back if he leaks. OSU doubles the underneath routes at the sticks and Schoen is unable to create separation even though he is even at the 30 with his defender.
This is actually a good adjustment to the play action call that was used on the first drive. This time instead of leaking the TE late, Lenners runs up the seam and is able to beat his man. K-State narrowly misses a big play as he is unable to make a tough over the shoulder catch.
Again, this is a nice play call where K-State WRs can't create separation. The now fake to Gill sets up one on one coverage for both Schoen and Brooks. Even though the defender reacts late, Brooks isn't able to beat him down the sideline and another ball is incomplete.
K-State tried another option here by getting the ball to Brown in space. The shallow crossing routes is a nice comboand the post from Gill was designed to hold the safety to free up Brown. However, both OSU defenders are able to react late and still make a play to keep Brown short of the sticks.
K-State once again has a decent concept here with Brooks running a crossing route across the formation behind a couple of deep routes to clear the sideline against man. OSU again has a spy on Thompson (circled) and Brooks is unable to create enough separation to get open. OSU also does a nice job of taking away Brown down the middle.
This was a play that got Thompson a lot of criticism, but I can see what caused him to scramble here. OSU again employs a spy that Thompson thought was in zone coverage on the crossing route by Weber. OSU has played a lot of man so far, but this zone coverage really seems to mess with Thompson's reads as we see here. I don't blame Thompson too much for leaking the pocket to the right because he makes a lot of good throws on the move. By this point K-State also likely realizes that OSU is using a spy on Thompson, especially on 3rd down plays which is why he seemed reluctant to scramble, especially in the middle of the field.
Again, I think this is a really nice play call. This is a similar concept that K-State got their only big play of the first half on to Wheeler after the delay. The jet play action is able to hold OSU defenders and Brown gets open on the wheel; he just feels the hit of the safety coming and drops the ball. This is a well designed play though.
Honestly at this point, OSU's mixing coverage has K-State completely out of sync. This is a great disguise of coverage; going from a man or cover 2 look to cover 3. Again, OSU uses a spy on Thompson and here he makes a pretty good read, but the OSU defender makes a play, though pass interference could have easily been called here as well.
This time K-State gets man coverage while OSU brings a pair of defenders on the blitz. K-State gets one on one across the field with no safety help, but again K-State WRs can't get separation enough to get a big play.
OSU continues to bring the blitz against man coverage with no help. K-State is looking for the deep post here, but its clearly not there. By the time Thompson pulls it down, OSU's late blitzers have pressure and he is forced to throw it away.
This pass is complete, but completely where OSU wants the ball. Again, OSU uses man coverage with a blitz to force an early/forced throw. The crossing concept from Brooks is sound, but what doesn't make sense is Youngblood running a comeback route (short of the sticks) and Brown flaring out to the same side. Even if Brooks' defender doesn't make the tackle, he'll have no shot at the first down.
Like the run game, there were clearly some execution issues in this game; but the loss of Knowles was huge. With K-State having to bump assignments for all their receivers, they could simply never find an option to create real separation. I think its clear they hoped Brooks' speed could come into play here, but that simply wasn't going to happen. Youngblood may have some ability, but he's not quite ready for that role. I would imagine if he's not able to do that, then any other realistic option isn't either. Schoen is a nice secondary WR, but when forced to be the main guy, he's simply not that type of player. Gill and Weber are supporting guys (walkons for a reason). Here is where Messingham and his staff will really have to be creative this week and as long as Knowles is out; clearly what they thought was possible without him failed miserably at OSU. IMO, this hurt more than the issues in the running game because K-State created the one on one match ups they wanted, they just couldn't win them. A big talking point has been that this team was going to struggle with depth, I think we've seen in ways more than we likely imagined how big the loss of Knowles is to the offense. I'm not sure we win in Stillwater with him healthy, but I think its a closer game; likely within one score.
A final conclusion is that much of the criticism of Thompson is unjust. I'm not trying to protect him at all, I simply think he was trying to execute what he was asked to do this week and the supporting task simply wasn't up to task. His frustration was more from knowing that they were getting what they wanted and game planned for in the passing game, they simply couldn't make those plays. Its one thing to simply get beat, is another to know that you are getting some great match ups, but you simply can't win them.
