Bleacher Report: Hey Mr. Bates, Ohio State is waiting for USC
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From the Bleacher Report:
On Saturday, the USC Trojans amassed 620 yards of offense, 342 rushing and 278 passing. They did it with mostly straight-up power runs, short screens, a few hitch passes, and a couple of mid-range passes.
There were no double reverses, no end-arounds, no tailback or wideout passes, no shovel passes, no flea flickers, not even one long fade route. All in all, the offense was a conservative one, or what some might call vanilla. The Trojans showed nothing new, nothing unusual. And nothing to complain about.
Maybe that is what’s so unusual.
In years past, sportswriters and fans would criticize any Trojan offensive coordinator who was not named Norm Chow for coming up with a vanilla game plan.
It happened in Matt Leinart’s final season when....
Steve Sarkisian and Lane Kiffin assumed Norm Chow’s role. And again in the following year when John David Booty took over for Leinart. Then after Kiffin left and Sarkisian was the lone play caller, the complaints reached a crescendo and continued throughout last season with first-year starter Mark Sanchez. But after Saturday’s 56-3 pasting of out-manned and outsized San Jose State, there has been nothing but praise for Jeremy Bates’s ultra conservative game plan.
Perhaps it was the 620 yards and the 56 points the Trojans amassed in true freshman Mark Barkley’s first start that have caused fans and writers alike to praise Jeremy Bates rather than bury him.
But next week could be much different. Matt Barkley won’t be the only rookie going into the Horseshoe at Ohio State. The man responsible for keeping Barkley calm, cool, and collected is also a rookie as far as calling plays in the Horseshoe are concerned.
Of course, Bates is no rookie when it comes to play calling, as he was involved in the offensive schemes for the Denver Broncos the past three season and before that with the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Bucs. However, this is Division One college football, and the Horseshoe is one of its most hostile venues for visitors.
Still, the question remains, which will be more telling? Jeremy Bates not knowing the Horseshoe or Jim Tressel and his staff having no idea what Bates has planned?
Last Saturday, 45 of the Trojans’ 68 plays were rushes. That was two-thirds of their total offense. On at least half of the passing plays, most of the yardage was picked up after the catch. So, it was an offensive scheme designed more for Trojan legs than Barkley’s arm.
And USC certainly has the legs and the horses up front to carry any game plan. The Trojans are six-deep at running back. And not just any six, but six that could be starting for 95 percent of the teams in Division One.
Even without their No. 2 receiver, Ronald Johnson, the Trojans still go a good five or six deep at receiver, and all of them know what to do once they catch the ball anywhere on the field.
There is no relief for opposing teams at tight end either, where the Trojans go three deep nor at fullback, where both Stanley Havili and D. J. Shoemate can block, run, and catch as well as any tailback.
-- Paul Peszko