Jim Knowles Ohio State New Defense-part 2 3rd down package

 Jim knowles defense was top 5 in the country in 2021 in numerous offensive categories One of the areas they excelled in was 3rd down defense.  He brings some mug looks, 3-2 fronts and sprinkle in some 3 safety looks as part of the package.

Oklahoma State was  #2 behind Houston at 28% efficiency and had an excellent 3rd down package. They caused confusion with their pre snap looks and disguises and rotated into different coverages from their 2 deep shell.

One  of the aspects you will see from Knowles is some mug pressures. He loves to walk LB's  up into the gaps and show pressure. You will see him bring man pressures and then drop and play 8. He definitely keeps offenses on their toes with the different ways he can get into coverage from different looks. It can cause some confusion in protection as well as coverage and make life difficult for young qb.

presnap cover look cover 0

post snap cover 2 hole (2 with a 3 read concept on #3 in trips)

That was a disguise but the next time they show pressure and bring it.

next possession

3rd and 8

presnap cover 0

postsnap mug double a and bring 2 ILB and the safety. They play cover 0.

 Boise sees the pressure and throws quick for a 6 yard gain, not enough for a 1st down.

3rd and 5 vs West Virginia

presnap-cover 0

post snap cover 3 or 2 hole depending on how you look at it. Depth of the OLB makes it look like 3 but cb playing outside leverage so I call it 2 hole.  Either way have a middle of field defender to take away the dig/in breaking routes.

see the 3 safeties get deep 1/3  and 2 OLB bail to the curl. 

mesh is covered by the CB up top. Sit route is open late but pressure disrupts it. 

Vs Texas Tech

3rd and 5

presnap cover 0 mug pressure look

post snap cover 0 but only blitz 4. The LB have zone underneath help as DB forcing everything to the inside.  Most college teams will play with a free safety with this kind of look but Knowles is aggressive and plays it with zero middle of the field safety help.

3rd and 8  vs Texas Tech 

Later in the game, they show the same look and bring 7. Texas Tech only has 6 blockers and tries to throw the fade to #1 to the boundary. The pressure forces a quick throw and incompletion.

He will also work out of his dime 3-2 package which he ran vs. Texas Tech.

They went 3-2 with some man concepts on a few occasions. They only rushed 3 and played man with a spy on the QB.  The coverage was man free from a 2 high shell with a middle of the field defender. The safety drops to the middle hook area and the other safety plays deep 1/3. 

3rd and 9

Knowles goes man free hole with a 3 man rush and spy on the qb. Nice design. QB tries to take off but no place to go as the LB is waiting for him. 

Here are 2 clips of the coverage discussed above.

Here's an amoeba look with only 1 def lineman with his hand in the ground. The look causes confusion and they bring the safety from depth. The confusion messes up the TCU protection allowing the FS to come clean. 

3rd and 10 (man free coverage)

 

These are just a few of the concepts Coach Knowles will bring to the Ohio State defense this year.

Ohio State Defense 2022 Under Jim Knowles-Part 1 4-2 hybrid look

Some of the Different Concepts you will see from Jim knowles, Ohio State-DC

Jim Knowles is an excellent defensive coordinator. His unit improved every year at OSU and this past year was #4 in the country. He did a great job at Oklahoma State.

Let's talk about his front. He runs both a 4-2 and a 3-3 hybrid look by moving 1 DE and playing him as a LB over usually one of the guards. He had success with this defense at Duke and Duke used the package after he left with Chris Rumph, in 18-20. 

The 3-3 look will be a different than some of the defenses Ohio State ran in the past. Don't get me wrong, they will run some 4-2 base and probably some 4-3 under fronts vs 12 and 21 if I'm guessing but he will use this hybrid single gap odd scheme at times as he had great success with it.

First, here's the 4-2 front like everyone in the country seems to run vs 11 personnel. The adjustor who moves in the odd hybrid is circled.

In the next diagram they move him to the boundary. They can use him in that way as well. 

Now when they play their odd hybrid look, they use the adjustor(joker) and will move him over one of the guards in the B Gap. This is a defense predicated on movement and being a single gap defense. They have shown both man free and zone coverage with this front.  So in the picture below You will have:

Adjustor goes to the right b gap away from the RB

LDE 5 tech.  RT DE 5 tech 

The Nose Guard will loop to the left  b gap

Rt LB will loop to the left side A gap.

Left LB will not blitz and scrape to defend the other A Gap.

You can see the movement and LB untouched as he overlaps

You can see the LB 16 freeing up as the TCU offense picks up the movement up front. LB comes clean.

Nice design

The DE subs in and is now 30. He comes in and they run it again holding the offense to no gain.

You can see 30 Walk to the other side pre snap and they run the same stunt.

16 comes clean again to make the tackle

Good movement with the overlap working perfectly

Great design and 1 of the different schemes Coach Knowles will run at Ohio State from his predecessor at Ohio State.

Here are the 2 clips of the concept above.

Vs Texas Tech

Same defense different movement and stunt.

This game they align the adjustor to the h back. They bend hard with the ends and want the ball spilled on the perimeter to the safety. 

They execute the scheme nicely for a 4 yard loss.

Here they take the DE again play him opposite the rb

You can see the movement up front

Nice design and execution

TEXAS TECH EXAMPLE 2 

SIMILAR DESIGN

DE pinch inside and the run a game with the hybrid LB.

They bring 2 off the edge with the pressure

They get a hit on the qb.

Here's the look vs. Baylor

They used the defense in some different situations vs Baylor.

Here is how they used it in short yardage and on the goal line.

1. 3rd and 2

Defense odd bear with a LB stunt to the A gap.  Get a great fill by the LB but the DE falls down or it would be a definite TFL. Man free coverage.

here, they get in in on 3rd and 2

Again, they get the free defender with it as the LB scrapes. The guard and center cant get off or the LB

LB is  there to make the tackle.

1st and goal on the 6.

They run a stunt to the side of the back with the jet motion. straight man coverage

Here's another game from the look. You see the DE lined up as the 3-2 LB. They move him.

Nice game with 20 comeing off the other side.

Get a good matchup with the RB

Nice design.

Vs Oklahoma in 2021 you saw several snaps of this look.

 They played man free or what I call cover 2 hole with a middle safety. Some would consider it cover 3. Here's one of the snaps. 

Heres a 3 safety look with him dropping into coverage. 

They get good coverage under and over the #1 wr. 

They also do a nice job bouncing around from look to look and showing their cards late. Against Baylor, they move the DE from the hybrid and put him on the line. But Baylor already made their protection call, full sliding. As a result Knowles gets a 1x1 matchup with the RB vs the DE for the sack.

They get the fullslide in protection

Nice job of getting the RB on the DE. A matchup most teams will take. 

Pressure gets there. 

Nice design and late movement gets them in a favorable situation.

Here's some Duke footage of the front with Chris Rumph. He started this package at Duke and after he left they continued to use it.

Here's my youtube video that goes with the clips above!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-LZ76QkG04&t=63s

Other Resources:

Jim Knowles Defense

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2jXE_h4XDE

Jim Knowles Defensive package:

https://www.landgrantholyland.com/2021/12/9/22825660/film-study-jim-knowles-is-a-mad-scientist-and-his-pass-defense-reflects-that-ohio-state-buckeyes

OSU Blitz package

http://sportstreatise.com/2019/06/big-12-schemes-for-2019-osus-blitz-package/

match quarters in search of the perfect hybrid

https://matchquarters.com/page/6/