Stephen Leonard
Ohio State Writer
Minnesota put their best script of plays out there last Saturday and came away with only a field goal. From that point, the hunting dogs were caged; Minnesota didn’t even sniff the red zone from that point forward. It was the bend but don’t break defense, but they only bent once and never broke.
Now this defense is trending toward historic status, giving up only five points per game, 25 total points in five games. Zero redzone touchdowns have been scored against the silver bullet defense this year, and of course, zero rushing touchdowns allowed.
We are in October, ladies and gentlemen, and this defense has given up only two touchdowns. The Buckeyes also rank third in total defense (total yards given up), but if you can’t score, yards don’t matter. I put a premium on scoring defense over yards every day.
Let’s get back to the five points a game and this scoring defense. Buckeyes fans and even college football fans in general are now watching this defense as intently as they do the offense.
What defensive coordinator Matt Patricia is doing schematically is like poetry. The defense is where all the national attention is focused, and it’s hard to focus anywhere else. Each game, I’m looking to ask myself defensive questions.
What are they going to do now? Will Matt Patricia show a blitz and back off, or vice versa? Is the defensive lineup in man, but mixing it up to zone before the snap? What are they going to do to confuse the opposing quarterbacks? How is Patricia going to utilize Arvell Reese?
Finally, where is the leading tackler going to come from? Because every single game has been a different one. And that’s got to be some type of record. Five different leading tacklers in each of your first five games? That’s insane.
I almost feel like it’s a competition now. Players are fighting to lead the team in tackles. The defense is just so stacked and so versatile that the leading tack holder can come from any position. I think it’s a badge of honor to be able to say I love this number one scoring defense and tackles this week.
Despite the historic results laid out above, Ryan Day says this team, “hasn’t accomplished a thing”.
That sounds hyperbolic, but Coach Day has a different mindset after a national title under his belt.
He should consider it an accomplishment to win on the road against a top-20 team in the Illinois Fighting Illini. This is a veteran group for head coach Bret Bielema. The Illini had 9 returning starters offensively, including quarterback Luke Altmyer and all five offensive linemen. It will be the stiffest test yet for this defense to hold Illinois under double digits, like it has done in all five wins so far this season.
The high school football season is heating up, and the stakes are getting higher as teams battle for a chance to win it all. Several future Buckeyes are putting it all on the line to keep their playoff hopes alive for another week. The Southlake Carroll Dragons improved to a perfect 8-0 record on Friday […]
Adam Hicks
Author
The Good Northwestern’s Train Rolls On Northwestern is 5–2. That’s not a typo. It’s not a fever dream. It’s not a glitch in the standings. The Wildcats — who started this season under a cloud of low expectations and low preseason rankings — just shut out Purdue 19–0 and now sit one win away from […]
34-0 was the result, but even the shutout score doesn’t paint the full picture of this dominating performance. The Badgers (2-5, 0-4) only had 144 total yards on offense for the game. For comparison, Ohio State QB Julian Sayin had 169 yards passing in the first quarter alone. The No. 1 Buckeyes (7-0, 4-0) came […]
