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2020 tOSU Defense

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DEFENSE FORCES ROCKY START
Missing Tuf Borland, Josh Proctor and Tyler Friday didn't faze Ohio State's defense, particularly in a dominant first half, paving the way for a 28-0 lead at intermission.

The defense forced Sparty quarterback Rocky Lombardi into a 5-of-11 for 33 yards with one interception performance before Tyreke Smith broke him into tiny pieces during a 9-yard sack on Michigan State's next-to-last possession of the half.

This is the same Rocky Lombardi that torched Michigan for 323 yards and three touchdowns earlier this season. To be clear, I don't mention that to infer Lombardi is good but instead to assure you Michigan is really, really bad.

With the passing game a non-starter, Michigan State's running game found little room. The Spartans 12 rushing yards on 12 carries in the opening 30 minutes.

Throw that stank in a blender and across Michigan State's eight first half possessions, they had five 3-and-outs, one 4-and-out and lost fumble on the seventh play of another drive. The longest drive of the half went for 27 yards with six of the eight possessions generating 10 yards or less.
 
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RB07OSU said:
Shaun had an awesome game no doubt and I'm alright with this, but to me, Haskell Garrett gets defensive player of the game. One of those good problems to have I reckon.
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I agree...You could also include Pete Werner in that category. I loved watching him on the inside. I feel that's his more natural position. I know this is high praise, but I think he could be a Luke Kuechly type of player.
 
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bucknut502 said:
I agree...You could also include Pete Werner in that category. I loved watching him on the inside. I feel that's his more natural position. I know this is high praise, but I think he could be a Luke Kuechly type of player.
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For sure, Pete was in on damn near every tackle on Saturday. He might be working his way to a late first round pick. I really like the Kuechly comparison, was honestly thinking the same thing. Not only gets to the ball in a hurry in the run game, but he's outstanding in coverage. That's a rare breed right there.
 
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Will Ohio State secondary continue to show growth?
There isn’t much on film from Northwestern quarterback Peyton Ramsey this season that should cause much concern for the Buckeyes. But don’t expect Ohio State to be complacent this week for a couple reasons — starting with the fact that Ramsey has a 300-yard, 3-touchdown outing against it in the past. On top of that previous experience with Ramsey carving up the Buckeyes, the defensive backfield continues to be under the spotlight as the unit that still appears to have the most room for growth heading into the postseason. There’s no group that would have benefitted more from playing a full schedule than the revamped secondary, though it was clearly playing with more confidence and swagger a couple weeks ago even without Josh Proctor available to fill his do-it-all role. The Wildcats aren’t traditionally the best measuring stick for a pass defense, but Ohio State can’t take anything for granted there right now.
 
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Would love to see this team show up big on Saturday provided we play.

The front 7 has been a great strength for us so far and it'll be fun seeing them take on their rushing game.

Really hoping for a performance of holding them under 17 though to get some momentum if we can make the playoffs. Confidence is everything with young players and a good performance this weekend can really go a long ways.
 
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Ya know, lost in the awful pass defense game against Indiana is the fact that they ended up with -1 yard rushing for the game. Thats freaking ridiculous and a huge reason for them passing over 50 times and the yardage. Unfortunately too many big plays in those 24 completions. Imagine a couple of those pass were broken up or they kept the WR in front of them limiting the YAC? Its been the gash, broken, trick plays that have mostly hurt the defense. Held PSU to 44 yards and one of those runs was 23 yards. 96.4 ypg and the numbers are skewed. I'd say closer to 70 after the initial hiccups.

Bottom line, if the Buckeyes bring that pass rush, these playoffs are going to be very interesting.
 
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Still, Coombs truly believes the secondary has improved since the Indiana debacle.

“We got better. We got better in practice,” Coombs said on Dec. 8. “One of the big messages from Ryan has been execution. Execution matters. It matters in practice. That's going to be a real focus today. We've got to continue to execute. We weren't good enough in execution on everything last week, so we've got things to improve on. That's what we're going to work on today. That will be a constant source of activity for us is continuing to work on the big plays. But I do believe we got better, yes.”

That’s all fine and dandy, but there’s plenty of reason for those outside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center to take a wait-and-see approach.

Shaun Wade, Sevyn Banks, Marcus Williamson, Proctor and Hooker haven’t faced a quarterback like Lawrence all season. And while Clemson doesn’t have first-round wide receivers littering its rotation, it’s still been one of college football’s best big-play passing offenses. The last time this group faced a competent quarterback with above-average wideouts, it didn't go well for the Buckeyes who need no reminder of that fact.

Whether or not the progress Coombs referenced shows up on Friday night could ultimately determine whether or not the Buckeyes travel to Miami 10 days later to play for a national championship.
 
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ScriptOhio said:


Still, Coombs truly believes the secondary has improved since the Indiana debacle.

“We got better. We got better in practice,” Coombs said on Dec. 8. “One of the big messages from Ryan has been execution. Execution matters. It matters in practice. That's going to be a real focus today. We've got to continue to execute. We weren't good enough in execution on everything last week, so we've got things to improve on. That's what we're going to work on today. That will be a constant source of activity for us is continuing to work on the big plays. But I do believe we got better, yes.”

That’s all fine and dandy, but there’s plenty of reason for those outside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center to take a wait-and-see approach.

Shaun Wade, Sevyn Banks, Marcus Williamson, Proctor and Hooker haven’t faced a quarterback like Lawrence all season. And while Clemson doesn’t have first-round wide receivers littering its rotation, it’s still been one of college football’s best big-play passing offenses. The last time this group faced a competent quarterback with above-average wideouts, it didn't go well for the Buckeyes who need no reminder of that fact.

Whether or not the progress Coombs referenced shows up on Friday night could ultimately determine whether or not the Buckeyes travel to Miami 10 days later to play for a national championship.
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On the Bright side Olave and Wilson make great guys to practice against... on the downside it doesn't seem to have helped much this year....
 
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