What's Wrong With the 2013 Defense?

[ShowMeBuck]

I know there was a debate earlier in this thread about our style of offense putting our defense in a bad spot. Not sure if this has been brought up before but there is another way of looking at it entirely that just occurred to me. What if you looked at it exactly opposite? Take chances on defense because an incredible offense like ours can always bail you out. No matter how we played all year we would still have the strength of schedule complaint hurting us. That's true but I think we dropped because we let weak teams score on us with our bend don't break schemes early on. We gave up way too many points to lowly teams and continued to do that Saturday against Illinois. Besides, we can't control our schedule year to year but we can control our play. Personally I think if we get shut out of the NC game it will be just as much because of our porous D than a soft schedule.

 

[OSUK]

If you are going to do that, why not just make Spence a LB? I hate seeing him coverage knowing he is going to pressure the QB if he stays on the line. I hated when the Dolphins dropped Jason Taylor in coverage and I hate it when the Buckeyes do it. Use the strength of the man on the field.

If you make him an outside linebacker and Marcus on the end and blitz him from time to time, that would probably work but I don't like seeing Spence in coverage.

I've seen Noah drop into coverage with zone bliztes. Uh, no. Not his strength. Call me crazy, but I think you line him up outside the OT, point at the QB, and say, "Sic em".

What if someone walks in front of the path of your hat, preventing it from reaching the window seats? Would that be a sign that tOSU is playing better than you thought?

That's too deep of a scenario for my mind to ponder. So far, I have thrown the hat (autographed by Archie Griffin) and no obstruction has presented. I have thrown the hat quite a bit this year when the defense was getting abused. Too much. I used to only throw it when the offense got -1 on 3rd and 2 running Dave.

 

[kujirakira]

I think the idea here is to make up for the lack of LB with Grant and Perry still potentially out and/or not at full strength.
We did actually line Spence up more as a LB a lot against Illinois. There were a lot of funky looks on defense with what would at least initially resemble a 3-3-5 with Spence then "blitzing" between, for example, Schutt and Bennet. It's also quite common to blitz Shazier and drop Spence back.
I assume the idea is to confuse the opponent, but I suppose you could argue we're out-thinking ourselves to some degree as well.

 

[pnuts34]

All of the talk about what Illinois did to us with their offense, but no one is mentioning that scheelhause needed 50 passes to not even reach 300yds. And under 6yds per attempt, not exactly star numbers. It shows me he had some nice dink and dunk passes and a couple prayers. This defense still played well enough to where we were up 35-14 in the first half. We caused several turnovers and a safety. IMO, playing teams that rely heavy on passing will still result in them having some. It plays at times. Our defense will be judged negatively if we don't blow every team out and have 10pts or less, the kids haven't been in the system long enough and are still growing. We have the talent, and they're maturing, but it says something when our best players are juniors and sophomores. We're still playing at a very good level(close to NC level) and seem play big on our biggest stages. We haven't lost a game in 2yrs, that still means something.

 

[Onebuckfan]

Hey, 22 game winning streaks happen every Year..God forbid when tOSU loses again the melt down will be epic..even if it was to the Denver Broncos'.

 

[matcar]

Hey, 22 game winning streaks happen every Year..God forbid when tOSU loses again the melt down will be epic..even if it was to the Denver Broncos'.

I think one can enjoy the brilliant streak while acknowledging deficiencies that exist. The team has goals including championships and obviously we'd all love to see it. At the moment, it appears that the defense could stand some improvement if they are to reach the top of the mountain.

 

[Onebuckfan]

I think one can enjoy the brilliant streak while acknowledging deficiencies that exist. The team has goals including championships and obviously we'd all love to see it. At the moment, it appears that the defense could stand some improvement if they are to reach the top of the mountain.

I don't like some of the play this year..but what is tiring is people coming on posting countless posts condeming the D..analyze it we can do ..but posts like the d sucks, etc is tiring. At least the Kenny G should be starting posts that were a crusade for some posters has died down..

 

[TresselstillownsTSUN]

I just think our secoundry has just been average this year. Not bad, just average. Roby has been fine, and Grant has outplayed anybody else at DB.

Not having Grant and Perry certainly hurt Saturday. Williams missed a lot of tackles in his gap. I think key we've missed for a few years is a great STAR. Tyvis has been average, he's young and will get there.

Playing Spence at LEO is crazy to me. He's just not good at it. But he has first round pass rushing skills. Miller is far better in the LEO spot when it comes to dropping and covering the flat.

I'd really like to see Bell get a run at safety opposite of Barnett.

 

[lvbuckeye]

I actually feel like Doran is the best cover corner on the team. Whenever I see him, he's on his guy like glue... and it seems like passes rarely get completed in his direction. Teams just don't seem to throw his way. Or at least that's my impression so far...
Roby is a playmaker and absolutely brutal against the run... I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up as a Safety in the NFL ala Malcolm Jenkins. But he regularly gets beat in man coverage. Nonetheless he flies around the field like a terror when he doesn't have to man up against a receiver. If we had more depth at Corner, I'd kill to see him move over to Safety where his average cover skills would be better than Brown or Barnett, and he can flow to the ball as a hard hitting safety.

The thing about Roby is that he's not just playing his 1/11. He's playing two others' 1/11 as well. The kid is a STUD. he's just trying to do too much...

 

[Taosman]

Gotta give credit to "Pitt" Brown for stepping up his game and solidifying that position after the loss of Bryant.
D. Grant had been on lock down all year. He's playing like an all conference player.
Roby has woke up and is making plays again.
The LBers just need to get healthy.
It would help if Washington were completely healthy but he's trying his best with a lingering injury.
Bosa, just fantastic for a true treshman.
Spence is playing like a madman out there. Creating "mayhem".
Shazier, he's an All American. We will miss him when he goes.
Bennett and the guys inside are doing there job.
But, let's also keep in mind that the NCAA rules now favor the offenses so teams are scoring more.
Urban understands this.
We are so close to being really good on defense. All it will take is solid play at LBer.

 

[C-busBuck]

Hard to judge the past defensive performance. We had a preferred walk-on playing at Linebacker and basically have our 3rd string safety out there along with Bosa getting dinged up. I do agree that dropping Spence into coverage is not a good idea. He is no Will Smith back there. Let him do what he does best. We are all micro analyzing this team to a ridiculous point though. 22 game winning streak. Won by 25 in Champagn Urabana not easy to do. Most fun Ohio State team I have ever witnessed in my 53 years on this earth. This run is priceless. Yet we are whining and picking apart a team that is erasing records left and right. Why not just sit back and enjoy the ride. Ohio State may not play in the NCG this year. But it is through no fault of their own (to this point).

 

[RB07OSU]

Being thrilled with the overall result in the last two years is not incompatible with critique. I guarantee you this staff is not happy with our defensive results this year overall. To this date, health has been an issue (Schutt, Washington, Bryant, Grant, and Perry). However, the LB play was below average even when we were healthy and the DL play has been pretty good despite the injuries. The really big one is Bryant and sort of unanticipated in terms of talent drop-off (I anticipated leadership issues). I am still scratching my head as to how we can't get better play out of that position with Pittsburgh, Bell, and all the other talented freshmen we have at DB. I think Barnett is having a VERY good season and so is Grant. Roby has looked better recently but started off poorly. Really the dropoff I see is the LBs and the star position and strong safety.

Simply put, the defensive performance has to improve to be a championship team. The conference has been down enough (and our non-conference schedule) for us to get away with the way our defense has been playing. We need to see marked improvement the next couple weeks and to get healthy to have a championship caliber defense.

 

[Taosman]

Winning has actually been easier this year. Ha!
Even the defense from game one was better.
The Wiscy win proves in my mind this defense can play at a championship level, but injuries and youth have made them inconsistent. It's like from week to week we don't know how good they'll be.
Weird.

 

[bassplayer7770]

I'm just hoping the Defense will play another solid game against Indiana (unlike last year). Yes, it hurt to have Grant and Perry injured. To me, I'm still seeing poor tackling technique. Is it just me, or does Roby too often just lunge at a player without trying to wrap up? As for the young LBers and their progression, it is awfully hard on them that we lost so many players at the position due to injury or attrition. I have to think they will be fine, in time. The staff is certainly adding more and more talent at the position.

 

[matcar]

Making TTUN look good. Not a good look.