The figures on Ohio State’s defense: Despite the lack of flare, the Buckeyes continue to smother.
Following Ohio State’s victory against Notre Dame, Buckeyes coach Ryan Day was met with some derision from the country at large for touting the toughness of his team to detractors (including, notably, Lou Holtz).
The thing is, Ohio State has been one of the stoutest teams in college football on the side of the ball most associated with toughness: defense. Archrival Michigan gets hailed as a boa constrictor on nearly every broadcast this season, but that name might be more apt for the way Jim Knowles’ unit gets things done: Ohio State’s defense doesn’t force a lot of turnovers, nor does it have the most sacks in college football. It simply doesn’t let its opponents move the ball at all.
While “underrated” is a loaded word to describe the unit — the Buckeyes are the No. 3 team in the country after all — there doesn’t seem to be much acknowledgement that with the Buckeyes offense outside of the top 30 FBS teams in scoring, Ohio State has succeeded in a different way this year.
The Buckeyes held Notre Dame (17th in the nation by scoring offense) to 14 points. They held Penn State (tied for ninth) to 12. They didn’t force a turnover in either of those games. They just bled the Fighting Irish and Nittany Lions out over the course of the game.
