Ohio State Football: How defensive line stacks up against Clemson
The Ohio State football team and Clemson have produced some of the best defensive lines in CFB recently and they will fight for supremacy in Glendale.
Both Ohio State and Clemson have successful defensive lines and for the Buckeyes their d-line’s success starts with defensive end Chase Young.
Young has dominated nearly every opposing offensive line he has faced this season, racking up 16.5 sacks and six forced fumbles. Any offensive line he’s faced has had to double or triple-team him to prevent his big-play ability.
When Young is double-teamed, defensive linemen Jashon Cornell, Robert Landers, Davon Hamilton and Zach Harrison have made their way into the backfield, totaling 13 sacks and 89 total tackles. The supporting cast of Tommy Togiai, Javontae Jean-Baptiste and Antwuan Jackson have also made their presence felt.
Clemson has one of the best offensive lines in the country, but will have to step up their blocking to the next level to keep Young and the rest of the Larry Johnson’s Ohio State defensive line from making big plays.
Clemson’s defensive line has produced 17.5 sacks between 10 linemen. Although statistically their total is much worse than Ohio State’s 51.5 sacks, the Clemson defensive line is still a menace to opposing offensive lines.
The Tigers lead all of college football in points per game (10.6) and yards per game allowed (244.7), according to ESPN. One thing they do best is preventing the ball-carrier from getting more than a few yards on almost every play.
Most defenses, even good ones, allow a big play every once in a while, but the Tigers are a tough group to get past, every yard being a battle.
Even if a lineman doesn’t make the tackle, the Tigers have slowed down the ball-carrier enough for the linebackers to make most of the tackles.
Leading the way is DT Tyler Davis, who has 4.5 sacks and 37 tackles, along with DE Justin Foster, who has three sacks and 28 tackles.
Xavier Thomas and Logan Rudolph are also difference makers that the Ohio State offensive line will have to watch out for. Although Clemson’s defensive line does blow up the stat sheet like Chase Young does, they are a vital piece of a defense that plays like a brick wall.
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Ohio State and Clemson have produced some of the best defensive lines in college football recently, and whichever team’s group shows up better on Dec. 28 will advance to New Orleans for the CFP National Championship Game.