Ohio State football: Three ways to fix the defense
By Ryan Stano
Perhaps the most important thing that the Buckeyes need to do is put two safeties back in the game. They don’t have elite, shutdown corners on the outside that can play press man-to-man coverage this year. In fact, they haven’t for quite a while.
Only playing one high safety leaves you vulnerable across the middle in both the pass and the run. We saw that when CJ Verdell burst through a hole to gash Ohio State for a long touchdown run after Bryson Shaw took the angle from hell to try and tackle him.
Playing two safeties keeps big plays like that from happening. It keeps two guys back there who can keep everything in front of them. It helps in the passing game two where those guys can roam the field and make plays on the ball when it comes their way.
Does this become harder with the season-ending injury from Josh Proctor? Yes, because Proctor was the most important player in the secondary. It means you’re going to have to play Bryson Shaw (ugh) and probably Ronnie Hickman. Hickman can stop playing the bullet and move to safety.
Making this scheme change also would mean that the linebackers would have more responsibility put on their shoulders. Teradja Mitchell has shown he can handle that. Cody Simon has shown flashes. The other linebackers have not, which is a concern. But bottom line, this keeps the play in front of you much easier.
The second adjustment that must be made has to deal with getting to the quarterback.