The Ohio State football team has a defensive problem right now. It’s a problem that has gone back to the beginning of 2020 when Kerry Coombs was added as co-defensive coordinator. It reared its ugly head again in the Buckeyes’ 35-28 loss to Oregon.
As we saw last year against Alabama, having a defense this bad isn’t going to allow you to beat good teams unless you have a legendary offense. Justin Fields kept Ohio State afloat last season. He’s not here anymore, and even he couldn’t overcome the defense’s nonsense against Bama.
The offense has problems of its own that they need to address. But the facts are that they have been good enough to win both of Ohio State’s games so far. The defense hasn’t It’s as simple as that. If the Buckeyes want to save their season, the defense must be fixed.
After looking at the tape of both the Minnesota game and the Oregon game, as well as the Alabama game last season, I’ve found three main things that Ohio State must fix on defense. Most of these are fairly easy fixes and should immediately improve the play of the entire unit.
These are changes that Coombs isn’t going to like. But if he doesn’t like them, he can find a new job. These are things that will help the success of the team in the long term and keep their Playoff hopes alive if they can get some help from other teams.
The first thing they need to change is the scheme itself.
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.
Anthony Brown is still sitting in a nice, tidy pocket in the Shoe right now. That’s how little pressure Ohio State was able to get on the Oregon quarterback. A big reason why is because they just kept rushing four guys. Oregon was able to keep five or six guys back there to block, and they had no issue.
For as good as this defensive line was supposed to be, it’s just not. They have one sack in two games so far this year. They need help getting to the quarterback. Coombs needs to send more linebackers or defensive backs blitzing to give quarterbacks a different look.
Keeping two safeties high also helps with this. If you have two safeties back and you get caught on a blitz, there’s a much better chance of keeping the play in front of you instead of getting gashed for a huge play if you can’t get a sack. It just makes more sense.
Blitzing also keeps the defense guessing. They don’t know where it will come from or who will do it. It can be used effectively in the run game too, which the Buckeyes have had many issues stopping. Run blitzes are a great way to slow down running backs.
I didn’t think the Buckeyes would have to blitz very often for the defense to be successful before the season started. Clearly, I overestimated the talent that’s on the defensive line. They can’t stop anyone at the point of attack right now, so they need some help.
The last thing they need to fix has to deal with the personnel on the field.
The Ohio State football team has been rotating players in and out of the defense like a hockey line. They played over 20 guys against Minnesota. That number did shrink to 16 against Oregon, but they still need to play their best players and keep them out there on the field.
I don’t have an issue rotating defensive linemen. That’s been successful for the Buckeyes for years. It’s also the area of the defense that gets the most tired the quickest. I don’t mind rotating three or four guys out of there depending on the scenario.
As far as the back seven is concerned though, that group needs to stay mostly the same. Coombs can’t be playing four or five different linebackers at a time. He has to find the best guys and keep them out there on the field. The same goes for the secondary.
The best players need to stay on the field, period. They are the best players for a reason. Keeping them out there on the field gives the Ohio State football team the best chance to win every game. Playing depth is for games against Tulsa and Akron, which are their next two opponents.
Even in those games, I’d like to see the best 11 on the field the majority of the game until it reaches a complete blowout, assuming that even happens. Who knows with the way the unit has been playing so far.
These are easy things that Ryan Day can make happen to make his team better. Time will tell if he actually decides to do it.