Ohio State Football: Strengthening the defense starts against Tulsa

After a disappointing 35-28 loss against Oregon last Saturday, there’s no doubt the Ohio State football team needs to strengthen the defense if it wants to compete for a Big Ten championship and beyond. With winless Tulsa coming into Columbus this weekend, it would be easy for the Buckeyes to simply rely on their overwhelming talent and cruise to a victory. Ryan Day and his staff need to make sure the defense is disciplined and fully engaged as they attempt to improve on the fly.

Ohio State has been outrushed in both games so far this year, allowing Minnesota and Oregon to establish the run early. Mohamed Ibrahim ran for 163 yards on 30 carries for the Golden Gophers before going down with an injury. CJ Verdell was just as good, rushing for 161 yards and two touchdowns, including a game-changing 77-yard TD in the third quarter. Ohio State won’t be able to reach their potential unless the defense tightens up.

Ryan Day discussed the recent defensive struggles during his media availability on Tuesday afternoon: “I think now it’s not just a single game. It’s a little bit of a pattern. We took a long, hard look the last 48 hours at everything that’s going on and are certainly going to make some adjustments here. Not only how we’re attacking other offenses but also just structurally how we’re doing our day-to-day operations.”

The Buckeyes defense also took a hit as senior safety Josh Proctor fractured his leg and will miss the rest of the season. Ronnie Hickman, Bryson Shaw, and others will look to step up in his absence. Day talked about replacing Proctor: “Losing Josh for the whole year changes some things. Bryson had some good snaps in there but we’re going to have to take a look at what gives us the best chance moving forward. Possibly trying some guys in different spots.”

It’s clear that the defense isn’t championship material right now and Kerry Coombs needs to make adjustments prior to Big Ten play. The Ohio State football team has a couple of tune-up games against Tulsa and Akron to work on their inconsistencies as the defensive line looks to create more pressure and effectively set the edge, while the linebackers and secondary have to clean up sloppy tackling and limit big plays.

That starts against Tulsa on Saturday at 3:30 with no more room for error.