Ohio State Football: Defense doesn’t have to be great

There was a lot of talk about the Ohio State football team’s defense after the first three games of the season. Those first three games saw the Buckeyes give up 86 points and a whole lot of yards. Since then though, the defense has been much better.

Having Matt Barnes call the plays has certainly helped. Ohio State has also learned something about their defense as well; they don’t have to be elite. This defense just has to be average for them to really do some damage because of how good the offense is.

The same was true last season., although the secondary was much worse than it is this year. The Buckeyes had an elite offense that carried them to the National Championship Game and gave them a shot to win it all. Ohio State has the number one offense in the country yet again this year.

That offense is so unstoppable that it can cover up the flaws that the defense still has. The defense will be tested very soon against some much better competition. In those games, they just have to make about four or five stops throughout the entire game. If they do that, the offense can take care of the rest.

It would obviously be much better if the defense was really good, but that’s just not feasible this year. The inexperience at linebacker, as well as the defensive line underperforming, has kept this defense from hitting its ceiling. Having Bryson Shaw at safety for the injured Josh Proctor doesn’t help either.

If this defense can just be average the rest of the way, the Ohio State football team has a great shot to repeat as a National Championship Game participant. That would be a heck of an accomplishment considering where we thought this team was headed just a month ago.