Ohio State Football: Defensive line starting to turn things around

For most of this season, the Ohio State football team has had a tough time sacking the quarterback. That has been especially true from the defensive line. For whatever reason, they haven’t been able to really get the job done up front.

That changed Saturday night in Bloomington. One of my bold predictions for that game was for the Buckeyes to get 5 sacks. They got exactly 5 and all came from the defensive line. It was a team effort up front as multiple guys got in on the action.

No one player had more than 1 sack. Zach Harrison, Ty Hamilton, Haskell Garrett, and Tyreke Smithr all had one sack. J.T. Tuimoloau and Taron Vincent each had half a sack as well. It was good to see some of the best players the Buckeyes have on the defensive end have some success.

Getting pressure up front is going to be harder as the season finishes. Ohio State plays a much tougher schedule the rest of the way against teams that have much better offensive lines. Getting to the quarterback won’t be as easy against Penn State as it was against Tulsa.

That’s what makes these strides so much better. The unit that we thought was going to be great all along is slowly becoming just that. They have slowly been building to this. A lot of these guys are super young too. Tuimoloau is just a true freshman and he’s going to be a star.

If the Buckeyes are going to win out and make the College Football Playoff, the defensive line is going to play a big part. They have to set the tone at the line of scrimmage and win individual battles in pass-rush scenarios as well as running plays.

Their ability to win those battles is what’s going to separate them from everyone else they face the rest of the way.