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Ohio State football: This trend must stop

By Del Barris

Penn State Nittany Lions wide receiver Jahan Dotson (5) catches a pass behind Ohio State Buckeyes safety Ronnie Hickman (14) during the fourth quarter of the NCAA football game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021.Penn State At Ohio State Football
Penn State Nittany Lions wide receiver Jahan Dotson (5) catches a pass behind Ohio State Buckeyes safety Ronnie Hickman (14) during the fourth quarter of the NCAA football game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021.Penn State At Ohio State Football /
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The Ohio State football team’s defense has their opponent in 3rd and 8. Raise your hand if you’re like me and think they’ve got the offense right where they want them. Keep your hand up if you’re also like me and want to tear your hair out each time the offense picks up a first down. I’m quite sure the majority of hands are still in the air. The Buckeyes have been just plain bad on third down and it is a trend that needs to change.

Penn State was 11 of 18 in third-down situations. That 61% conversion rate is bad enough, but this all gets worse when you do a deeper dive into the numbers. The Nittany Lions were an eye-popping 11 of 14 on 3rd downs of 8 yards or less. It gets worse.

Go back to Indiana’s first offensive drive, before quarterback Jack Tuttle was injured and the Hoosiers started playing musical quarterbacks. They were 4 for 4 on third downs on a drive that led to a touchdown. All were 7 yards or more.

One of the conversions was a running play and the other was just a great throw by Tuttle as he was about to be obliterated by Haskell Garrett. But, the bottom line is when an experienced quarterback has been on the field in the last two games, the Buckeyes have given up a first down 83% of the time on 3rd and 8 yards or less.

The question is, why? I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m some sort of expert who spends his days breaking down game tape. So, this opinion comes mostly from in-game observation. What I’ve seen far too often is this Ohio State football team sitting in a soft zone in these situations.

You can’t blitz every time you’re in a certain down and distance. Teams will figure out a way to beat it-that’s why you saw Penn State throw somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 bubble screens against the Buckeyes. You do have to change things up, come after a quarterback, and make him throw before he wants or throw the ball away. Keep the offense off-balance. That has not been done near enough on third down

Next. Ohio State's worst-case scenario. dark

The Ohio State defensive coaching staff simply must come up with adjustments. You can not win championships when you can not stop teams on third down. This trend needs to change.

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