Ohio State Football: How the Buckeyes stop Kenneth Walker

The Ohio State football team will be going against the best running back they have faced all year long this Saturday when Michigan State comes to town. Kenneth Walker is no joke. He is one of the three frontrunners for the Heisman, along with C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young.

Walker is the focal point of Michigan State’s offense. They hand the ball to him and then use play-action passes out of that action. If Ohio State can stop Walker, they can essentially stop their offense because then the illusion of play-action pass no longer exists.

In order for the Buckeyes to do that, they have to take a page out of Purdue’s playbook. The Boilermakers did a good job of containing Walker to a certain extent. They made just enough stops on defense and were electric enough on offense where they turned the game into a track meet.

Ohio State’s offense is much better than Purdue’s, as we saw last week. They can score more than enough points to take Michigan State out of their game plan. They have the number one scoring offense in the country. The question is whether or not the defense can make just enough stops.

I think the Buckeyes can win this game if they can force turnovers. They have forced 17 turnovers this season and it seems like all of them have come at critical times in the game. The Buckeyes are also 6th in the country in sacks with 34. If they get a lead, they have started rushing the passer much better.

The best way to defend Walker is to plug the middle early and get a lead. Sending Steele Chambers on well-timed run-blitzes might be the best way to plug holes so he can’t get loose. Walker in space is very dangerous, so you want to avoid that as much as possible.

Walker might get some yards, but it shouldn’t be enough for Michigan State to seriously threaten the Ohio State football team this week. OSU’s offense is just too good.