Ohio State Football: Defense stands in the way of greatness

Over the course of history, the Ohio State football program has been known for its strong defense. They typically have a strong defense that is very good at stopping the run. Over the past few years though, that has not been the case. In fact, the defense has been in the way of greatness.

In three of the last four seasons, the defense has been the reason why the Buckeyes haven’t come away with a national championship. In 2018, it was the Purdue game that sunk the Buckeyes after they gave up a gazillion yards to Rondale Moore and company.

2019 was the best Ohio State football team I’ve ever seen and they got screwed to not reach the national championship. The 2020 team though did reach that national championship game. They got absolutely shredded in that game though on defense and a great offense couldn’t make up for it.

The same thing happened in 2021. The offense was plenty good enough in all of the games they played to win, but it was the defense that prevented them from beating both Oregon and TTUN. That’s why Ryan Day elected to make so many big changes on that side of the ball.

Greatness is a hard thing to achieve. The offense has been at that level for the last three or four years now. The defense has yet to catch up, and it’s cost the Buckeyes championships. It’s going to be the same story in 2022. The defense has to be better to give them a shot.

There’s no question the offense is going to be borderline unstoppable again, especially if they get the offensive line figured out. It’s the defense that determines just how far this team is going to go in their pursuit of greatness.