Ohio State Football: Tackling should no longer be an issue

Last year, the Ohio State football team had some of the worst tackling I’ve ever seen. They could not wrap anyone up and bring them down on the first try. Most of the time, they weren’t in a bad position. They just had bad technique and couldn’t bring guys to the ground.

It ended up costing them two games last season. Oregon may have been the most egregious example of this. The Ducks just ran up and down the field on the Buckeyes while running through a bunch of tackles. The first half of the Utah game may have somehow been worse than that.

Expect that to change this season. Jim Knowles has been working with the defense on teaching sound tackling techniques that should help alleviate this issue moving forward. In other words, the Buckeyes should actually be able to bring ball carriers to the ground on the first try.

A change in some of the personnel will help as well. The Ohio State football team will be getting some young players who have a lot of talent a chance to come in and make an impact right away. The best way they can do that is by making clean tackles when they are supposed to.

Better tackling will lead to better results for this defense. Ohio State football fans aren’t asking for much from that side of the ball. With how good the offense is going to be, they just need the defense to be average for this team to contend for a national championship.

We saw some better tackling in the Spring Game. That was only just a taste of what the defense will do though. They will come out playing faster and harder once Notre Dame comes to town on September 3rd.