Ohio State Football: First down is important

The Ohio State football team had the best offense in the country last year. A big reason for that is because of the success that they had on first down. They were able to get ahead of the chains and make second and third down less scary on most of their possessions.

That is what they did on offense. On defense, things weren’t as good against the better teams they faced. Against Oregon, they kept allowing the Ducks to run all over them on first down. That set up second and short way too often and kept the Buckeyes’ defense on their heels.

Against TTUN, the defense had the same issues. They were pushed around up front and couldn’t stop them from running down their throat. This season first down will once again be important for the Buckeyes, specifically on the defensive side of the ball.

Jim Knowles’ new defense will emphasize that as well. He wants his unit to dictate the pace of play and how things will go. That starts with some good play on first down. If they can force teams to play in more 2nd and 9 and 2nd and 10 scenarios, that’s a huge win for them.

We’ll see if the Buckeyes are able to do with that new defense in general. It’s something that everyone is waiting to see. Personally, I think they will improve both overall defensively, and on first down as well. It’s hard not to after how they played the last two seasons.

First down will tell us whether or not Ohio State is set to dominate an opponent. That’s the down that will set the tone for the rest of the series and the game at large.