Ohio State Football: What happens if new defense doesn’t work?

The Ohio State football team has been working hard all offseason to implement a new defensive system. It’s a complicated system that Broyles Award winner Jim Knowles is bringing over from Oklahoma State. Knowles helped coached the Pokes to a top-five defense in all of college football.

That was with a different set of players though. Ohio State’s defense was really bad last season and wasn’t very good in 2020 either. Most of those players are still on this year’s squad. What happens if this new defense doesn’t work? What if it’s the players, not the system?

If that ends up being the case, then the Buckeyes are in trouble. They aren’t going to be able to compete for a national championship. The offense is arguably going to be better with C.J. Stroud getting a full year under his belt last season, but that might not be enough.

Ohio State’s defense doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. They just have to be average. Knowles doesn’t have to have a top-five defense in year one. He just needs to make sure that this team doesn’t hemorrhage points against good teams that they play in the Big Ten.

I do think that the new system will work though. I do think that the players will learn it and put it to good use. While I don’t think it will be a perfect performance from the defense every game, it should be good enough to keep the Buckeyes in every game they play.

If the defense does end up sucking again though, that’s just more on Stroud’s plate. He showed that he can be elite at the end of the season against Utah. He might have to be elite a handful of times this season if the defense doesn’t play its part.