Ohio State football vs. Toledo: Defensive grades

The Ohio State football team was able to take care of Toledo to the tune of a 77-21 beatdown. The Buckeyes weren’t able to be stopped on offense and the defense played well enough to help get the win, although there were still some concerning plays. Here are the grades for each unit on the defense.

For some reason, the Buckeyes decided to not play Mike Hall all game. Hall is Ohio State’s most impactful defensive lineman. Every indication was that he wasn’t hurt prior to the game, yet he wasn’t out there. Because of that, Toledo ran the ball way better than they should’ve.

Toledo ran for 170 yards and most of that was from Rockets quarterback Dequan Finn. That was because the defensive line failed to keep him contained. Ohio State won’t face a ton of mobile quarterbacks moving forward, but that is still a concern that needs to be addressed. Javantae Jean-Baptiste had a good game though, coming up with two sacks and a forced fumble.

Firmly average night from the linebackers for the first time all year. Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers were just fine, combining for 7 tackles and 1 tackle for loss. They were also partly to blame for Finn getting loose on scrambles. Palaie Gaoteote came up with a fumble recovery.

The secondary continues to be a concern for the Buckeyes, namely Denzel Burke. Burke was burned for a deep touchdown yet again. This has become a recurring theme for him. Ohio State also got burned on the Rockets’ first drive of the game when they scored in just 46 seconds.

Allowing just 183 yards passing is pretty good, but it’s the way that they got beat on those yards that is concerning. If they play a team with a better passing game, they risk getting beaten. Jim Knowles has to find a solution to the Burke issue.

The Ohio State football team won in a big way, and that’s all that matters. Next week is a much tougher opponent though.