Ohio State Football: Jim Knowles not concerned with a lack of sacks

The Ohio State football team has played some excellent defense so far this season. They haven’t allowed anyone to score more than 14 points on them so far, even though every opponent has scored more than their previous one so far. 14 points isn’t going to be enough to beat the Buckeyes.

Yet, the Buckeyes are stopping other teams without getting to the quarterback. Through four games, the Ohio State football team has just five sacks. What’s worse is that neither J.T. Tuimoloau nor Jack Sawyer has any of those sacks. Normally, that would be a cause for concern.

Apparently, Jim Knowles isn’t too worried about it. When asked on Tuesday about the lack of sacks he said that when he was younger he would have worried about it more. He’s more focused on not allowing big plays and stopping the other team from scoring points.

If that’s what he and the rest of the defense are focusing on, they are achieving their goals. While the stats may not be that impressive individually, the defense as a whole is not allowing big plays and keeping guys in front of them. That’s the key to winning football games.

I’m not sure how sustainable that is moving forward against some of the tougher teams the Buckeyes will play. I think they will need to put more pressure on Penn State and Michigan to win both of those games. But they have absolutely fixed the issue of giving up big plays.

Maryland is a team that likes to get the ball out in a hurry in the passing game, so the sack numbers might not be impressive in this game either. But as long as the Buckeyes walk out of the Shoe with another win, that doesn’t matter. Winning is the name of the game.