Scarlet and Game
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Ohio State Football: Buckeye run defense is alarming

By Frank Teriaca

Nov 4, 2023; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Tommy Eichenberg (35) tackles Rutgers Scarlet Knights running back Samuel Brown V (27) in the backfield during the first half of the NCAA football game at SHI Stadium.
Nov 4, 2023; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Tommy Eichenberg (35) tackles Rutgers Scarlet Knights running back Samuel Brown V (27) in the backfield during the first half of the NCAA football game at SHI Stadium. /
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The Ohio State football team defeated Rutgers 35-16 on Saturday afternoon as one major flaw on the defensive side of the ball is getting worrisome.

The Ohio State football team went into Piscataway and took care of business against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday afternoon. A 35-16 victory against a 6-3 football team should be enough to satisfy the majority, but a major concern is looming on the defensive side of the ball.

The Ohio State run defense is officially troubling as we head down the stretch of the 2023 season. What we all thought was a strength heading into the season, the linebacker unit, has been subpar, to say the least. Not being able to shed blocks or get to their assigned gaps has been a problem all season for Tommy Eichenberg and Steel Chambers and it showed up in a big way on Saturday.

Rutgers is a run-first team, there is no secret about that. And with a quarterback who only completes 50% of his passes on the season, I cannot understand why the Buckeyes were not able to stop something that everybody knew was coming.

Quarterback Gavin Wimsatt, while gutsy, only completed 10 of 25 passes for 129 yards. But we knew about his running ability all week and still, he garnered 49 yards on the ground. Starting tailback Kyle Monangai ran for 159 yards on this defense.

It is unacceptable to me that these two players ran for over 200 yards on this Buckeye defense when everybody knew what the Rutgers game plan would be. And a few weeks from now, there will be another team up in Ann Arbor that will want to do the same thing. Michigan gashed Ohio State the previous two games on the ground and they have to be licking their chops after watching this Rutgers tape.

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Hopefully, I’m making too big of a deal about it and the Buckeye front seven is ready for Donovan Edwards and Blake Corum come the end of the month. But they indeed need to be better than what they showed on Saturday or that Michigan game will be another long day for Buckeye fans.

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