The Ohio State football team played perhaps the best defensive game of any team in the country in Week 1. They were able to keep preseason Heisman hopeful Arch Manning from doing much of anything in the Shoe, holding the Longhorns to just seven points.
Winning the game 14-7 had a lot to do with the defense and the scheme that Matt Patricia cooked up. He made sure to be unpredictable and line players up in different spots, especially Caleb Downs. Downs wasn't just a safety; he was a bandit who lined up all over the place.
Joel Klatt was calling the game for Fox during Big Noon Kickoff. He was able to watch everything firsthand, and he seemed to be quite pleased with what he saw from the Buckeyes' defense. He came away very impressed with what the Ohio State Buckeyes did.
FOX analyst Joel Klatt has high praise for the Ohio State football team's defense
While speaking on his podcast, The Joel Klatt Show, Klatt explained what he loved so much about what the Buckeyes were able to do.
"The coverage was elite."@joelklatt has high praise for the Ohio State defense's dominant performance under DC Matt Patricia in their Week 1 victory over Texas. pic.twitter.com/TiKepc7pRE
— The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football on FOX Pod (@JoelKlattShow) September 3, 2025
"That Ohio State defense is going to be one of the best defenses in the country. They were pretty stout up front. Maybe not great up front, but pretty stout up front. Their linebacker corp as a duo, between Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese, are probably the best duo in the country, and their secondary was outstanding."
Klatt was extremely impressed with what he saw from a Buckeye team that had to take on the top-ranked team in the country. Manning and the rest of the Longhorns were supposed to push around a defensive line that had all brand-new starters. Instead, the Buckeyes did the opposite.
Ohio State is going to have other tests later in the season that will stress the defense. The Illinois and Penn State games are the next two games that will do that. While each provides different tests to the defense, playing similarly to how they did against Texas will produce similar results against those two foes.
Klatt isn't the only one who's going to be impressed with the Ohio State defense by the time the season is over. Patricia seems to have this team doing exactly what he wants already, and they should only get better with more reps and more time. That's a scary proposition for the future opponents of the Buckeyes.