Statistically speaking, Ohio State’s 2025 defense was one of the best and will still finish among the best in college football. They were and are in the top ten in scoring defense, total defense, passing defense, rushing defense, red zone defense, and third-down defense. There were failures in the latter two areas in the biggest games of the year that cost them, and cost them dearly.
In the first 12 games of the 2025 season, Ohio State’s third-down defense allowed first-down conversions only 22.7% of the time. Opponents were 41 of 149 on third downs. This was the best third-down defense in the nation. Until it wasn’t. Indiana was 6 of 13, and Miami was 7 of 14, converting 46.4%, over double what they had allowed in the regular season.
The Buckeyes' vaunted red zone defense was more of the same. They entered the final two games the best in college football, allowing 13 scores on 20 possessions inside their own 20-yard line. They held opponents to seven touchdowns and six field goals.
Opposing offenses had only a 35% chance of scoring a touchdown when they got inside Ohio State’s 20-yard line. Indiana and Miami went a perfect 5-for-5, scoring three touchdowns and two field goals.
The elite monsters on this defense only make this failure more head-scratching. When you have players the caliber of Caleb Downs, Davison Igbinosun, Sonny Styles, Arvell Reese, Kayden McDonald, and Caden Curry, yet still falter in the most crucial situations, you’re left looking for answers. Not only did you come up short in these critical situations with an abundance of elite playmakers, but you did so when it had been a place of strength all season long.
Matt Patricia and Tim Walton’s defense in 2025 now has more in common with Jim Knowles’ defense in 2022. They both had very strong regular seasons that fell apart in the two most important games of their seasons. In 2022, Knowles refused to stop playing Cover 0, no matter how gashed his defense was getting, and in 2025, Patricia and Walton couldn’t continue their success in the most critical moments that they had thrived on all year.
Knowles’ inability to adjust his defense when it wasn’t working ended up defining his tenure as defensive coordinator at Ohio State as much as anything his defenses did. Buckeye Nation has greater confidence that Patricia and Walton will be more successful in learning from and adapting to their struggles, but we won’t know for certain until Ohio State takes the field again in nine months.