Kenyatta Jackson Jr. isn't appreciative of Ohio State's defense giving up 199 rushing yards to Illinois this past Saturday.
Jackson rounded the number up to 200 while discussing the Buckeyes' defensive shortcomings in a 42-19 win over the Fighting Illini at the "Shoe."
Jackson claimed that it was "terrible" for the unit to be torched on the ground.
"No, there's no explanation. I mean, yeah, we lost (talent to the NFL draft), but the talent that we have in that D-line room, or the defense in general, I mean, is there as well. So, I mean, we've got, well, four games under our belt. The new guys are not new. They've done won, they've done lost with us. It's just people just doing their job," Jackson said.
Jackson used the example of a three-tech not sticking to an assignment in the B gap. John Walker, James Smith, and Eddrick Houston may be able to take that as an indirect call-out, though Jackson was probably just spitballing. Presumably.
Ohio State defense has its worst game in years
The Illinois game was the low point of the Matt Patricia era.
Ohio State gave up the most rushing yards since the 2023 Rose Bowl against Missouri. The Buckeyes gave up the most overall yardage since the 2022 Peach Bowl.
Patricia lucked out by having this happen against a Fighting Illini offense that couldn't make his group pay for it. Aidan Laughery had 113 yards on 11 carries, but he couldn't find the end zone. Illinois was only in the red zone once.
Against better offenses, OSU would obviously pay for that.
If things don't improve, the Buckeyes will undoubtedly pay for that.
Ohio State has running back problems on both sides of the ball
The cruel irony is that Ryan Day has a running back problem on both sides of the ball.
Ohio State's defense has given up over 140 rushing yards to each Power 4 opponent it's played, including Texas in Week 2. On the other side, the Buckeyes couldn't reach 100 yards against the Longhorns and haven't had an 85-yard rusher yet.
Ja'Kobi Jackson is outshining his expectations, but Bo Jackson and Isaiah West are falling short of them. Day has criticized the latter two for not reaching the Florida transfer's effort level.
That's not a sustainable system beyond this year. Frankly, it won't cut it when defenses tighten up and catch on to the fact that Arthur Smith is engineering the offense to uplift Jeremiah Smith but hasn't figured out the rest of the offense.
A good pass rush and/or dedicated coverage on JJ would give Ohio State serious problems as things stand. The offensive line isn't up to snuff either.
A month into the season, Buckeye fans are witnessing many more issues on both sides of the ball than they could've previously imagined. Even the special teams have had their moments, with Legend Bey's Week 1 antics in the return game getting a strong and poignant reaction from Day.
Hopefully, the entire team takes the issues as seriously as Kenyatta Jackson Jr.
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