Ohio State’s defense is the best in the nation, and they show why every game. They’re not perfect. Ohio State didn’t have a particular player stand out on the stat sheet this week. They couldn’t record a single sack against Purdue, and that’s troubling, if you ignore the rest of what they did as a team.
The best scoring defense in the nation was allowing only 6.9 points per game, and gave up ten. That does move their average up to 7.2 points per game, but it is still the best in the nation. Their top-ranked total defense allows only 214.8 yards per game, and they held Purdue to 186 yards. They had only allowed 107 first downs through eight games (2nd in the nation) and gave up only 13, right around their season average.
They did all of this while forcing only one turnover, recording zero sacks, and only getting three tackles for a loss. Having maybe their most vanilla game of the season as a defense, Ohio State held its seventh opponent of the season to 10 or fewer points. Outside of a couple of hits by Caleb Downs, and an interception by Jermaine Mathews Jr., the Bucks didn’t even have any specific highlight reel plays.
Buckeye Nation has to love this because even on an off day, they still played solid football. Staying that focused and dialed in can be difficult when you’re playing one of the worst teams in the conference.
It will be a challenge against UCLA and Rutgers to not look past them and to the finale against Michigan. Credit first-year defensive coordinators Matt Patricia and Tim Walton. They have made this defense not miss a beat after all of the starters they lost from last year’s championship team, and arguably, have them playing even better right now.
The Buckeye defense now has the task of avoiding what Nick Saban calls rat poison (which is believing you’re as good as the media and writers like me say you are). They also cannot overlook UCLA and Rutgers, but also prepare for the most critical games they will and hope to play against Michigan, and potentially in the Big Ten title game, and the College Football Playoff.
They have great leadership from their coordinators and defensive captains in stars Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs, to keep this defense playing at this level and repeating as national champions.