Ohio State’s on-field performance shouldn’t be graded relative to the rest of the sport. The amount of elite talent and recent championship results puts the Buckeyes in rarified air. That means Ohio State’s defense is, by its potential, putrid.
With or without Nick Bosa, Ohio State’s defense is not up to Ohio State standards
Losing possibly the best player in college football hurts, but the Buckeyes were struggling anyway.
Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images
Through seven games, the Buckeyes are one of only two top-15 programs in the S&P+ ranking with a Defensive S&P+ ranking outside the top 40. They’re 41st, and if that ranking held over the rest of the season, it would be Urban Meyer’s worst defense since 2013 (his second season in Columbus) by a wide margin. We just rarely see an Ohio State team this vulnerable.
First of all, Nick Bosa ain’t walkin’ back through that door, but it almost didn’t matter whether he was there or not.
Bosa elected to withdraw from OSU and begin preparing for the NFL Draft a few weeks after sustaining a core muscle injury against TCU.
He’s so talented, Ohio State basically put him on and island and let him cook. And cook he did.
A few times he’ll loop inside, but for the most part, Bosa rushes straight ahead. And Bosa had excelled again this season, right up until he got hurt.
What the Buckeyes lose without Bosa is individual production. But, honestly, Ohio State shouldn’t change much without Bosa, because of depth. He wasn’t an every-down lineman anyway, and Chase Young and Dre’Mont Jones are more than capable of wreaking havoc.
But there is much more to a defense than a pass rush.
Ohio State’s regression is particularly shocking given that they retained coordinator Greg Schiano and added Washington State’s Alex Grinch — regarded as one of the best young defensive minds — during the offseason. That combines with the embarrassment of riches Ohio State has with 76 percent (lol) of its roster being blue-chip recruits.
But all that talent isn’t being put in the right place by Schiano.
They aren’t working because they’re designed around having top level cornerbacks, great linebackers, great defensive linemen, and a safety that can play center field and take away any passes over top. Ohio State doesn’t have that this season, hence the struggles. Schiano’s press coverage, with a high safety over the top, and linebackers up on the line is awesome when you have Malik Hooker, Marshon Lattimore, Denzel Ward and Gareon Conley. It doesn’t work when you have Damon Arnette, Kendall Sheffield, Shaun Wade and Isaiah Pryor.
Here’s how they’ve performed this season by S&P+ defensive percentile, which shows only two especially good performances and one elite one — against Rutgers.
- Oregon State: 69 percent
- Rutgers: 95 percent
- TCU: 25 percent (Bosa’s injured early in the third quarter)
- Tulane: 88 percent
- Penn State: 55 percent
- Indiana: 57 percent
- Minnesota: 29 percent
The Buckeyes are getting positively gashed by the big play. They’ve allowed 35 plays of over 20 yards (99th nationally), 9 percent of all defensive plays through seven games (107th nationally). They’ve allowed 22 plays of over 30 yards (120th nationally), and 10 of over 40 yards (106th nationally). When they have busts, they bust, like against TCU when the Frogs scored the longest play from scrimmage the Buckeyes had given up in school history.
Luckily, Ohio State’s offense has been able to pick up the slack and run roughshod over opponents. But if there comes a time when they can’t, this whole deal might get pretty hairy.
It’s not like they’re going to go out and get blown out by any team currently on its schedule, but what about the teams that aren’t?
Ohio State is still elite. They’re just not as elite as usual. They’ll still be favored heavily in most of their remaining games. They’ll still probably win all those games, win the Big Ten, and make the Playoff.
But getting into the Playoff and winning the Playoff are two different things. Just ask ... Ohio State. Their last trip saw them being completely outclassed and shut out in the worst loss of Meyer’s tenure by eventual national champion Clemson.
Ohio State still has some time to figure things out, but this isn’t a team that we talk about in terms of “can they win 10 games” or “can they win the division.” That is the expectation. They are at the forefront of the national championship conversation, but if they don’t win it this year, you’ll probably know which side of the ball let them down.
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