It doesn't take a defensive genius to state that Jim Knowles' Ohio State defense against Oregon disappointed. However, it is notable when someone like former Alabama legend Nick Saban makes a statement on his thoughts. Hands down, Saban is the best defensive mind in college football history for my money.
During his appearance on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show on Friday, the esteemed former Alabama coach and current College GameDay analyst expressed that Ohio State should adopt a more inventive approach to its pass-rushing strategy, following their lack of sacks in last weekend's 32-31 defeat to Oregon.
“They didn’t affect the quarterback in any way … they didn’t ever pressure,” Saban said. “I mean, there was just four guys rush, which, you know, that’s kind of an antiquated way to play defense. And I’m not being critical of somebody’s philosophy at Ohio State, but there’s so much four-man rush simulated pressure, still able to play the coverages that you play, drop different people, rush somebody that is supposed to be dropping, drop somebody that’s supposed to be rushing, and these things are ways to get pressure without giving up anything in coverage. And I think in this day and age of football, you’ve got to go down that road a little bit or you’re going to be behind the 8-ball.”
Saban believes that Oregon revealed flaws in Ohio State's defense that the statistics didn't reflect.
Although the Buckeyes entered the game ranked first in the nation for both total and scoring defense, they had not faced any opponents ranked in the top 75 for total offense or better than 59th in scoring offense.
Ultimately, Ohio State's defense will be judged by its performance in major games, and its first significant outing was disappointing, as the Ducks logged 514 yards against them.
“The thing you have to be careful of is we talk about these teams that have the number one defense in the country, they're the number one scoring defense, but who did they play to come up with those stats? And then they play somebody really good and they sort of get exposed a little bit and you start to wonder exactly how good are they, especially when they play somebody good, because that's when it counts,” Saban said.
Given Saban’s track record of guiding college football teams with top-tier defenses and securing seven national championships, Ohio State's defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and defensive line coach Larry Johnson should take his counsel seriously as they gear up for the latter part of the regular season.
This stretch kicks off next weekend when the Buckeyes welcome Nebraska to Ohio Stadium (Oct. 26, noon on FOX).
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