No. 3 Ohio State faced near disaster late in the third quarter against No. 7 Penn State on Saturday.
The Buckeyes defense had just forced their second-straight and fourth three-and-out of the day, and the Nittany Lions lined up to punt at their own 11-yard line.
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Penn State punter Riley Thompson punted 40 yards down the field, but the football kicked off Ohio State’s Lorenzo Styles Jr. and into the arms of the Nittany Lions, setting up their new possession at their 48-yard line in a 10-6 game.
Ohio State’s defense went out and stopped the Nittany Lions on a three-and-out again.
“Probably where I’m most proud of them is we got to stop in their end and then we turned it over on the punt return and we came right back out and stopped them again,” Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said. “I think that shows a lot of confidence and a lot of want to, ‘Hey, OK, that’s fine.’ You don’t flinch in that situation because that’s easy to hang your head, and they went out there and got to stop so I think that sequence right there kind of shows where we’re at right now.”
Ohio State’s defense stole the show during Saturday’s top-10 bout with Penn State, snapping the Nittany Lions’ 13-game streak of at least 30 points and holding them to a season-low 240 total yards.
Penn State had trouble converting and sustaining drives, going 1-for-16 on third down and 1-for-3 on fourth down.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said he felt the Buckeyes fed off of one another on defense, and he said Ohio Stadium was “as loud as I’ve heard in a long time.”
“I just felt the toughness, the physicality on defense,” Day said. “We started off with really stopping the run and then forcing to throw the ball, and there’s a lot of people who did a lot of great things on defense, but I got to give Jim Knowles a lot of credit and his staff for the adjustments they’ve made. That was two top-10 wins now in the first seven games where our defense played really well, and now I’m happy for our guys.”
This season has brought a significant change to the Buckeyes defense, which has faced challenges allowing explosive plays and teams the ability to beat them with big yardage plays.
Penn State nearly had Ohio State’s number in 2022 when they had the Buckeyes within 30-24 with less than six minutes remaining before scoring two touchdowns. This year, Ohio State dominated on defense.
“They now have confidence that they can win the game on defense,” Knowles said. “I don’t look at stats, but I guess Penn State had a pretty good defense, so we talked to them before the game about, ‘Hey, you’re not just playing Penn State’s offense — you’re playing Penn State’s defense.’ If they make one play, we got to make two. If they make two, we got to make three so it’s a sense of maturity, leadership, yeah, maybe a little chip on your shoulder, and we’ve done a lot of work to have everyone have faith in us for sure.”
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Through seven games Ohio State has a defense that ranks inside the top 10 in the country in total defense and third in the Big Ten Conference in scoring defense.
It’s a change that Knowles attributes to knowing the scheme and applying it the best they can.
“They know the scheme, and when I make adjustments during the week and the things you talked about that we had to get the stops, we had to get them off schedule and we make little adjustments in the scheme. They pick up on it, and that’s a big deal because winning those downs in a game like that is huge and that only comes with preparation and with guys who are knowledgeable about the scheme.”
Day highlighted the play of freshman cornerback Jermaine Matthews Jr. for stepping up in his performance especially in the absence of junior Denzel Burke who missed the game with injury.
Ohio State linebackers Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers topped the tackles totaled for the Buckeyes on Saturday collecting a combined 14 tackles. The linebacker corps was an area that stood out to Knowles.
“That intermediate passing game combined with really strong running attack; we knew that they were going to be a real focus in terms of making plays,” Knowles said. “I’ve always had faith in them and they’re doing the right things. And then it’s that competitive excellence. It’s showing up when we need them the most and those guys are veterans and they showed that we can count on them.”
Saturday served as sort of a high point of this season for Ohio State’s defense, which now has two top-10 wins under its belt and allowed 14 points or fewer in each game.
“I thought that was the most confident and energetic group that I’ve been around probably since ’19 out there on the field today,” Day said. “The whole group was just, they had that look in their eye and they were getting the crowd involved.”
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Day reiterated that the expectation at Ohio State “is to be the best in the country,” and he thinks the Buckeyes defense “has a chance to do that.”
Another top-10 win with a clunky offense that got going when it needed to paired with a defense that made the stops is something that makes the Buckeyes and Day proud, and he said Knowles is “taking the next step with our personnel and the guys are playing with confidence.”
“I’ll forget some guys because there was just a lot of great play on defense but if we can play like this, then that’s championship level defense,” Day said. “And if we can keep growing as a team, then we’ll be tough to beat here down the road.”
