Ohio State DC Jim Knowles credits former Tennessee OC David Cutcliffe for Buckeyes' ability to handle the Vols' tempo
Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles isn't too concerned about his defense's ability to handle the Tennessee Vols' up-tempo offense this weekend in Columbus in the first round of the College Football Playoff. Knowles told reporters on Tuesday that Ohio State's defense is built to stop up-tempo offenses. And that's because of former Vols offensive […]
Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles isn't too concerned about his defense's ability to handle the Tennessee Vols' up-tempo offense this weekend in Columbus in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
Knowles told reporters on Tuesday that Ohio State's defense is built to stop up-tempo offenses.
And that's because of former Vols offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe.
Knowles was Cutcliffe's defensive coordinator from 2010 to 2017 during Cutcliffe's tenure as Duke's head coach.
According to Knowles, Cutcliffe wanted the fastest play-calling defense in the nation.
"It doesn't make it harder, it makes it different," said Knowles of preparing for Tennessee's up-tempo offense. "I think we're ahead of the game in that way. I mean, our defense is built that way. It's built for tempo. David Cutcliffe made me do that back in the day at Duke. So hats off Coach Cut. It helps, you know, because this is what everybody was doing 10 years ago, 12 years ago…I lose track of time.
"That's how we set it up, our calls and everything. It's been that way in this system since back then at Duke with Coach Cutcliffe. So it's built for tempo. And when I first started it back then with Coach Cut — this is when it was all the rage — he said he wanted to be the fastest play calling defense in the country. That's what we are. We remain that way. We're the fastest play calling defense in the country."
I'm sure Cutcliffe, who is almost certainly pulling for Tennessee to beat Ohio State on Saturday night, didn't realize that his defense at Duke would one day help one of the Vols' opponents in a big game.
But that's the beauty of college football being such a small world. There's a lot of overlap between coaches around the country, which means there's a lot of information that flows freely between programs.
Of course, just because Ohio State's defense is built to handle tempo doesn't mean that they'll be able to shut down Tennessee's offense. Maybe they do. But we won't know for sure how the Buckeyes will handle the Vols' tempo until the two teams are lined up across from each other in the Horseshoe on Saturday night.
