Ohio State may have a difference in belief on the coaching staff that could be a red flag for their season
Ohio State has one of the top defenses in the country this season and the most points they have given up is 32 to Oregon. The Buckeyes still have room to improve on defense and that will be key in reaching their goals. This can start against Penn State and one change head coach Ryan […]
Ohio State has one of the top defenses in the country this season and the most points they have given up is 32 to Oregon. The Buckeyes still have room to improve on defense and that will be key in reaching their goals.
This can start against Penn State and one change head coach Ryan Day would like to see is more rotation amongst the defensive line. Ohio State is riding their starters heavily and perhaps a rotation would allow for guys to be a bit more fresh for late in games.
"I definitely think we want to rotate guys," Day said on Tuesday. "But when the game's on the line like that, we have got to make sure that we're getting stops. We did that (and) we’ll have to do that again this week. But yeah, we've got to get (Kayden McDonald) mixed in more, Hero (Kanu) mixed in more, Kenyatta (Jackson Jr.), Caden Curry, and make sure that our guys are fresh for the fourth quarter."
Ohio State played their starting defensive ends heavily last game out against Nebraska. Jack Sawyer played 64 of the snaps and J.T. Tuimoloau played 58 of them. Caden Curry is a player who has proven to be effective when in the game, but he was limited to just nine snaps against the Cornhuskers. Defensive tackle Kayden McDonald has come up huge multiple times on the interior as depth and he played just 10 snaps.
In a season where teams are going to possibly play the most games they ever have with the expanded College Football Playoff, you would think the Buckeyes would look to keep their players fresh and build depth. Instead, that has not been happening a ton outside of blowout games early in the season.
"I'm comfortable with whatever Coach (Larry) Johnson deems appropriate," Knowles said on Tuesday when asked about the defensive line rotating. "He's around those guys all the time. He manages those guys and he knows what he's doing."
Ohio State will need their defensive line to come alive a bit more in big games down the stretch of the season. Tuimoloau leads the team with four sacks and then Tyleik Williams, Ty Hamilton, and Sawyer all have two and a half sacks.
Johnson has been at Ohio State since 2014 and is a veteran coach who is seen as one of the best in the country. He has put many guys into the league such as Joey and Nick Bosa, Chase Young, and Jonathan Cooper to name a few. He has coached a ton of football and sticks to his guns of what he thinks is right.
Still, it is clear that Ohio State has an issue if the head coach is saying it needs to happen and it isn’t happening. The game against Penn State is huge and Ohio State will need a big presence from their front four on the defense. It is going to be interesting whether or not the defensive line rotates more, or things say the same for that unit.
