Ohio State rush defense issues at forefront of loss

On3 imageby:Justin Rudolph•09/11/21

The Ohio State Buckeyes have fallen to the Oregon Ducks in one of the early upset victories of this young college football season. While many will highlight the play of the Ducks defense, Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman points out the lack of defense from Ohio State as a key to the Buckeyes loss.

“Back to back weeks where Ohio State defense got gashed on the ground,” wrote Feldman. “Last week Mohamed Ibrahim ran for 163 and today CJ Verdell goes for 161 and the Ducks ran for 269. No pass rush today either. Big issues on defense for Ryan Day to get sorted out.”

The Buckeyes defensive struggles

In their first two games, Ohio State has had little to no pass rush or pressure on the opposing quarterback. The Buckeyes have a total of just two sacks in both games combined. Both came against Minnesota in their season opener. They have only been credited with 10 quarterback hurries, between the two games.

But their problems don’t stop there on defense. As Feldman highlighted, they have allowed both teams to have a rusher with 160-plus yards rushing. The Golden Gophers finished with 203 yards rushing total for the game. The Ducks finished their game with 269 yards rushing. But Oregon also used the dual-threat ability of quarterback Anthony Brown to keep Ohio State’s defense off-balance. Brown finished the game with 69 yards on the ground and 236 through the air.

The difference in the win and the loss

The biggest difference between the two games was the Buckeyes’ ability to cause turnovers and win the turnover battle. Against Minnesota, they recovered two fumbles and only threw one interception. But against Oregon, they failed to force a single turnover while throwing an interception.

Overall, Ohio State’s defense has not played up to the level of play expected of the soon-to-be-former no. 3 ranked team in the country. While the offense has looked solid behind the play of redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud, the defense has yet to establish itself so far. The Buckeyes were looking to continue their reign of dominance in the Big Ten. They have been in the College Football Playoff four times since its creation and have won or shared the Big Ten title for seven straight years. But if they cannot find a defensive identity soon, that streak could come to an end and another team could represent the conference in the playoffs this year.