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Scarlet Sunrise: How Ohio State football can fix its defensive problems

by: borrismart10/24/18

Good morning, Ohio State fans, and welcome to the Scarlet Sunrise! Football will always be our focus, but every day we’ll cover news, notes and analysis from across Buckeyes sports. Join us each morning to get caught up on everything you missed in the world of Ohio State football, recruiting, basketball and more. 

Boren breaks down defense

For the first time, Ohio State’s defensive failures actually cost the Buckeyes a victory. And in the process, it leaves Ohio State without any margin for error as it tries to defend the Big Ten championship and potentially get back to the College Football Playoff. Can the Buckeyes get it corrected? What exactly are those issues plaguing the defense? Former Ohio State linebacker Zach Boren returned to the Lettermen Row film lab to analyze it all in the latest episode of BuckIQ.

Make sure you stay for last 2:15 especially, when Boren delivers a great speech about the lack of toughness on defense and how it needs to change.

WATCH: Zach Boren analyzes Ohio State defensive struggles

Austin Mack out

Ohio State can now officially add an injury to the insulting loss at Purdue. Wide receiver Austin Mack could miss the rest of the season after undergoing foot surgery.

The junior left the shocking upset on the road on Saturday early after getting hurt in the second half, and he was seen leaving the stadium on crutches with a walking boot on one foot. Two days later, Mack had a procedure performed to address the issue, and the expected recovery time is six to eight weeks.

Potentially Mack could be cleared in time for the postseason, but that is unclear at this point for Ohio State’s talented target. Ohio State confirmed the surgery through a school spokesman on Tuesday. The program lists Mack as out indefinitely following the procedure on his left foot.

Peyton Powell to Texas

The chase for Peyton Powell has reached a conclusion. The Odessa (Texas) Permian 4-star recruit committed to Texas on Tuesday.

Ohio State was the favorite to land him on multiple occasions, and sources close to the program have confirmed they felt very confident they’d do so since his June official visit. Yet it seems obvious now that Powell never truly wanted to leave home, nor did he ever truly want to be recruited as a defensive player. Ohio State was recruiting Powell as a defensive back. The Buckeyes have commitments from defensive backs Ronnie Hickman, Bryson Shaw and Jordan Battle. Fort Wayne (Ind.) Wayne athlete Craig Young is also capable of playing defensive back if needed in the future.

Rare miss for Chris Holtmann

Chris Holtmann has been very impressive on the recruiting trail since arriving at Ohio State, but he suffered a setback on Tuesday when Class of 2020 4-star guard Zeb Jackson committed to Michigan over the Buckeyes. Jackson is the No. 66 overall player in the 2020 class and the No. 2 prospect in Ohio according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

Bill Landis of The Athletic astutely pointed out that this was always a tough one for the Buckeyes to win. As a Maumee native, Jackson is twice as close to Ann Arbor as Columbus, and he is friends with Michigan guard Zavier Simpson and played on the AAU team run by Simpson’s dad. Nevertheless it’s still a loss for the Buckeyes and one they’ll have to make up for in the future.

Kyle Snyder pinned in Worlds final

Former Ohio State wrestler Kyle Snyder faced off Tuesday against another 2016 Olympic gold medalist, Abdulrashid Sadulaev of Russia. Unlike when Snyder emerged victorious in the 2017 World Championships, the 2018 matchup in the Worlds final didn’t go well.

Counting down

  • Ohio State vs. Nebraska: 10 days
  • The Game: 31 days

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