On a Team Littered with Heisman Hopefuls, Buckeyes' Defense Shined Brightest in Week One

Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles vows "there's more to come."

Spencer German | Sep 4, 2022

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Ohio State Buckeyes

Stars galore filled the coffers of Ohio Stadium on Saturday night for Notre Dame, Ohio State. Everyone from the state's most notable son, LeBron James, to Ohio State legends Justin Fields, Joe Burrow, Ezekiel Elliott, Jim Tressel and more.

And that's before mentioning this current irteration of the Buckeyes, which boasts Heisman hopefuls C.J. Stroud, TreVeyon Henderson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba on offense.

All that star power. All the bright lights of a prime-time, top 5 college football showdown beaming down from above; and yet, it was Ohio State's defense that shined brightest of all.

The Irish offense finished with 253 total yards and just 10 points to show for their efforts. Their ground game averaged a minuscule 2.5 yards per attempt. They were completely shutout in the second half by a Bucks defensive unit that stifled their offense to just 72 – no your eyes do not deceive you – yards for the half. Over that same span, ND was a dismal one-for-six on third down conversions, they finished three-for-13 for the game.

Additionally, the Buckeyes defensive front kept sophomore QB Tyler Buchner uncomfortable to the beat of three sacks and one hurry. It was evident throughout the evening, that Buchner was trying to get rid of the ball quickly to keep OSU's defense at bay.

The effort, across the board, was night and day from what Ohio State put on display a year ago defensively. Call Jim Knowles debut, a massive success.

"I'm really happy for the players," the Buckeyes' defensive coordinator said after the game. "We had a play here or there, but what I'm most pleased with is the fact that they never flinched.

"Our players expected this. I expected this. When they come in tomorrow we're able to show them why it worked, but we expected this on defense. So I'm pleased and happy for them, but I'm not surprised. "

Nobody raised more eyebrows on the defensive side of the ball than defensive tackle Mike Hall. After weeks of hearing what a great camp the redshirt freshman was having, Hall set up camp in the Notre Dame backfield for the entirety of their 27 minutes of possession, earning one sack.

Mike Hall doing Mike Hall things 👀 pic.twitter.com/F6qTADtLGf
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) September 4, 2022

"He’s just been totally disruptive during camp,” Knowles said. "We saw it all along, and he deserved that. It was great to see him go off tonight.”

There may be no one more relieved by the performance than head coach Ryan Day, who waited seven anxious months to provide an answer to critics who questioned if – in the words of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh – he really was just born on third base.

"Just energy, running to the ball, being decisive, playing fast," Day said of the things he liked from his team's defensive effort. "If they gave up a big play there was no panic. Maybe last year we would have put our heads down, but we didn't.

"I'm proud of our guys. Jim called a great game, but it was our players."

Jim Knowles patrols the field pre-game of his Ohio State debut

Knowles' version of defense was fast. I was physical. It was instinctual. The front four was stuffing the run and pressuring the quarterback. The secondary, even after giving up a few big plays, dug in to get stops. It was a thing of beauty and according to Knowles, it's only going to get better.

"We didn't do much with [our package] tonight," he explained. "There's still a lot of things we haven't shown. Tonight we were rather basic ... but there's still a lot more of the package for us to develop."

At 1-0, with a top 5 win under their belt, Knowles has put the minds of Buckeyes fans everywhere very much at ease. And those national championship aspirations, well, they're alive and well in Columbus.

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