When the season began, Buckeye fans envisioned a defensive line of Joey Bosa, Noah Spence, Adolphus Washington and Michael Bennett terrorizing opposing offenses. There was that small matter of Spence’s suspension to get out of the way first, but after that it was going to be glorious.
That vision took a hit when Spence was busted for a second violation and his suspension became a bit more permanent.
Even without Spence, the line has played mostly as expected this season, albeit with a bit less explosion off the edge. With Steve Miller taking Spence’s spot, opposing teams haven’t had to choose to double team Bosa or Spence and can mainly pay extra attention to Bosa.
That may be starting to change.
Miller began the season slowly, totaling only nine tackles in Ohio State’s first five games. Only four of those were solo stops. He failed to record a sack or a tackle for loss in any of those contests. He was good at clogging up the outside and taking away the edge, but it was clear that Spence’s absence was affecting the defense, requiring more of Bosa, Bennett and Washington, who more or less delivered.
But over the last three games, Miller has stepped up.
Against Rutgers, Penn State and Illinois, Miller has become much more active, making 12 tackles in that span, including nine solos. More importantly, he’s making big plays.
In addition to setting the edge on runs and keeping quarterbacks from escaping from Bosa on the other side, Miller himself has contributed 5.5 tackles for loss with one sack and a forced fumble.
Three of those TFLs, his sack and his forced fumble came Saturday against the Fighting Illini.
"Steve is a grinder," said Defensive Coordinator Luke Fickell. "He’s what this culture is all about. He’s a worker—always has been, always will be. Every single day he does that, he just hasn’t had many opportunities."
Now he's getting those opportunities, and, with repeated game reps, Miller appears to have turned the corner. His first three games of the year yielded fewer than two tackles per game. That turned into two per game against Cincinnati and Maryland. But with four tackles per game and nearly two TFLs per contest since the Rutgers win, it feels like Miller has arrived and is playing at the level Ohio State needs from the end opposite from Bosa.
Sure, more sacks would be nice, but let's not forget whose shoes Miller is trying to fill.
Replacing Spence at the viper position was never going to be easy. He’s a rare talent and not easily replaced by “Next Man Up.” It’s easy to forget that Spence was coming off an All-Big Ten sophomore season in which he compiled eight sacks (good for second in the conference) and 14.5 TFLs. While Jalyn Holmes might end up in that same kind of rarified air in terms of speed and explosiveness, Noah Spences don’t grow on trees.
Miller’s adjustment period in the first part of the season—if that’s what it was—offered a glimpse into how tough it is to replace an all-conference performer.
Steve Miller is not Noah Spence, but over the past three games, he has played a lot like him.
