Urban Meyer started counting to himself, then ran out of fingers on his right hand.
“Michael Hill, Jalyn Holmes, Sam Hubbard, Dre’Mont Jones, Nick Bosa, so that’s one, two, three, four, five defensive linemen,” Ohio State’s head coach said Monday, “and the Defensive Player of the Game was Tyquan [Lewis], so that’s six overall defensive linemen graded champion effort.”
After holding Indiana to just 99 yards rushing on 40 carries in Saturday’s 38-17 victory, it’s safe to say the Buckeyes’ defensive line is playing at a high level.
Meyer drove that point home after the win and did so again Monday when he previewed his team’s upcoming showdown with eighth-ranked Wisconsin. Even after the losses of Joey Bosa and Adolphus Washington, Ohio State is still getting it done up front.
The Buckeyes are deep and talented. Defensive tackle, which was once an area of concern, has turned into a strength with the play of Hill and Jones, in addition to the emergence of Robert Landers. At defensive end, a four-man rotation of Hubbard, Lewis, Bosa and Holmes has proven dominant at times.
When the latter four are on the field as part of the Buckeyes’ ‘Rushmen’ package, opposing offenses have often been overwhelmed.
“The defensive line, we always, it’s just replenishing,” Lewis said Monday. “The guys, we all buy into what coach [Larry] Johnson sells. He’s such a great coach and what he preaches and what he shows us, what we display on film, that’s the culture of the defensive line.
“As far as everyone saying how far we came along, it’s always been there. It’s just guys stepping up into bigger roles.”
As one of the three returning starters on Ohio State’s defense entering the season, Lewis was always going to be counted on as a key cog up front for the Buckeyes. The redshirt junior has delivered, too, leading Ohio State with three sacks through the first five games of the season. His strip sack of Indiana quarterback Richard Lagow on Saturday was one of the key plays in the Buckeyes’ win.
But Lewis referenced other players stepping up, too, and that’s certainly been the case.
Bosa has a pair of sacks, Hubbard has 1.5, Landers has one and leads the team in tackles for loss with seven. Holmes has arguably been Ohio State’s most versatile defensive linemen, playing wherever he is needed up front.
“You’d like to have a rotation,” Meyer said, “and we’re certainly close to that.”
In Saturday’s showdown with No. 8 Wisconsin, the second-ranked Buckeyes are going to need another big performance from their defense and, in particular, their defensive line. Any game that features the Badgers is going to be won — or lost — up front.
So far, such situations have been more than kind to Ohio State's defensive line.
“They’re creating a new line of scrimmage behind the ball,” Buckeyes junior linebacker Raekwon McMillan said. “They don’t just wait for the linebackers to run through, they’re going back themselves and trying to make plays.”
“It just shows confidence that they’re going back there and trying to make plays,” McMillan continued. “The linebackers might not be getting the tackles, but somebody is out there making the TFLs.”
If it continues, Meyer's list of names might only get longer as the season goes on.
