Ohio State Defense Continues Strong Start But Still Seeking Improvement After “Bend-But-Don’t-Break” Day Against Arkansas State

By any measure, the start of the 2022 season has been a successful one for Ohio State’s defense.

Two games into the season, the Buckeyes have held their opponents to only 22 total points and 529 combined yards. They haven’t allowed a touchdown in any of their last six quarters of football, holding Arkansas State to only four field goals after shutting out Notre Dame for the entire second half.

Considering Ohio State allowed 22.8 points and 372.6 yards per game last season, the Buckeyes have demonstrated clear improvement in their first two games under new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. But they still feel like their defense can be much better than it’s been so far.

“We're not where we need to be yet, but we're trying to get better every week,” said linebacker Cody Simon. “It's great that we can say 22 points on the season, but we want to shut people out. We want to be the best defense in the country. And that's the goal.”

Ohio State can hang its hat on not allowing Arkansas State to reach the end zone on Saturday, but it did allow the Red Wolves to reach the red zone three times. Mistakes by starting cornerback Denzel Burke led to two of those red-zone trips, as he was flagged for a pair of defensive pass interference penalties on Arkansas State’s first drive into the red zone – although that drive would have ended before those penalties if not for a Teradja Mitchell penalty on an Arkansas State punt – and gave up a 58-yard catch to Champ Flemings on the Red Wolves’ second trip inside Ohio State’s 20-yard line. Flemings got the Red Wolves into the red zone again when he turned a 4th-and-1 jet sweep into a 15-yard gain later in the second quarter.

“Our mentality is we don't want to let any points on the board,” Simon said. “If we hold them to three in the red zone, that's good. But we don't want to get in the red zone anymore. We want to stop three-and-outs and everything. So we're just trying to get better.”

The Buckeyes also did not have any defensive takeaways for a second consecutive week to start the season, though they did force one turnover on downs when Mike Hall sacked Arkansas State quarterback James Blackman on a 4th-and-1 play late in the first half.

Two things:

1. That's a sack in flag football, too.

2. @OhioStateFB's Michael Hall Jr. continues to play out of his mind. pic.twitter.com/tfm6wooljR
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) September 10, 2022

Starting linebacker Steele Chambers said he thinks forcing turnovers is the next step Ohio State’s defense needs to make to become an elite unit.

“Just being able to play offense on defense, I think that would be good for us,” Chambers said. “Just gotta work ball disruption, I guess, during practice and stuff. So I think we can make that happen.”

Starting safety Josh Proctor doesn’t view that as a major concern as long as the Buckeyes keep preventing touchdowns, though.

“I know that's what we kind of aim for. But I mean, it's not a big deal,” Proctor said. “I mean, it is a big deal, but as long as we make them snap it again, keep them out of the end zone, I mean, we're keeping our coaches happy, we're happy that they’re not scoring touchdowns.”

Ryan Day was pleased the defense allowed no touchdowns against Arkansas State, although he acknowledged there were things the Buckeyes could have done better defensively.

“It was kind of a bend-but-don't-break style today, just based on what they were doing,” Day said. “But if we're going to be the team we need to be, we need to keep building and keep growing. And there's certain areas that we gotta improve on. But any time the defense holds another offense from scoring a touchdown, it's going to be a good day for the Buckeyes.”

If there’s a reason to be skeptical about whether Ohio State’s defense is as good as the stats have indicated so far, it’s that the Buckeyes haven’t faced a great offense yet. Notre Dame followed up its loss to Ohio State by scoring only 21 points on 351 yards in a loss to Marshall on Saturday, while Arkansas State doesn’t have the caliber of talent that should allow it to put up many points against any Ohio State defense.

There will certainly be tougher competition to come as the season progresses, which means Ohio State will need to clean up mistakes it might have been able to get away with in its first two games.

“I think we played pretty well, but we weren't perfect. And so we want to be perfect every facet of the game,” Simon said. “We want to be a clean defense. Stop the run. Get off on third down. All the stuff that makes great defenses, we want to embody that in every play, every game.”

“It's great that we can say 22 points on the season, but we want to shut people out. We want to be the best defense in the country.”– Cody Simon

The Buckeyes believe their defensive improvement from last season to this season is real, and they believe their defense is capable of being as good as any defense in all of college football. But just two games into the season, they know they still have a long way to go and a lot to prove.

“I feel great, but I mean, there’s a lot of ways we can get better,” Proctor said. “It's just getting that confidence as a defense and just keeping that momentum going throughout the season, not just these first couple of games.”

How specifically does Ohio State’s need to get better? Proctor says the Buckeyes can improve in “every aspect.”

“I couldn't really single out just one,” Proctor said. “But we can all be better in some ways.”