It’s hard to find a better team pass-rushing performance this season – or in any season since 2020 – than Ohio State’s quarterback pursuers enjoyed against Penn State.
Drew Allar never seemed comfortable in the pocket, part of the reason he went just 18-for-42 with 4.5 yards per pass attempt on Saturday. That number, the same as it was for the Nittany Lions’ offense, would be last in college football if it were their season average.
“We just stuck to our technique,” defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr. said. “That’s pretty much what it was. We didn’t want to go out there and do flashy stuff, extra stuff. We just went out there and did our technique.”
Recording four sacks among unrelenting pressure, Ohio State’s ability to get after the quarterback is a big reason why the defense dominated in the fashion it did during a 20-12 win.
It of course started with JT Tuimoloau. The team’s star defensive end had another big fourth quarter against Penn State, grabbing a sack and forcing a 4th-and-3 incompletion with a hit on Allar.
“You just look at JT’s work ethic, it shows,” defensive end Caden Curry said. “That’s why it shows up on Saturdays. He works really hard and he’s a great player. I love being able to work with him every day and just seeing what he can teach me as a player and what I can take from it.”
JT Tuimoloau comes up big on 4th down! pic.twitter.com/gr5d27Od5q
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He wasn’t the only player contributing at defensive end.
Curry and Jackson saw the field for 14 and 19 snaps against the Nittany Lions after playing one combined snap in the Buckeyes’ previous top-10 matchup against Notre Dame.
Curry feels the pair’s consistency in practice has bred more playing time as Ohio State’s started to run with a deeper rotation at the position.
“(We’re) just showing it every day,” Curry said. “You’ve got to show them in practice every day and show what we're capable of. And I mean, hopefully, I think that’s what they saw, that we were working our butts off to get out there and it definitely showed (in the game).”
Jackson made the play that Ryan Day said generated the loudest crowd reaction he’s ever heard in the Shoe, a 4th-and-30 sack of Allar that all but sealed Ohio State’s victory as it led by two scores with under four minutes to play. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer met him in the backfield on the play.
“It was a long-arm (technique),” Jackson said. “I can’t explain (my emotions afterward).”
The Silver Bullets are back. pic.twitter.com/PxqkxXpy4k
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What’s made the difference for Jackson of late, he stated, is his faith in himself.
“Just my confidence,” Jackson said. “I know how to use my hands more. My get-off got better. It’s a mental thing, just my confidence mainly.”
That self-assurance had to be rebuilt since the spring, Jackson added, when he was drawing rave reviews from coaches for his play. For reasons he said he couldn’t get into, he and defensive line coach Larry Johnson had to work to build it back up until it peaked during practice before the Penn State game.
“His work ethic is up there with JT,” Curry said of Jackson. “He really loves the game. He loves his craft and he just shows it every day. He’s working really hard.”
Another factor against Penn State was an increased use of blitzes to generate pressure.
Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has stated previously that he’s dialed up less blitzes this year in an effort to limit big plays. But as the defense has successfully contained them – there still hasn’t been a play of 40 yards or more against the Buckeyes’ ball stoppers in 2023 – Knowles has trusted his secondary a touch more to hold up while he sends heat. Sonny Styles recorded a sack on a blitz against the Nittany Lions.
“They’re always there,” Knowles said. “It’s just a matter of timing and when to do it and not put our guys in bad position. But you’re right. The more they understand it and the more we’re able to defend on the back end, the more we do it.”
Still, even when Ohio State is only sending four after an opposing signal caller, more and more often it is forcing him off his spot.
“I just think we’re all getting more comfortable out there,” Curry said. “We’re all trusting our moves now and we’re all playing free. Really just all playing with the motor under us and we’re just getting after it.”
Pressure beats coverage, that’s the old adage. Couple pressure that’s growing ever more fearsome with an Ohio State secondary that’s resurged and you start to see why the Buckeyes have allowed just 4.9 yards per pass attempt. That’s No. 1 nationally, tied with Iowa.
“I have (noticed an improvement in pass rush),” safety Josh Proctor said. “And that just comes with getting more games under your belt. They rotate a lot of guys, they’ve got some young guys up there that’s been playing and you’re starting to see it. They’re getting comfortable, they know what they’re looking at, they know what they’re seeing. So it’s all starting to come together.”
