There are only 10 offenses in college football that run more plays than Tennessee’s 74.6 per game.
The Volunteers run a lot of up-tempo, no-huddle offense. It’s been a signature part of head coach Josh Heupel’s attack since he arrived at Tennessee. But Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles says his scheme has been “built” to handle high paces since his days as a DC at Duke from 2010-17.
“That's how we set it up, our calls and everything,” Knowles said on Tuesday. “It's been that way in this system since back then at Duke with coach (David) Cutcliffe, so it's built for tempo. When I first started it back then with Coach Cutcliffe, he said he wanted to be the fastest play-calling defense in the country. That's what we are. We've remained that way. We're the fastest play-calling defense in the country.”
The Buckeyes feel equipped to deal with the furious dash of Tennessee’s attack through quick, effective communication, proper alignment and fast processing. The leadership of veterans who have been in Knowles’ system for three seasons will help, too.
“I would say probably the most important thing is urgency,” senior linebacker Cody Simon said. “They're going to be urgent. We have to be urgent as well. And it’s getting aligned, getting the call, getting everything. It goes back to just basic defense. You’ve got to be able to be ready for anything. So we're doing our best to prepare for that and get ready for the game.”
While Knowles’ defense might be hardwired to take on no-huddle offenses, that doesn’t mean his current players are experienced against them. In fact, the opposite is true – teams mostly try to slow things down and shorten the game against the Buckeyes, who have themselves adopted a more methodical pace on offense in 2024. They’re tied for 113th nationally with 62.4 plays per contest as a result, and yet eight of the 21 squads tied with or below Ohio State in plays per game are fellow Big Ten schools.
It’s just not a style of offense the Buckeyes have faced that much, save for some two-minute drills. To counteract that, Knowles is coming up with inventive ways to give his guys looks in practice.
“The way you try to simulate it is, even when you're not going tempo, you'll a lot of times have the defense turn their backs to the offense (pre-snap),” Knowles said. “Or like, you 11 guys go line up over there, and then the offense comes running here, and then you have to sprint over to your position and line up and play. You're trying to be creative to create any way you can so they understand the speed and the decision-making that's going to have to take place.”
Knowles added that Ohio State’s second-team and scout-team offenses are capable of running up-tempo to prepare his defense. Still, it won’t be the same as live reps.
“It's a lot different when you get to the game,” Knowles said. “That's how I opened the week with telling the guys, ‘We're going to do everything we can to prepare you, but it's like when you play an option team and you show up. It's a lot different.’”
Ohio State’s players are aware of what will be required to handle high paces, however. The key is streamlined play-calling Knowles alluded to and purposeful on-field talk to make sure no one is out of position or unaware of what might be coming when the ball is snapped.
“As soon as the play ends, you got to be able to sprint to wherever you're going, get the signal, everyone communicates, communication is sharp,” linebacker Sonny Styles said. “You’ve got to know exactly what you're doing. Once the communication is out there, you got to be able to line up and just see what's in front of you. It can't be a whole bunch of looking around like, oh, what are we playing? What are we playing? What are we playing? It's got to be, ‘Hey, we're playing this, boom, line up.’ Now I know what I'm doing. It can't be too much extra communication.”
Some additional player rotation, particularly along the defensive line, could be of use too. Rest for starters has shrunk in some of the Buckeyes’ big games this year, as Ohio State’s starting four defensive linemen accounted for 88% of the unit’s snaps against Michigan. That’s an item Knowles is leaving on his position coaches, though.
“I think there's a natural tendency of coaches, I've been around awhile, that when times are tight, to go with those guys who have been in those situations,” Knowles said. “We'd always like to play as many guys as possible, but those decisions happen at the moment. And I think everybody in this room and all our fans know that Coach J is going to make the best decisions for the team and the program.”
There can be drawbacks to running the no-huddle, too. Offensive players and coaches make fewer pre-snap adjustments. Since Tennessee will often be snapping the ball with 15 seconds or more on the play clock, when in-helmet communication closes, Knowles can talk to his designated in-helmet communicator, Simon, until the start of a given play. Though the Volunteers have run the no-huddle all season, they could get out of order just as the defense can.
“There's definitely pros and cons to going tempo,” Simon said. “And, I mean, they know that, too. They're going to try to get us all out of whack, that's just how tempo works. And it's going to be our job to get the call, get everything, get aligned and be ready to play."
Ohio State tests its skills against Tennessee's tempo in the first round of the College Football Playoff at 8 p.m. Saturday on ABC and ESPN.
