Count Nick Saban among those who believe Ohio State’s defensive scheme was at least partially to blame for the Buckeyes’ lack of pass-rush success against Oregon.
During an appearance on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show on Friday, the legendary former Alabama coach and current College GameDay analyst said he believes Ohio State needs to be more creative with how it rushes the passer after recording zero sacks in its 32-31 loss to Oregon last weekend.
“They didn’t affect the quarterback in any way … they didn’t ever pressure,” Saban said. “I mean, there was just four guys rush, which, you know, that’s kind of an antiquated way to play defense. And I’m not being critical of somebody’s philosophy at Ohio State, but there’s so much four-man rush simulated pressure, still able to play the coverages that you play, drop different people, rush somebody that is supposed to be dropping, drop somebody that’s supposed to be rushing, and these things are ways to get pressure without giving up anything in coverage. And I think in this day and age of football, you’ve got to go down that road a little bit or you’re going to be behind the 8-ball.”
"I was really impressed with Oregon against Ohio State especially their offense..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 18, 2024
They played really well on both sides of the ball"
Nick Saban #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/39FmoMrISX
Saban also thinks Oregon exposed that Ohio State’s defense was not as good as the statistics indicated. While Ohio State entered the game ranked No. 1 in the country in both total and scoring defense, the Buckeyes hadn’t played anyone who ranked in the top 75 nationally in total offense or better than 59th in the FBS in scoring offense. Ohio State’s defense will ultimately be measured by how it performs in big games, and its first big-game performance was a dud as the Ducks put up 514 yards on the Buckeyes.
“The thing you have to be careful of is we talk about these teams that have the number one defense in the country, they're the number one scoring defense, but who did they play to come up with those stats? And then they play somebody really good and they sort of get exposed a little bit and you start to wonder exactly how good are they, especially when they play somebody good, because that's when it counts,” Saban said.
Considering Saban’s history of leading college football teams with elite defenses and winning seven national championships, Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and defensive line coach Larry Johnson have reason to heed his advice as they prepare for the second half of the regular season, which begins next weekend when the Buckeyes host Nebraska at Ohio Stadium (Oct. 26, noon on FOX).
