While Ohio State didn’t lose to Michigan because of its defense, the one aspect of Ohio State’s defensive game plan that has drawn scrutiny is its lack of defensive line rotation.
Although Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson said before the season that he wanted to rotate more on the defensive line than he did last year, that hasn’t come to pass in the Buckeyes’ biggest games of the year. The lack of rotation was particularly noticeable against the Wolverines.
Kayden McDonald was the only backup defensive lineman to play double-digit snaps (13) against Michigan. No other backup defensive tackle played more than two snaps. Kenyatta Jackson Jr. played the most snaps among backup defensive ends with only seven while Caden Curry and Mitchell Melton each played just three snaps.
While Ohio State’s starting defensive line quartet of Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau, Ty Hamilton and Tyleik Williams is one of the best in the country, their performance dipped in the fourth quarter as they got minimal rest. The Buckeyes allowed Michigan to gain nine first downs on its final two possessions after allowing just four first downs before that; a goal-line interception by Sawyer prevented points on the first of those drives, but the second drive resulted in the difference-making field goal in Michigan’s 13-10 win.
Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said he trusts Johnson to decide which defensive linemen should be on the field, and he attributed the lack of rotation against Michigan to how close the game was and a desire to have the defensive linemen that they trusted most in the game.
“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.”
Based on those comments, it doesn’t sound as though Knowles will be dictating whether Johnson rotates his defensive linemen more in the College Football Playoff. Given that every game the Buckeyes play from this point forward is likely to be a tight game, though, Johnson might want to consider rotating more throughout the game so that the Buckeyes’ defensive linemen are fresher in the fourth quarter if Ohio State needs them to make a stop to win the game.
