It's hard to decide which story is better.
Haskell Garrett is lucky to be alive. Now he's a potential All-American. Meanwhile, his teacher and mentor, Larry Johnson, earned his first victory as a college head coach after 43 years in the profession.
Both earned plenty of headlines this week, especially after the big defensive tackle made what may have been the play of the day in a Buckeye blowout win in East Lansing.
Come for the pick six in the end zone, stay for the Big Man TD Celebration at the end. @Haskell_808 | @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/yf7Bfz7HOa
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) December 5, 2020
But the impact both have had on their team extends far beyond the highlights. In an unpredictable year that has rocked virtually every corner of the college football universe, Garrett and the entire Ohio State defensive line has been a steadying force.
Throughout the longest offseason ever, questions lingered about the unit's ability to replace a generational talent in Chase Young, as well as a pair of senior defensive tackles in DaVon Hamilton and Robert Landers. Yet in a year unlike any other, Johnson's troops have rarely missed a beat.
Some fans will quibble about a pass rush that ranks only third in the conference in sacks-per-game, yet Garrett's group quietly continues to dominate one opponent after another. While scrutiny has rained down on the secondary's ability to stop the pass after the Indiana game two weeks ago, the Buckeye run defense is the sixth-best in the nation.
A great deal of credit belongs to the quartet of senior linebackers who have been solid in their own right against the run, but OSU's success starts up front. Garrett not only made a great play in tipping and catching that pass in the end zone, but he dominated Michigan State offensive linemen when only blocked by one man.
Lined up here as the 3-technique tackle on the left side of the defense, Garrett easily swims past the lunging tackle to make a play and force the Spartans into another 3rd-&-long situation.
But lost in the excitement of his first-half touchdown was the play he made on the snap just prior.
This time aligned on the right side, Garrett easily shed the block of the guard and gets down the line to track down the ball-carrier for a loss. As is often the case, though, Garrett can thank his fellow big man on the inside for allowing him to make the play.
Not only has Garrett played at an all-conference level, but so has nose tackle Tommy Togiai. Believed by many to be the strongest player in the program, the Idaho native has shown it throughout the season, and certainly did so on this play. Garrett was able to catch up with the runner because Togiai pushed the other guard directly back into his path.
Togiai began the day by setting up camp inside the Spartan backfield, ending Michigan State's first possession by not only beating the left guard but by picking off the tight end who tried to slice back across the formation and lead the runner.
With Togiai disrupting the entire blocking scheme, inside linebacker Dallas Gant was able to easily wrap up the runner for a loss.
As he has often done in the past, Johnson has kept a strict rotation among his four down linemen, subbing in Jerron Cage, Antwuan Jackson, and Taron Vincent at the tackle positions quite often. Though the backup trio only play about a third of the first-team snaps, they've shown that they're more than capable of making plays as well.
Lined up here as the nose tackle just to the right of the center, Cage (#86) drives the snapper four yards backward on this run play, forcing the runner to adjust course right into the path of linebackers Pete Werner and Baron Browning.
Unlike years past, however, the Buckeyes do not have a single, star pass rusher against whom opponents must design a gameplan around. Yet that doesn't mean Johnson's ends haven't contributed.
Thanks to a deep rotation at those spots as well, no DE has racked up gaudy individual stats, yet they play a major role in this stout run defense. Tyreke Smith has come on recently, registering 10 QB pressures in the past two games while also posting his highest run-defense grade of the year against the Spartans (per Pro Football Focus).
While many will remember his sack of Rocky Lombardi which resulted in the Spartans' starting QB having to leave the game, few will recall this play.
With all the action going the opposite direction, the runner cuts back through what appears to be an open hole. Yet despite being responsible for the gap outside, Smith sheds the block of the MSU right tackle and closes the hole quickly. If he doesn't make that tackle, only cornerback Sevyn Banks stands between 230 lb Conner Heyward and a huge gain.
Fellow end Jonathon Cooper has also been outstanding against the run this season and showed why on Saturday. As seen in a couple of examples already, the Spartans often lined a tight end (or sometimes two) off the line, allowing them to slice back across the formation and create a cutback lane for the runner.
Such action often disrupts a run defense as it takes a gap away from one side and adds it to the other, and the defense must quickly respond. At Ohio State, this is done by the linebackers, who make a 'fall' call, alerting them to each bump over one gap in the direction of the tight end.
While Werner falls outside of Cooper on this play, #0 plays this option perfectly. Left unblocked to be read by the QB, Cooper doesn't turn his shoulders and chase the back inside on the handoff. Instead, he steps down inside to close the distance, but keeps his shoulders square and shuffles laterally as he waits for the QB to make a decision.
As the QB hands the ball off, both Cooper and Werner are free to squeeze inside and make a tackle for a short gain.
Later in the game, backup end Javontae Jean-Baptiste (who otherwise played very well), got caught cheating against the same action.
Instead of keeping square to the line, Jean-Baptiste turns his shoulders and crashes down on the runner. While Werner correctly falls to play contain on the outside gap, the scrambling end isn't there to make a play on the QB, resulting in a big gain. Luckily, these kinds of mistakes have been rare, and Johnson has the depth to minimize them in important situations.
This run from Payton Thorne, as well as anther scramble in which he escaped a sack accounted for 42 of the Spartans' 81 rushing yards. This was not the first time the OSU run defense has dominated an opponent this season, showing that what we saw last weekend is part of a trend that isn't likely to end anytime soon.
Assuredly, some fans will remain concerned about the team's seeming inability to corral mobile quarterbacks. But the reality is the Buckeyes have allowed just 13 runs of 10+ yards this season, the fifth-lowest total in the nation.
During a season in which almost nothing can be taken for granted, the reliability of Larry Johnson's unit remains one of the few things that the Buckeyes can count on.
