2009 tOSU Defensive Line Discussion

[MililaniBuckeye]

Pretty sure he has all or at least most draft eligible players submit paperwork, even if they're not projected to go high or be drafted at all.

Bingo.

 

[Buckskin86]

Ohio State Buckeyes believe ends justify the means with Thaddeus Gibson and Nathan Williams
By Doug Lesmerises
October 15, 2009

Terry Gilliam, AP
Thaddeus Gibson pressures Wisconsin quarterback Scott Tolzien during the Buckeyes' 31-31 victory on Oct. 10.

Columbus -- Thaddeus Gibson and Nathan Williams conked heads like cartoon characters last Saturday, their meeting at the quarterback not quite what they envisioned.

Getting pressure up the middle, defensive tackle Doug Worthington jumped over Wisconsin quarterback Scott Tolzien as Ohio State's defensive ends, racing around the corners, collided behind them, and somehow Tolzien snuck out and escaped the pocket.

"I don't even know what happened with that," Williams said. "I thought [Worthington] had him and Thad and I just met up, and the next thing I knew [Tolzien] was 10 yards away from me."

"I was telling Nate we've got to bend that edge, bend it a little tighter and flip our hips a little bit," Gibson said. "We'll definitely attack that in practice and do it better next week."

That's what it has come to with Ohio State's defensive line, particularly the look the Buckeyes leaned on against the Badgers with their two cat-quick ends on the field together. When Gibson and Williams rush the passer, getting to the quarterback is almost a given -- so just don't run into each other.

Ohio State Buckeyes believe ends justify the means with Thaddeus Gibson and Nathan Williams | Ohio State Buckeyes - cleveland.com - - cleveland.com

 

[TheIronColonel]

Unsurprising slap in the face: No Buckeyes make cut for Lombardi Award Semi-finalists. It doesn't really matter, anyway, since if Suh doesn't win it, it's been rigged. That guy is a fucking beast. I just find it bizarre that not a single ACC, Big Ten, or Pac 10 player made the list.

 

[BB73]

What's the point of cutting it down to 12 guys when some teams haven't even played half of their games yet? They ought to do this in about mid-November.

 

[Buckskin86]

OSU D-line deflates opposing QBs' stats
Now, it's Elliott's turn to face Buckeyes' rush
Saturday, October 17, 2009
By Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

If Purdue quarterback Joey Elliott watched tape of Ohio State's game last week, he might opt for self-preservation, feign illness and sit out today.

Wisconsin's offensive day started with a sack and ended with a surrender. It wasn't much better in between, as OSU thrashed a sound offensive line and pounded quarterback Scott Tolzien.

Tolzien went into the game as the Big Ten leader in passing efficiency, with nine touchdown passes and three interceptions. The Wisconsin line had given up just two sacks in five games.

But the Buckeyes sacked Tolzien six times and pressured him into two interceptions, both returned for touchdowns, in a 31-13 victory.

"There were just some straight-out guys right in his face that really threw his confidence off and made it difficult for him to read his routes and progressions down the field," Badgers coach Bret Bielema said.

On the first play, defensive lineman Cameron Heyward bull-rushed 320-pound left guard John Moffitt, then threw him aside and sacked Tolzien.

With about four minutes to play, right tackle Josh Oglesby briefly chucked defensive end Nathan Williams at the snap, then just lowered his arms as Williams raced past and buried Tolzien.

Such has been the story of OSU's defense all season. Opposing quarterbacks come into games with gaudy numbers and leave bruised and humbled.

The Buckeyes are 15th nationally in pass-efficiency defense, allowing a 54.9 percent completion rate, with four touchdown passes and nine interceptions. They also have 18 sacks, including 12 in the past three games.

They aren't just affecting quarterbacks, they are afflicting them.

"Our defensive mentality is to just go after the quarterback and try to beat the offensive linemen every single time," Williams said. "We've done a great job all year of doing that, and we've got to continue."

The defensive line, in particular, has been relentless, taking a huge leap forward after several so-so years.

BuckeyeXtra - OSU D-line deflates opposing QBs' stats

 

[Buckskin86]

Punishing pairing
Defensive ends Thaddeus Gibson, Nathan Williams combine to make life tough for QBs
Friday, October 30, 2009
By Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

When Ohio State defensive ends Thaddeus Gibson and Nathan Williams are on the field together, it's part entertainment, part comedy and always quite a show.

Against Minnesota on Saturday, the duo looked like a World Wrestling Entertainment tag team. They took turns wreaking havoc on the Gophers' bigger, slower tackles and combined for all four of OSU's sacks (three by Gibson).

Three weeks ago against Wisconsin, the act was more like a scene from the Three Stooges. Coming around opposite ends and meeting in the middle, Gibson and Williams collided headfirst behind quarterback Scott Tolzien and fell down, as Tolzien stepped up and escaped.

"With me and him on opposite sides of the line, it's fun," said Gibson, whose play Saturday made him Big Ten co-defensive player of the week. "It makes the game more fun; we're just out there trying to make plays."

The two rank first and second on the team in sacks (Gibson with four, Williams with 3.5) and in tackles for loss (Gibson with 9.5, Williams with seven).

BuckeyeXtra - Punishing pairing

 

[Redhawk]

Versatility equals victory for Buckeyes D-line - Big Ten - ESPN

It's not unusual that Ohio State coaches ask their defensive linemen to play multiple positions. Almost every successful team makes similar requests.

But rarely do you get a defensive line where each interchangeable part functions at or near All-Big Ten level.

The Buckeyes' defense is nicknamed "The Silver Bullets." And this season, the bullets are flying from every angle.

"Playing different positions, there's nothing like it," Buckeyes defensive lineman and co-captain Doug Worthington said. "[Ohio State] always had a lot of versatile guys, but this defensive line is showing how versatile it really can get."

The line leads one of the nation's most dominant defenses, a unit that owns three shutouts on its r?sum? and nearly had a fourth last week against Penn State. The front four ranks third nationally against the run (85.4 yards per game), hasn't allowed a 100-yard rusher in 20 games and has recorded 20 sacks in Big Ten play, which ties Purdue for the league lead.

Ohio State will once again lean on the line Saturday as it tries to secure its fifth consecutive Big Ten title and a likely Rose Bowl berth against No. 10 Iowa (ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET).

Worthington came to Ohio State as a defensive end but lacked the speed to be an every-down pass-rusher, so he moved to the 3-technique defensive tackle position, lining up between an opposing guard and a tackle and shooting the gap. But he still plays some end as well. Last week against Penn State, Cameron Heyward recorded sacks at both the end and tackle positions.

"He played both. I?m playing defensive end, defensive tackle and nose guard," Worthington said. "Thaddeus [Gibson] is playing linebacker and defensive end. We?re sometimes dropping, sometimes looping or whatnot. It gives the offensive line a different viewpoint of who's coming."

By the time they realize who's coming and from which direction, it's usually too late.

Ohio State not only boasts versatility, but tremendous depth up front. Todd Denlinger has stepped in seamlessly for the injured Dexter Larimore, while backups Lawrence Wilson, Nathan Williams and Rob Rose have combined for 7.5 sacks and 14 tackles for loss.

"It's the caliber of the player and the situations they put them in that make it tough," Penn State head coach Joe Paterno said. "If it's third-and-8, they may take a kid and play him as a defensive end because they get a little better pass rush out of him.

"They're big, strong kids, and they're good. And they're smart. And they can adjust. And it does make it tougher."

Adjusting to multiple positions isn't always easy. Worthington remembers Gibson, cognizant of Ohio State's rich linebacker tradition, struggling at first to play the defensive end-linebacker hybrid.

But the 6-foot-2, 240-pound junior soon saw the benefits of being versatile and leads the team in tackles for loss (10.5) to go along with two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

"In this day and age," Buckeyes head coach Jim Tressel said, "there are so many different styles of football and so many things that the offenses bring at you, your people have to be very versatile."

 

[Buckskin86]

Stuffing the run
Defensive line stacks up well against OSU's top units of past
Friday, November 13, 2009
By Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Neal C. Lauron | DISPATCH
The Buckeyes' run defense isn't all about the defensive line. Talented running back Evan Royster of Penn State found that out when confronted by linebacker Austin Spitler, left, and safety Kurt Coleman.

FRED SQUILLANTE | DISPATCH
Minnesota tailback Kevin Whaley took a pounding from the Ohio State defense in Ohio Stadium on Oct. 24. He was ruled down before this fumble.
OSU football chat

Pride runs deep among former Ohio State football players, which is why Matt Finkes was unwilling to anoint this year's defensive line as superior to his 1996 unit.

"I'm a little biased; I think we were still the best ones," said Finkes, who that year played alongside Mike Vrabel, Luke Fickell and Winfield Garnett.

But he conceded that the 2009 bunch is starting to command the same sort of attention that he and his teammates did.

"That 2002 and 2003 line was pretty dominant, but you heard a lot of talk about the linebackers and secondary those years, too," Finkes said. "It may be the first time since '96 that we've talked about the D-line as being the arrowhead of the team."

It's a good description, because this year's defensive front has been holding opposing runners at the point of the spear.

The front four are the catalyst for a defense that is ranked sixth nationally overall and third against the run.

Ohio State has not given up 100 yards rushing to an opponent since Joe McKnight of Southern California gained 105 on Sept. 13, 2008 -- a span of 20 games, second-longest in the nation to Alabama (29).

In 322 rush attempts against it this season, Ohio State has given up just 17 gains of 10 yards or more, and only four of more than 20.

And since late in Week 2, against USC, no opposing running back has had a gain of longer than 9 yards. That's a span of 245 attempts. Quarterbacks and receivers have accounted for a few longer gains, but not running backs.

"I've played with some great run defenses, but the season's not over," lineman Cameron Heyward said. "I think we feel confident (against the run), the fact that we think we have a chance, but we can't look forward."

BuckeyeXtra - Stuffing the run