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- Thread starter pnuts34
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I heard on one of the podcasts that he walked up to the scUM cheerleaders before the game and told them something to the affect of "you wont be having fun today" 
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I’ve said it all year - Iggy and Matthew’s aren’t the guys you mess with. Those boys are here to wreck your team.
Hope we get another year with Matthews, he brings a lot of fun and energy to the defense. Everyone can’t be the defensive captain and that’s ok, but his contributions is that juice is essential!
Hope we get another year with Matthews, he brings a lot of fun and energy to the defense. Everyone can’t be the defensive captain and that’s ok, but his contributions is that juice is essential!
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Should be and NEEDS to be a serious Thorpe candidate for the Defense this year.
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Ohio State’s defense has the talent; now it needs a leader
With a defense full of new faces, Jermaine Mathews Jr. can’t just cover his side of the field. He has to hold the whole secondary together as a leader, while taking his own game to All-Big Ten, and maybe even first-round heights.
very championship defense has one. Not always the biggest star, not always the highest draft pick, just the player everyone else looks to when things start going sideways.
Ohio State had several over the last two seasons. Caleb Downs organized the secondary, Sonny Styles brought the physicality and emotion, and Davison Igbinosun never backed down from an opponent’s best receiver. The veterans set the standard, and the younger players followed.
Now almost all of them are gone.
The Buckeyes still have talent, plenty of it. Devin Sanchez might become one of the country’s best cornerbacks. Earl Little Jr. arrives after an All-ACC season. Jaylen McClain looks ready for an even bigger role. Terry Moore has played at an All-ACC level in the past. And the freshmen and sophomores fill nearly every position room with upside.
But upside isn’t experience. Experience, or at least players with experience at Ohio State, isn’t something the Buckeyes have much of anymore. That’s why this defense may ultimately ride or die with Jermaine Mathews Jr.
The one player who has seen almost everything
Mathews has taken a different path than many recent Ohio State stars. He wasn’t a five-star recruit who walked into Columbus expecting to start immediately. Instead, he earned trust piece by piece.As a freshman, injuries forced him into meaningful snaps before anyone expected. He responded by looking comfortable against some of college football’s best receivers. The following season, he became one of the first defensive backs off the bench on a national championship team, learning behind veterans while quietly building confidence.
By 2025, there was no more waiting. Mathews started every game, handled weekly WR1 assignments, and became exactly what every defensive coordinator wants at cornerback: dependable. Sometimes that’s the highest compliment a corner can receive.
When quarterbacks stop throwing your direction, highlight plays naturally disappear. Fans notice interceptions, coaches notice receivers being erased from the game plan. Mathews became that kind of player in certain games, but now he becomes something even bigger. The leader.
Matt Patricia’s defense may depend on him more than anyone realizes
Matt Patricia’s scheme asks defensive backs to communicate constantly. Corners have to understand leverage, disguise coverages, exchange responsibilities after the snap, and make adjustments before the offense even reaches the line of scrimmage.That becomes much harder when half the secondary is learning new roles. Mathews isn’t.
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