Matt Tamanini
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Ohio State’s Tyleik Williams could be the difference in the game against Oregon
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
The defensive tackle’s presence was felt in every aspect of the team’s win over Iowa last week.
What a difference a defensive lineman can make. After missing Ohio State’s games against Marshall and Michigan State, Buckeye defensive tackle Tyleik Williams returned to the lineup against Iowa last weekend, and his impact was immediately felt. Despite Hawkeye running back Kaleb Johnson entering the game averaging 171.25 yards per game, the Buckeye first-team defense held him to just 45 yards before giving way to the reserves. On the day, the Heisman hopeful finished with just 86 yards.
While clearly, the OSU defense has been stingy against the run all season — they are third in FBS allowing only 72.6 yards per game — having their best defensive lineman back cleaned things up on that side of the ball that had been festering, specifically at the second level.
In the two games in which Williams was out, Ohio State’s starting linebackers averaged a 62.64 grade according to Pro Football Focus, including Sonny Styles’s 55.8 two-game average grade. The converted safety regularly seemed confused and undisciplined in those games, whether with his run fills or in coverage. Everyone knows how athletic and physically gifted Styles is, but the transition to LB has not been nearly as smooth as many had hoped.
However, with Williams back in front of him, Styles had arguably his best game as a linebacker. Against the Hawkeyes, he led the team with seven tackles including two for loss, and his 73.0 PFF grade was his highest of the season. While you could chalk that up to the one-dimensionality of Iowa’s offense, or OSU playing almost exclusively a 4-3 scheme in the game, to me, it seemed obvious to the naked eye that Williams being back in the middle of the defensive front was opening up Styles to play in the aggressive way that many of us had envisioned when he made the positional change,
Even though the Oregon offense will present a much different — i.e. tougher — challenge this coming Saturday, the Buckeyes’ defensive performance against Iowa — especially up the middle — is incredibly encouraging.
When the Oregon Ducks were struggling against Idaho and Boise State in the first two weeks of the season, they were starting walk-on Charlie Pickard at center, and their running game and pass protection were suffering. However, heading into their Week 3 Civil War matchup with their rival Oregon State Beavers, head coach Dan Lanning moved Poncho Laloulu from guard to center and reshuffled the rest of the starting offensive line.
The change seems to have worked as the Ducks’ offense has averaged 484.67 yards per game in their last three, as compared to the 419.5 from the first two games. While those 65 yards might not seem like a dramatic improvement, it represents a marked increase in yards per play, going from 5.82 to 7.0.
Despite the improvement, the newly reconfigured interior of Oregon’s o-line has not faced a defense capable of the levels of disruption that Ohio State’s is. While Michigan State is rated 24th nationally in havoc rate (the percentage of plays in which the defense records a tackle for loss, forces a fumble, or intercepts or breaks up a pass), Oregon State is 89th and UCLA is 84th; Ohio State is No. 8 at 15.7%. The Buckeyes also rank third in PFF’s pressure grades — Boise State at 49th is the next highest-graded team.
With Williams being back in the lineup, the Buckeyes will likely put a significant strain on the heretofore unproven interior offensive line of Oregon. While tackles Josh Conerly and Ajani Cornelius are two of the best in the Big Ten, Laloulu, Nishad Strother, and Marcus Harper come into the game having to prove that they are up for the challenge of one of the best defenses in the country.
Williams was only on the field for 29 plays against Iowa and yet his presence was felt in every aspect of the defense. Unless he is physically unable to do so, I would be hard-pressed to imagine a situation where he doesn’t play nearly all of the team’s meaningful snaps. And if he is able to clog up the middle of the line and free up the linebackers to make plays, that could be the difference between an Ohio State win or loss in Autzen Stadium on Saturday night.
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Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
The defensive tackle’s presence was felt in every aspect of the team’s win over Iowa last week.
What a difference a defensive lineman can make. After missing Ohio State’s games against Marshall and Michigan State, Buckeye defensive tackle Tyleik Williams returned to the lineup against Iowa last weekend, and his impact was immediately felt. Despite Hawkeye running back Kaleb Johnson entering the game averaging 171.25 yards per game, the Buckeye first-team defense held him to just 45 yards before giving way to the reserves. On the day, the Heisman hopeful finished with just 86 yards.
While clearly, the OSU defense has been stingy against the run all season — they are third in FBS allowing only 72.6 yards per game — having their best defensive lineman back cleaned things up on that side of the ball that had been festering, specifically at the second level.
In the two games in which Williams was out, Ohio State’s starting linebackers averaged a 62.64 grade according to Pro Football Focus, including Sonny Styles’s 55.8 two-game average grade. The converted safety regularly seemed confused and undisciplined in those games, whether with his run fills or in coverage. Everyone knows how athletic and physically gifted Styles is, but the transition to LB has not been nearly as smooth as many had hoped.
However, with Williams back in front of him, Styles had arguably his best game as a linebacker. Against the Hawkeyes, he led the team with seven tackles including two for loss, and his 73.0 PFF grade was his highest of the season. While you could chalk that up to the one-dimensionality of Iowa’s offense, or OSU playing almost exclusively a 4-3 scheme in the game, to me, it seemed obvious to the naked eye that Williams being back in the middle of the defensive front was opening up Styles to play in the aggressive way that many of us had envisioned when he made the positional change,
Even though the Oregon offense will present a much different — i.e. tougher — challenge this coming Saturday, the Buckeyes’ defensive performance against Iowa — especially up the middle — is incredibly encouraging.
When the Oregon Ducks were struggling against Idaho and Boise State in the first two weeks of the season, they were starting walk-on Charlie Pickard at center, and their running game and pass protection were suffering. However, heading into their Week 3 Civil War matchup with their rival Oregon State Beavers, head coach Dan Lanning moved Poncho Laloulu from guard to center and reshuffled the rest of the starting offensive line.
The change seems to have worked as the Ducks’ offense has averaged 484.67 yards per game in their last three, as compared to the 419.5 from the first two games. While those 65 yards might not seem like a dramatic improvement, it represents a marked increase in yards per play, going from 5.82 to 7.0.
Despite the improvement, the newly reconfigured interior of Oregon’s o-line has not faced a defense capable of the levels of disruption that Ohio State’s is. While Michigan State is rated 24th nationally in havoc rate (the percentage of plays in which the defense records a tackle for loss, forces a fumble, or intercepts or breaks up a pass), Oregon State is 89th and UCLA is 84th; Ohio State is No. 8 at 15.7%. The Buckeyes also rank third in PFF’s pressure grades — Boise State at 49th is the next highest-graded team.
With Williams being back in the lineup, the Buckeyes will likely put a significant strain on the heretofore unproven interior offensive line of Oregon. While tackles Josh Conerly and Ajani Cornelius are two of the best in the Big Ten, Laloulu, Nishad Strother, and Marcus Harper come into the game having to prove that they are up for the challenge of one of the best defenses in the country.
Williams was only on the field for 29 plays against Iowa and yet his presence was felt in every aspect of the defense. Unless he is physically unable to do so, I would be hard-pressed to imagine a situation where he doesn’t play nearly all of the team’s meaningful snaps. And if he is able to clog up the middle of the line and free up the linebackers to make plays, that could be the difference between an Ohio State win or loss in Autzen Stadium on Saturday night.
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