What's Wrong With the 2013 Defense?

[Mike80]

I think everyone can agree this defense hit rock bottom somewhere during the Michigan or Michigan State games.

There were times against Clemson - a vastly superior offensive team when compared to scUM and Sparty - where they looked somewhat more competent. It wouldn't last, but baby steps are better than no steps.

A new scheme (with Withers leaving), an infusion of new faces filling the positions and a renewed focus on playing fast because they believe in the scheme (as Grad pointed too) and Ohio State will be in contention for at least a Big Ten title next year.

 

[woofermazing]

I just don't understand why they went with a game plan that took the defensive line, our best unit on that side, out of the game. Clemson could have thrown a bubble screen for 5-10 on nearly every play if they had wanted with our alignment, 93% of their passing yards came after the catch. I don't care how bad you think the secondary is, that's just conceding defeat on defense and hoping Clemson makes a mistake, and they made many.

It reminded me of the Florida NC, where our D just sat back and let Florida grind out first downs uncontested.

 

[lvbuckeye]

Not to mention, as maligned as the '06 D may have been, they did not allow a single team to record 400 yards. The '13 D? I honestly don't want to know.

 

[Dee-Liem]

Not to mention, as maligned as the '06 D may have been, they did not allow a single team to record 400 yards. The '13 D? I honestly don't want to know.

Seven Times:

TTUN 603
Clemson 576
California 503
Indiana 442
Sparty 438
Northwestern 437
Illinois 420

And Wisconsin was 399, so one yard short of eight.

Also, final five games of the season, which is the exact wrong time to have defensive breakdowns.

 

[mleone21]

Heck even the 2011 team, complete with its offense which was inconsistent with lots of 3 and outs only surrendered 400 yards in 2 games.

423 to Nebraska
444 to TTUN

 

[maximumblitz]

Was the 2013 defense the fault of Fickell, Withers, or Coombs?

Wait, here's the culprit:

 

[Bestbuck36]

I know they haven't done anything as Buckeyes yet but this trio of linebackers M. Mitchell, R. McMillan, and D. Booker, as freshmen next year, have to be the most physically gifted group of guys together at the position wearing Scarlet and Gray. The athletic ability is completely off the charts. Add in 6'6" Sam Hubbard and it's getting ridiculous.

The DB's coming in are nearly as impressive. It's all about the coaching of these guys now.

2013 is over and completely forgettable from a defensive standpoint. The parts are ordered now put the damn machine together!!

 

[ysubuck]

I know they haven't done anything as Buckeyes yet but this trio of linebackers M. Mitchell, R. McMillan, and D. Booker, as freshmen next year, have to be the most physically gifted group of guys together at the position wearing Scarlet and Gray. The athletic ability is completely off the charts. Add in 6'6" Sam Hubbard and it's getting ridiculous.

The DB's coming in are nearly as impressive. It's all about the coaching of these guys now.

2013 is over and completely forgettable from a defensive standpoint. The parts are ordered now put the damn machine together!!

That's an awful lot of youth out there at one time don't you think? For a defense that reportedly requires a ton of thinking and understanding of scheme. One thing that will negate athleticism more quickly than anything is having to think about your assignment.

 

[kippy1040]

That's an awful lot of youth out there at one time don't you think? For a defense that reportedly requires a ton of thinking and understanding of scheme. One thing that will negate athleticism more quickly than anything is having to think about your assignment.

Playing the position of corner and safety requires a lot of athleticism. Plus you don't have time to think. You have to re-act. I sure don't envy anyone for playing those position.

 

[matcar]

Playing the position of corner and safety requires a lot of athleticism. Plus you don't have time to think. You have to re-act. I sure don't envy anyone for playing those position.

Those guys are not going to be winning formula in 2014. If all those guys are major contributors, we are in serious trouble next year.

 

[C-busBuck]

I know they haven't done anything as Buckeyes yet but this trio of linebackers M. Mitchell, R. McMillan, and D. Booker, as freshmen next year, have to be the most physically gifted group of guys together at the position wearing Scarlet and Gray. The athletic ability is completely off the charts. Add in 6'6" Sam Hubbard and it's getting ridiculous.

The DB's coming in are nearly as impressive. It's all about the coaching of these guys now.

2013 is over and completely forgettable from a defensive standpoint. The parts are ordered now put the damn machine together!!

Yes , but do we have the correct engineers to put the machine together?

 

[kippy1040]

I was not referring to the Ohio State defensive secondary we have now. I was just simply stating that those positions are very hard to play in. Michigan State had a pretty good secondary group I think. That is what made them so successful.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Playing the position of corner and safety requires a lot of athleticism. Plus you don't have time to think. You have to re-act. I sure don't envy anyone for playing those position.

We have exceptionally athletic DBs, but they still need to know their assignments and make tackles, which they didn't do well as a group...too many times we saw DBs "react" after their assignment was blown and their receiver was running free in the secondary...

 

[Taosman]

Those guys are not going to be winning formula in 2014. If all those guys are major contributors, we are in serious trouble next year.

Not necessarily. Competition not default will determine who's best at positions and that will make the whole defense better. And the level of competition will be off the charts. And God only knows it won't take a lot to show significant improvement over what we have seen the last 2 years. Play their assignments better and tackle better. The defense doesn't need to be lights out better to make this a much better team.

 

[kanton]

OSU has recruited some really athletically gifted defensive players over the past 3-4 yrs but I'm not sure the football IQ of some of these players is where it needs to be. Not reading the receivers eyes & turning to find the ball, not recognizing on OL is disengaging you b/c the O is running a screen, not getting down so you don't congest eveyone else's pursuit lanes when you're getting blown off the ball, etc. If we're talking Jr. High ball that's coaching. When we're talking big time college football that's lack of instinct. When you're as gifted as Curtis Grant or Mike Mitchell you can get away w/ pure seek & destroy mentality in high school but it doesn't typically work in college. It may work at OLB or DE but certainly not at MLB or S. Those positions need to be more cerebral. We don't have that at those positions right now. Luke Roberts & Jeremy Cash were more cerebral than athletic but they're not here anymore. Vonn Bell, Erik Smith, Trey Johnson, Raekwon, Hubbard & Co. are going to improve the football intelligence of the D but they need to be physically ready to compete & that may take a little while.
Meyer & all the defensive coaches sit & watch film & I guarantee throughout the year they made the observation that player X wasn't getting the job done. They then asked the question would player Y do a better job? And the answer to that every week was either no or we don't know. And they chose to stick w/ the devil they knew and I can't say that I blame them. We can pretend like we would have made the switch but when you've won 24 games in a row & are playing for the highest stakes you don't make that change unless you're absolutely sure player Y is going to give you a better chance of continuing that win streak. After the MSU game the stakes changed & that's why they took a chance on Bell & giving some of Curtis' PT to Cameron. Whether it's palyers who the program parted ways with or the number of young guys on the roster the depth wasn't there this year to have a championship level defense.