COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State lost every starter on its defensive line, three of five starting defensive backs and a linebacker who was both productive and a key leader for the Buckeyes’ title-winning team last season.
Coach Ryan Day also needed to hire a new defensive coordinator after Jim Knowles’ departure to Penn State.
A drop in production would have been understandable. Yet the top-ranked Buckeyes are right back at the top in scoring defense and third in total defense after five games heading into a matchup Saturday at No. 17 Illinois.
Ohio State has held opponents to 10 points or fewer in its first five games, its longest streak since Earle Bruce’s first season as coach in 1979.
How did the Buckeyes reload so quickly?
In the mind of Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck, a better question might be, “How could they not?”
“They put you in a corner and they change up so many different coverages and fronts,” Fleck said after his team lost 42-3 last week. “After that first drive I thought we had them in their base defense and their base coverages and we had a really good bead on them. Then we came back and they changed it.”
Matt Patricia replaced Knowles, spent the spring learning the strengths of his new players at every level of the defense and installed a pro style reminiscent of the ones he used to help coordinate with the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick.
At several positions, players who might have been ready to play last year but were blocked by seniors have stepped into starting roles. That includes junior cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. taking the place of Denzel Burke, junior linebacker Arvell Reese replacing Cody Simon and senior defensive linemen Caden Curry and Kenyatta Jackson Jr. taking the spots at end vacated by Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau.
They joined returning starters Sonny Styles at linebacker and Davison Igbinosun at cornerback to form a unit long on talent and short on youth.
“It’s not just the players and the depth,” Fleck said. “That’s just exceptional. That’s off the charts. Some of the best I’ve seen. It’s the schematic pieces that make it so complex. Every single play is a different front structure, blitz structure, coverage structure.”
Downs is key
While there is versatility up and down the starting lineup, junior safety Caleb Downs is the prime piece Patricia uses to keep quarterbacks and offensive coordinators guessing.
Generally regarded as one of the best defensive players in the nation last year, he most likely would be in the NFL right now if the rules allowed, but the collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players requires draftees to be at least three years removed from high school.
“It’s one thing to have an idea or have an adjustment, but it’s another thing to put it on the field,” Day said Tuesday as the team began preparations for Illinois. “So when you have guys like Caleb and Sonny and Arvell and IGB (Igbinosun) and Kenyatta and Caden who have played football enough and seen it, they have sort of a rolodex of plays that they can recall to get back to and then communicate that to the other guys on the defense.
“So that’s the sign of a mature team when you can make adjustments but then actually execute them on the field.”
Patricia, the popular leader
Since August, players have praised Patricia for his approach. He jibed quickly with heady, veteran leaders such as Downs and Styles, whose father played linebacker in the NFL.
“It’s not like we’re on our heels,” Styles said Saturday night. “We’re on the attack all the time. We know that the different looks we give to offenses keeps them on their heels, keeps them a little bit confused.
“It just feels good. We’re all confident what we’re doing. We all know our jobs. We’re really just growing in terms of football knowledge and becoming smarter.”
The connection extends beyond the starting lineup to younger players still learning their way.
“When we got a new DC, I feel like it was clicking more,” said sophomore cornerback Aaron Scott Jr., who arrived in Columbus last year as a five-star prospect from nearby Springfield, Ohio. “I was able to get more time with Coach Patricia. He’s like a real player-type guy, so whenever I needed help, I could just go in and talk with him and we had a good role, so I feel like he’s made it way more easier for me.”