You’re Nuts: What is the micro-storyline you’ll be focusing on against Minnesota?

Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.

In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.

Today’s Question: What is the micro-storyline you’ll be focusing on against Minnesota?

Editor’s note: Ohio State has been so thoroughly dominant through its first four games, especially on defense, that we are taking the opportunity of this week’s night game against Minnesota to hyperfocus on one specific area of the team’s performance.

Jami’s Take: Ohio State’s run game vs. Minnesota’s rushing defense

Compared to Week 1 against Texas, when the Buckeyes logged fewer than 100 yards on the ground, Ohio State finally seems to have found some semblance of rhythm in its run game. 

The difference, largely, has been freshman running back Bo Jackson, who, despite his inexperience, has shown flashes of greatness already. But don’t write off C.J. Donaldson either—despite logging fewer overall yards than he did against the Longhorns, the senior has also seemed to settle into a steadier rhythm, averaging a little more than 5.3 yards per carry total across the last three games. 

We’ll get to test this progress in a big way this weekend against Minnesota. The 3-1 Golden Gophers have allowed the fourth-fewest rushing yards so far this season, holding opponents to an average of just 2.34 yards per carry. 

They currently boast a top-five rushing defense in the country (ninth overall, just behind Ohio State’s eighth-best total defense). Comparatively, Ohio State’s rushing offense ranks 50th in the nation. 

Through the first four games of their season, Minnesota has allowed just 65.5 rushing yards per game. The Buckeyes, for their part, are averaging 181.2 rushing yards per game offensively. 

This defense is the Golden Gophers’ driving force, bolstered by a duo of powerful linebackers in Devon Williams and Maverick Baranowski. 

Williams, a senior who hails from just outside Columbus (Dublin, Ohio), leads the team with 31 tackles (13 of them solo), including 2.5 for loss, along with 1.5 sacks and a pass breakup. 

Baranowski, a redshirt sophomore, logged 65 tackles last season and is second in tackles behind Williams so far this year. He’s amassed 25 tackles (8 solo), along with a sack and a forced fumble. 

Together, the pair could close off running lanes to cause issues for the Buckeye run game. Couple this with a nice-looking secondary (led by Koi Perich, a sophomore safety who has 21 tackles, including two for loss, and a sack through the first four games this year), and OSU’s running backs room will have its work cut out for it. 

The Golden Gophers’ stats are impressive, and if there’s one area they could possibly get a leg up on the Buckeyes, it would be shutting down a run game, particularly if the offensive play calling remains conservative through the air. 

Now, I’m a little delulu, but I’m not that delulu, so in the interest of stating the obvious, it does bear mentioning that Minnesota hasn’t played a team of Ohio State’s caliber yet this year. In fact, they haven’t played any ranked opponents at all. They have wins over Buffalo, Northwestern State, and Rutgers, plus a loss in their only other road game this year (at Cal). 

None of those teams is the same beast as OSU, so it remains to be seen whether the Golden Gophers’ rushing defense can hold its own against the Buckeyes or whether the cracks will start to show. 

But consider this: For a middle-of-the-pack team like Minnesota, which has solid talent but rarely claws its way to the top of the Big Ten, a game like this—at night against the No. 1 team in the country—is exactly the type of game that gives you something to play for. If you’re not going to make the playoffs, at the very least, you might as well have some fun trying to ruin someone else’s season on their home turf. 

I’m not suggesting this Golden Gophers team will beat the Buckeyes. I’m not expecting that, and frankly, I expect the OSU defense to be too destructive for that to be within the realm of possibility. 

But I don’t think for a second that Minnesota isn’t going to give it their best go. Especially given that the Buckeye offense hasn’t really let loose, if Minnesota can capitalize on one thing to at least keep the game close, the run defense could very well be it. It’s certainly something to keep an eye on this Saturday. 

Matt’s Take: Defensive line aggression

Throughout this season, we have seen extremely interesting, exotic, and compelling defensive schemes and designs from new defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. The creativity that he has shown in putting Buckeye defenders into spots to be successful has been truly fascinating and exciting to watch. However, most of those moves have come in the back seven of the OSU defense, leaving the front four defensive linemen to (for the most part) to just make plays on their own.

Despite the fact that the Buckeye front had an exceptional game — led by Caden Curry and Kayden McDonald — against Washington, most of that was on sheer athleticism and skill, and that has made sense for the first four games of the season. Three of Ohio State’s first four opponents have been led by quarterbacks who could run, to varying degrees: Texas’ Arch Manning, Ohio’s Parker Navarro, and Washington’s Demond Williams Jr. And, with all due respect to Grambling State and C’zavian Teasett, Patricia and the Bucks were never going to put anything on film for that game.

So, it made sense for the OSU front to be more cautious and try to focus on keeping contain, rather than throwing stunts and other pressures at the opposing offenses, since those are more likely to lead the athletic quarterbacks escaping the pocket and picking up chunks of yardage outside the normal design of the play.

However, on Saturday night in The Shoe, the Buckeyes will be facing off with the statuesque Minnesota quarterback Drake Lindsey. At 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, the Gopher signal caller has rushed for a combined -25 yards this season, so I don’t anticipate Patricia having to worry too much about his escapability leading to explosive running plays.

That is why I am interested to see if the front four does anything different against him. Two of the remaining games against ranked teams will feature QBs who aren’t exactly known for their running ability: Illinois’ Luke Altmyer (-11 rushing yards this season) and Penn State’s Drew Allar (a slightly better and nicer 69 rushing yards). Obviously, in college football, all quarterback rushing totals are impacted by sack yardage, but in two of the three biggest remaining games in this regular season, the Buckeyes should have an athletic advantage against the more traditional pocket passers. So, I am curious whether or not that will change Patricia’s approach.

The OSU defensive coordinator’s mentor, Bill Belichick, is known for adjusting the game plan every week to focus specifically on that week’s opponent. Therefore, if Patricia is going to follow that example, we could see a more dynamic approach from Larry Johnson’s unit on Saturday, especially if they want to work through some things before they have to face a similarly styled QB in either Altmyer or Allar.

The defensive line has been very sturdy this season, with last week’s performance against Washington being the only time where I would say that they were game-wrecking or defining. But if the strategy is to adjust what the defense does depending on the opponent, then this might be the first time that it makes sense to really unleash the athleticism up front against an opponent. So I am hoping to see that new wrinkle from Patricia as he continues to remake the OSU defense in his image and likeness.