Ohio State's defense continues to flummox opposing offenses after a 42-3 win against Minnesota at Ohio Stadium.
Drake Lindsey was on such a heater that even the cameras had his back.
Heading into the closed end of Ohio Stadium, the Minnesota quarterback and reigning Big Ten freshman of the week fired a pass toward the left sideline and the outstretched arms of Jalen Smith. The redshirt freshman wide receiver got both hands on the ball as his momentum took him out of bounds, and the official right on the scene ruled it an incompletion.
Except that it wasn’t, and video review showed that he had gotten a foot down in time to give the Golden Gophers a 10-yard completion and first and goal on the Ohio State 10-yard line. On the first drive of the game, Minnesota was in business and Smith was perfect on his first seven passes.
It was the high-water mark. After Smith had piled up 64 yards, Ohio State forced incompletions on two of the next three plays and Minnesota settled for a 27-yard field goal. The three points were the only ones Minnesota could muster as Ohio State’s defense took control from there, stymieing Smith and the Gophers in a 42-3 win Oct. 4 in Ohio Stadium.
“That first drive was a little too easy,” senior linebacker Sonny Styles said. “We thought we were giving them a little bit too much free access to throws, just letting him stand up and throw it. We had to tighten up our coverage.”
After those first seven completions, Smith went 8 for 19 for 30 passing yards the rest of the game. One week prior, Smith was 31 for 41 for 324 yards and three touchdowns in a comeback win against Rutgers. This week, the Gophers finished with 162 yards of total offense and averaged 3.2 yards per play. Three of their drives ended with negative or no yardage.
They also became the third team to fail to find the end zone against the Buckeyes in Ohio State’s first five games of the season.
“There was still no panic,” coach Ryan Day said of his defense’s response to Minnesota’s opening drive. “We held them to three.”
The Buckeyes have now allowed a total of 25 points through five games, lowering what was already the nation’s best scoring defense to 5.0 points allowed per game. They have played their last nine quarters without allowing a touchdown, and the opening drive was the only time Minnesota got inside the red zone. Otherwise, eight of the visitors’ 10 possessions ended on their own side of the 50, with the other stalling on the 23-yard line and yielding a missed 41-yard field goal during the fourth quarter.
At halftime, Ohio State led 21-3 and had outgained Minnesota 277-111, but Styles said defensive coordinator Matt Patricia was still upset about that opening drive.
“(He wanted us to) choke them out,” Styles said. “Don’t let them get any life. That first drive was a little too easy. Coach Patricia was a little fired up. He wanted us to go smash those guys.”
Ohio State received the opening kickoff in the second half and forced Minnesota into two three-and-outs that yielded a total of minus-1 yard of offense. The play of the defense has allowed Day to bring along quarterback Julian Sayin knowing that, if he does make a mistake, the defense will pick him up. In his postgame interview, Sayin said he’s “playing one of the best defenses in the country every day in practice.”
Styles credited Patricia for helping Ohio State’s defensive players grow in their overall football understanding rather than simply memorizing specific plays or coverages and said that’s made a difference this year while also allowing the Buckeyes to deploy multiple different looks.
“You feel like we’re on the attack all the time,” he said. “We know the different looks we give, the offense gets on their heels. We’re all confident in what we’re doing. I think we’re really growing in football knowledge.”
Ohio State’s defense performed as it did despite losing senior defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr. to an unspecified injury during the first half. After the game, Day said there wasn’t much of an update on him.
“It was good to see Kenyatta up and moving around and supporting his teammates during the game,” he said. “We’ll take a look at it.”
Now with consecutive road games at Illinois and Wisconsin next on the schedule, Styles said there’s still room to grow.
“I actually think we’ve still got a little meat on the bone,” he said. “We’re giving up yards that are really our fault and our mistakes, not the other team making a good play. We were coming into the game expecting to shut them out.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Stingy Ohio State defense smothers Minnesota in latest dominant outing
Category: General Sports
