Following the spring game in Columbus, one thing was quite clear: Ohio State made sure to address its issues with respect to coverage in the back end. The Buckeyes defenders, under co-defensive coordinators Chris Ash and Luke Fickell, have responded to their issues from a season ago and pushed to match patterns, relate to receivers and make plays on the football.
Spring games are often difficult to use to make evaluations for a given team. Formats differ, rules vary tremendously and who is active—and to what extent—is always a crap shoot, something Martin Rickman at Sports Illustrated points out in his Buckeyes spring game recap. However, a true shift in mentality is something that is noticeable, regardless of personnel or watered-down play-calling.
For Ohio State, little was discovered with respect to the quarterback position. Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett failed to show separation as they battle for the backup job. Expected starting running back Ezekiel Elliott was extremely limited. The defensive side of the ball played four-man fronts almost exclusively.
Yet it was clear something was different in the back seven of the Buckeyes’ defense.
Prior to the Big Ten championship game, the Buckeyes’ issues with route relations was discussed. The same was mentioned before Urban Meyer’s team took on the Clemson Tigers in the Orange Bowl. Entering spring, the need to work on pass coverage was again noted here.
And the Buckeyes went out and addressed that very…
Continue Reading: Spring Game Shows Ohio State Clearly Addressed It’s Biggest Issue
