Ohio State Football: Playoff Run Proves Buckeyes’ Defense Is Back

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images After winning his first 24 games as Ohio State’s head coach, Urban Meyer watched from the sideline as his defense imploded in a 34-24 loss to Michigan State in the 2013 Big Ten title game. It was a devastating defeat for Meyer and the Buckeyes, who were one victory away from punching their ticket to face Florida State in the national championship. Instead, the loss sent them to Miami for an Orange Bowl matchup against Clemson, which carved the Buckeyes up for 576 total yards in a 40-35 victory. Those back-to-back losses triggered a change in the way Ohio State approached defense. Meyer was through with the zone schemes that allowed opposing teams to chip their way down the field. He wanted a fast, aggressive unit that set the tone against its counterpart. A year later, that’s exactly what Meyer had. Ohio State’s defense clicked at the right time during the 2014 season, limiting three talented offenses as the Buckeyes marched their way through the Big Ten title game and the first-ever College Football Playoff.  With that unexpected run, Ohio State’s defense proved that it’s ready to reclaim its dominant status.  It started in the offseason when Meyer brought in Chris Ash from Arkansas to be the co-defensive coordinator alongside Luke Fickell. Ash installed his aggressive 4-3 scheme that featured a secondary that played more press coverage and man-to-man patterns.  Early returns from that overhaul were positive. Bleacher Report’s Michael Felder broke down Ohio State’s 2014 spring game and highlighted a much more disruptive secondary. That was the Buckeyes’ Achilles’ heel the year before as they surrendered an average of 268 passing yards per game, which ranked 112th nationally, per CFBstats.com. According to Bill Rabinowitz of The Columbus Dispatch, Meyer knew his defense needed to change: “I felt we were a ‘what-if’ defense last year: ‘What if they did this?’ I saw it from my coaches and I saw it from our players. What I’m looking for is simplicity — four to six, A to B. If you can’t give us that, then we’ve got to move on and get another player who will. So if you see big plays right now, I don’t care.” Ohio State’s defense did surrender some big plays early in the season…

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