COLUMBUS, Ohio — Urban Meyer said an interesting thing this week about Wisconsin’s defense that could potentially be applied to Ohio State’s. “They played LSU, Michigan State, our rivals, and they played — and still they ranked that highly in defense after playing those kinds of teams,” Meyer said Monday. “Usually, sometimes you play lesser teams early, and the stats get a little padded. This team did not play soft games, so that’s how good their defense was.” Meyer’s point was Wisconsin’s defense was as good as he thought it would be based on the teams it had held in check coming into last Saturday. So let’s apply that logic to the Buckeyes’ defense. Ohio State came into that game against Wisconsin ranked No. 9 in the country in rushing defense, allowing fewer than 100 yards per game. The Buckeyes also hadn’t played against a Murderers’ Row of rushing attacks. They played Bowling Green (92nd in rushing offense), Tulsa (33rd), Oklahoma (38th), Rutgers (71st) and Indiana (91st). After giving up a season-high 236 rushing yards to the Badgers you could ask two questions: Were those gaudy numbers against the run a mirage created by playing sub-par rushing offenses for five…
Continue Reading: Ohio State football: Should you be nervous about the Buckeyes' run defense vs. Penn State?
