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The Ohio State Buckeyes lead the nation in total defense, allowing 217.4 yards per game. That is 21 yards per game fewer than the No. 2 rated defense, Clemson.
There is another distinction that the Buckeyes, rated No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings, share with the No. 3 Tigers, the defending national champions.
Neither team has given up more than 300 yards to any opponent this season.
How rare is that?
When Clemson defeated Wake Forest 52-3 on Nov. 16, clemsonsportstalk.com made note that the Tigers were the first team since as far back as ESPN Stats and Info research goes (1996) to hold their first 11 opponents in a season to 300 or fewer yards.
Clemson held that distinction alone for a week.
On Saturday, Ohio State joined the exclusive club. The Buckeyes held Penn State to 227 yards of offense in defeating the Nittany Lions 28-17.
Small wonder, then, that OSU cornerback Jeff Okudah (pictured) and defensive lineman Chase Young are finalists for this season’s major defensive honors.
Okudah is a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation’s best defensive back. He has a team-high 3 interceptions and 25 tackles, 20 solo. He’s considered a surefire first-round NFL Draft choice should the junior turn pro after this season. He has been a key element to the top-ranked pass defense in the nation at 126.2 yards per game.
Young, also a junior, is not only a first-round but a top-5 NFL prospect if he comes out for the draft. The defensive end has racked up 16.5 sacks to lead the nation and break the OSU school record of 14, set by Vernon Gholston in 2007. Young, who also leads the nation in average tackles for loss per game at 2.2, is a finalist for the Bednarik Award and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy (both for best defensive player) and for the Maxwell Award (best overall player).
But it’s not just Young and Okudah who are responsible for a remarkable turnaround one season after OSU finished 71st in the nation in total defense and 86th in pass defense. The numbers that the Buckeyes have put up on defense in 2019 tell a tale of a truly stingy team.
Linebacker Malik Harrison leads the team with 61 tackles, 39 unassisted. Shaun Wade only has one interception but has 8 pass breakups to lead the team. There are 15 Buckeyes with at least half a sack on the season and 10 players have an interception.
The most yards OSU has surrendered this season came against, of all offenses, Michigan State. The Spartans gained 287 yards on the Buckeyes including 218 through the air, the most passing yards OSU has surrendered all season. Only two offenses — Nebraska (184 yards) and Northwestern (157) — have gained more than 110 rushing yards in a game against OSU.
The last time Ohio State led the nation in total defense was 2007, when the Buckeyes surrendered 240.1 yards per game on their way to a BCS National Championship Game appearance.
To reach those heights again, OSU needed a stout defense in 2019. The unit surpassed stout and has since become history-making. Entering Saturday’s game against Michigan, the Buckeyes defense will want to make history one more time to cap this extraordinary regular season.
Longtime newspaper veteran Jim Tomlin is a writer and editor for saturdaytradition.com and saturdaydownsouth.com.