The Chase of Dominance: The Buckeye defensive end leads the B1G's best unit

Hope you held onto your seat cushions, picked up a foam finger from the event. After a few weeks of some vignettes and squash matches at house shows, Ohio State’s defense faced its first test against a regarded member of the Big Ten. The results were immediate and swift. 

Flying lariat, pump-handle slam, spear, piledriver, pin. Not much in terms of post-match hysterics, nothing compared to the pomp and circumstance and build-up to the contest. 

48-7. A tantalizing offense made more appealing by a vastly improved defense. 

Count me as someone who holds the Buckeye’s offense in the highest regard. The certainty in which Justin Fields operates in the shotgun and the one-two balance of JK Dobbins and Master Teague III at running back make for the most explosive offense in the conference. Throw in the specific and exacting nature in which Ryan Day calls plays that yield the Buckeyes massive amounts of yardage with minimal contact and broken tackles and there’s much to be excited about. At least enough for a year-end video special. Coordinate the “30 for 30.” See if Drew Carey is available to narrate. My well runs dry on Ohio celebrities to voiceover such a production. 

What if I told you that offense now plays opposite a defense so nasty, fast, and exacting it’s also the most explosive in conference. Best team in conference? Most definitely. Best unit in conference with the best player in the conference? Indubitably. Am I gushing? I’m gushing. 

We can run through the totality of stats of the defense, but if your eyes scan this page you’re also equipped to read box scores in either the PDF or online version. Let’s leave this here: Ohio State is second in both yards per play and total yards per game nationally. Second both to Wisconsin. 

The same Wisconsin who shares space under the Big Ten banner with Ohio State. There’s just something more intoxicating about Ohio State and the talent on defense. 

The hell, fire, fury, and destruction brought on by Chase Young at defensive end is a different sort of chaos from anything Wisconsin’s defense offers. With nine sacks through four games Young gets to the quarterback in the Knute Rockne fashion.

Inside em, outside em, you can almost hear the scratchy LP playing in Young’s head to get to the quarterback through an array of moves. No need for Waze. Young ends up at his final destination in short order. He’s big and strong enough to bullrush offensive tackles. He can also get wide and run around the tackle and his first step inside is so fast that tackles struggle to get more than a hand on his shoulder. When they do it’s a cautious pat that they hope he trips and doesn’t decapitate the quarterback they failed to protect.

With Young setting the edge, it’s hard to do much against the Buckeyes up front. Though Adrian Martinez’s inaccuracy led to two of the Buckeyes’ interceptions on Saturday, the pressure up front from Young and the rest of the line hurries opposing quarterbacks into interceptions and gives the Buckeyes the best sack percentage in the entire country, averaging one 16.2 percent of the time the quarterback drops back. The Buckeyes allow completions at an average of 9.7 yards, good enough for eighth nationally. Ohio State keeps everything in front of them and allows the defensive line to play hell with the competition. So I broke my promise to allow you to peruse the team stats, but the numbers are so alluring you needed to know. Things look simple and sharp a far cry from last year’s unit.  

The 2019 and 2018 schedule to start the year are not drastically different, but the Buckeyes defense is. The 2018 team allowed 68 points through its first four games. The 2019 version allowed 43. 

That’s a stark contrast to last year when amid, you know, everything, the most detrimental loss to the defense came when Nick Bosa left the TCU game with an injury and struck a deal with the banker to sit out the rest of the season to prepare for the NFL combine. The defense never found its footing, highlighted by the loss to Purdue and the near-loss to Maryland. Expect no hiccups this season on defense even if the Buckeyes will be lulled into boredom against Michigan State on Saturday at home.

The Spartans will effort grind-it-out drives against Ohio State, refuse to take chances and attempt to nickel and dime the ball down the field. Ohio State seems patient and disciplined enough to let the Spartans attempt driving the length of the field for a score. The Buckeyes are opportunistic, not hurried. If the defense plays the same way against Northwestern in the next game the first challenge will come October 26 against Wisconsin at home.

It’s the antithesis of coach-speak to look past the next two games, but Ohio State is talented enough for us to look ahead. Enjoy the squash matches and a defense at the peak of its powers.