Ryan Day says Ohio State will lean on defense more in 2023

Ohio State actually fielded a pretty good defense in 2022, but a few poor performances to close out the season tainted the view of an otherwise good unit. Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day isn’t running from this fact.

But the struggles at the end of last season haven’t stopped him from being hopeful about Ohio State’s defensive unit in 2023. With defensive coordinator Jim Knowles back for a second year, Day is bullish on the growth that will come on that side of the ball.

“So a lot of experience on the defensive side of the ball and really in Year 2 — Year 1, you’re learning what to do. Year 2 and 3, you’re learning how and why. And I think those all, those matter. So we’re going to have to win some games on defense this year,” Day said on the “Always College Football” podcast with Greg McElroy.

One of the biggest issues Day and the coaching staff identified in the defense in the only two losses for Ohio State — against Michigan and Georgia — were big plays.

Against Michigan, Ohio State gave up touchdowns of 45, 69, 75, 75 and 85 yards.

In the College Football Playoff semifinals against Georgia, the Buckeyes surrendered touchdowns of 25 and 76 yards, plus an array of chunk plays.

Across the two games, Ohio State gave up 87 points — 43.5 a game — after giving up just 16.9 points per game in the 11 games prior.

“Coming out of those last couple games, I know everybody on the defensive side of the ball, there was a lot of progress made there but the way that it ended just left a sour taste in everybody’s mouth. So, that’s something that we’ve looked at hard and tried to identify the areas, certainly explosive plays were the ones that kind of jumped off the screen. So, Jim Knowles will be in his second year and it’s significant because we really didn’t lose much on that side of the ball. We have a lot coming back. A lot of experience. Added some new pieces, through the transfer portal. We don’t do a lot of that but I think we’ve added some nice pieces there,” Day said.

With a question still to answer at quarterback — though the Ohio State offense will likely churn out points like usual — Day is right to think there might come a game or two where the Buckeyes need the defense to produce a game-winning effort.

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