Ohio State defense responds after slow start in home opener but still not satisfied

COLUMBUS — Ohio State is tied for second nationally in scoring defense through two weeks. Granted the Buckeyes played an Indiana team running the triple option and FCS Youngstown State, but — in the second year under coordinator Jim Knowles — the defense has allowed a combined 10 points.

You wouldn’t know that by the way junior cornerback Denzel Burke was talking postgame Saturday.

“It was kind of really a disappointing win,” Burke said. “Got a lot of things to clean up. We were supposed to mug these dudes, and I didn’t feel like we did that today.”

Ohio State gave up 234 yards of offense to YSU, 81 more than it conceded to Indiana on the road in the season opener. But, of those 234 yards, 75 came on the Penguins’ first drive.

Mainly led by quarterback Mitch Davidson, YSU marched 11 plays in just under six minutes for what turned out to be its lone scoring trip of the afternoon in Ohio Stadium.

The drive’s biggest mover was a 36-yard completion between Davidson and wide receiver Max Tomczak, who beat Buckeyes “nickel” safety Cameron Martinez down the field for the reception.

That was one of two YSU third down conversions during the series, which the Penguins capped on 4th-and-Goal. Davidson pulled the ball on a read-option call, and every Buckeyes defender crashed inside. Meanwhile, Davidson dove into the end zone for six and then a waddling celebration.

Just like that, YSU tied the game at 7-7 in front of more than 100,000 Ohio State fans, who are used to their Buckeyes blowing out non-Power Five opponents by 40, 50, 60 and sometimes 70 points.

“We never want things like that to happen, but when it does happen, you gotta keep your head up and just keep playing,” Ohio State junior defensive tackle Tyleik Williams said postgame. “We know who we are, we know what we can do. Don’t play down to their level.

“Just do your job, and everything will fall in place.”

For the most part, everything did fall in place for the Buckeyes’ defense the rest of the way. Ohio State didn’t allow another point, en route to a 35-7 win over the Penguins.

Williams was a catalyst in the unit’s bounce-back effort. He blew up a screen pass on YSU’s subsequent drive, dropping Penguins running back Dra Rushton for a loss of five yards, a big help in the Buckeyes getting off the field three plays later. Williams played the most defensive snaps of any Ohio State interior defensive lineman for the second week in a row, once again hitting or eclipsing the 30-snap mark.

He also registered five tackles for the second straight game. His 10 total tackles are tied for second on the team with linebacker Tommy Eichenberg. Williams had 21 total tackles all last season.

Like Williams, Burke is another Buckeyes defender from the 2021 class enjoying a fantastic start to the 2023 season. He also made a momentous play Saturday against YSU.

Burke became the first Ohio State cornerback since the 2021 season to intercept a pass. He did so on a 50-50 end zone shot in the third quarter. Burke went up with Penguins wideout Bryce Oliver and came down with the pick, a week removed from breaking up two passes at Indiana.

“A lot more comfortable in the system, a lot more comfortable with play calls,” Burke said, when asked about being in this Buckeyes defense for a second year. “I kind of have an idea what Coach Knowles is going to call. And I have an idea of where I need to be at the right time.”

Burke’s interception snuffed out a marathon YSU drive that spanned 11 plays, 43 yards and, most notably, seven minutes and 36 seconds to start the second half.

Earlier that defensive series, Eichenberg sacked Davidson for a loss of seven yards. Then the Penguins took a delay of game penalty, setting up a 2nd-and-22. Yet YSU still moved the chains, courtesy of two chunk completions.

YSU may have scored only seven points, but it was 7-of-15 on third down Saturday. Ohio State forced just three three-and-outs. Plus, the Penguins — like Indiana in Week 1 — clearly came in with the plan to chew clock.

That’s becoming a familiar challenge for Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, who is wrestling with the new NCAA rule that the clock doesn’t stop after first downs outside of the final two minutes in each half.

“Every time there was a third down, or you know a first down on defense, I was struggling because I knew where we were headed,” Day said postgame. “So it’s the defense’s job to hold the other team to not scoring very many points. And they’ve done that. I mean, three and seven, you can’t ask for much more. But in a game like this where the other team is trying to just milk the clock and limit your possessions, yeah, we would have loved to see us get off the field more.

“So we’ll look at the the film and see where that was and see if we can find out where the execution breakdowns were.”

Ohio State ended up with only nine possessions Saturday, not counting the Buckeyes’ kneel-down drive in the game’s waning seconds.

The Buckeyes’ offense was more efficient than it was in Week 1, but the defense — albeit still mostly impressive against YSU — couldn’t say the same.

That’s a high bar. But it’s a bar Burke and other defensive leaders have set for this Ohio State team.

“Silver Bullets have a standard,” Burke said.” We’re not trying to give up points. We’ve gotta go back on the film and really clean up some things.”

He later added: “We want to be top three — and be number one, honestly. We got to do the little things right. And we got to be able to take care of little details and just do our job as a whole.”

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