Defensively Speaking: Northwestern

While Saturday’s weather conditions certainly impacted Ohio State’s offense, they likewise affected Ohio State’s defense, as the conditions forced Northwestern to employ a unique offensive gameplan with a lot of wildcat looks. Let’s talk about the good and the bad of what we saw from Jim Knowles’ defense on Saturday.

In coverage, Knowles called for a heavy dose of Cover 1 (man coverage with one high safety responsible for the deep middle of the field) with some Cover 3 Buzz mixed in. However, early in the game, Knowles was using a lot of Tampa-2 coverage, particularly on Northwestern’s lone touchdown…