Jim Knowles Updates: Defense Needs To Step It Up Against Michigan State

COLUMBUS — Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles met with reporters on Tuesday to discuss the state of the Buckeyes’ defense. He recapped the win over Marshall and answered questions about this weekend’s matchup with Michigan State. The highlights of everything he had to say can be found below.

On the linebackers: Overall, pleased. “They know the system. They operate. They can make checks. They see things happen before they happen. They’ve been matching up pretty well in pass coverage.” “Just get better at tackling. It’s a science. You never practice it live.” Even when you make the tackle, is it a 5-yard gain or 3-yard gain. So they need to continue working on that to get more physical tackles and more speed of the game tackles. Sonny Styles and Cody Simon have established themselves as the top two guys.
On the DTs Saturday: “I thought Tywone showed up. Definitely. Flashed a couple of times in terms of being athletic and running to the ball.” Kayden McDonald is interesting because he’s very talented and plays hard. It’s a matter of consistency with him and predictability. He has shown the ability to “mess things up in there.”
They are hopeful Tyleik Williams plays this week. They haven’t discussed who might start in place of him.
Why no defensive player of the game this past week? “You’ve got to speak truth.” They had some champions but nobody who played to a Silver Bullet level of defense.
It is not an option to play Arvell Reese at Will. “He’s on a structured course to greatness.”
Only five explosive plays given up over three games is a big deal. That has a lot to do with the secondary keeping things in front of them.
When did the lightbulb go on for Arvell Reese: Preseason. “A blinking light. So we’re just trying to get that thing to stay on.”
You always want to stay multiple when calling a game. But when you create new things every week, that’s not as good as already having an established tool box.
Sonny Styles had the green dot against Marshall. “I think that can kind of flip back and forth.” The more experienced both he and Cody Simon get with it, the better. “I think that can remain fluid. The goal is to kind of rotate it around.”
Caleb Downs is a professional. He has a seriousness to his work. He’s coachable. He makes mistakes but he fixes things. The slight nuances that they do week to week, he picks up on and is serious about them.
Is it a good thing to have some struggles last week to keep guys alert for what’s to come? “No, it’s never a good thing.” But it’s a learning experience that they can correct.
Were you frustrated Saturday? “Yeah, a little bit. Our expectation has to be domination all the time.” “We did what we were supposed to do” in the second half.
How do you balance when a guy makes a play out of his gap? Is that good or bad? If you do what you are supposed to do but then you flash outside of your gap and make the play 100% of the time “I’m cool with that.”