Ohio State Notebook: 'They make you earn everything that you get'

No Free Lunches

Ohio State hosts Iowa this week, which means quite a chess match between Buckeye offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and Hawkeye defensive coordinator Phil Parker.

Parker has been at Iowa since 1999 when head coach Kirk Ferentz took over, and has been the DC since 2012. In that time, not a lot has changed. Some would see that as an advantage for an opposing offense, but opposing offenses don’t necessarily see it that way.

“Well, Phil’s been there for a long time, and I think they really, truly teach their system and they develop the players,” Kelly said on Tuesday. “They do an unbelievable job of developing players. And really, I think it starts in recruiting for them, so they know exactly what all 11 guys’ skill sets are and what are required for them to execute the defense that they deploy each week.”

Iowa comes into this game with a 3-1 record. Their lone loss was a come-from-ahead 20-19 defeat to in-state rival Iowa State. The Hawkeyes are allowing just 13.8 points per game and are currently 18th in the nation in total defense (272.8 yards per game). They are a model of consistency defensively, and they do it without securing many blue-chip recruits.

“They do a great job identifying who fits into their scheme and then continue to develop those guys along the course of their careers there. And I think they are fundamentally sound. I think they’re really, really well coached,” Kelly said. “It’ll be the best-coached defense I think that we’ll face all season long, and that’s the challenge of going against them.”

Even with over a decade of film to work from when it comes to the Iowa scheme, the Hawkeyes rarely beat themselves and require an offense to be precise with their attack and execution.

“They make you earn everything that you get,” Kelly said. “There’s not going to be an easy one. So it’s a challenge that I think you get excited about if you’re a real football guy going against somebody like Coach Parker.”

Knock Back A Few

While most of the discussion when it comes to this weekend’s game between Iowa and Ohio State will center around the Buckeye offense vs. the Hawkeye defense, there is still the not-so-small matter of Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson, who is currently No. 2 nationally in rushing yards per game (171.3).

Johnson has rushed for over 100 yards in all four games this season, and is coming off of a 206-yard outing two weeks ago at Minnesota. He leads the nation with 12 rushes of 20+ yards and seven rushes of 30+ yards. Johnson not only runs for the tough yards, but he can turn them into easy yards.

“They’re just doing a great job of creating seams for him,” Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said on Tuesday. “He’s a fantastic back. Downhill, breaks tackles. So, I just see that they’re creating formations and ways to make it hard on the defense to maintain your proper position, and then they get guys out of whack formationally, and then he’s able to crease it.”

The Buckeyes come into this game with the No. 3 rush defense nationally, allowing just 61.8 yards per game and 1.84 yards per carry. They are one of four teams that have yet to allow a rush of 20 yards this season (Iowa, Ole Miss, Army). Yet, this has not been a perfect defense.

“Our linebackers need to continue to become better tacklers,” Knowles said.

But not just better tacklers, more impactful as well.

“Particularly this week, knock-back tacklers,” Knowles said. “I mean, these guys are the kings — this running back — turning a two-yard gain into a four- or five-yard gain, which then leads to second-and-five, which leads to third-and-two. So we need to continue to work on our tackling with an attitude of knocking people back.”

Meet The Press

The Michigan State offense had six explosive plays (rushes of 10+ yards, passes of 15+ yards) in the first half of last Saturday’s 38-7 Buckeye win. Five of those plays came through the air.

This Ohio State secondary was expected to be among the nation’s very best this season, but the pass defense was successfully attacked early on. The attacks didn’t last, but some of the questions did.

One of those questions is why the Buckeyes were playing so much off-coverage with their cornerbacks when they are as talented as they are.

“Yeah, the corners off press, that’s a constant thought, constant adjustment,” Jim Knowles said. “Again, we’ve been solid on explosive plays, so I think you can’t forget that because that wins games.”

Knowles isn’t wrong. The Buckeyes are the only team in the nation to not allow a 30-yard pass play this season. They are forcing offenses to drive down the field station to station, counting on the fact that the defense will make a key play or the offense won’t be able to execute over the course of an entire drive.

To this point, Knowles has been right. But he also agrees that it’s time to get more aggressive.

“The answer to your question is, do we need to be pressed more? Yes, we do,” he said. “And we need to keep working that in, but we’ve got to balance it.”