Buckeyes’ Safeties Mean Danger For Opposing Quarterbacks

Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles calls this Buckeye defense “safety-driven,” and right now it’s being driven better than it has been all season long. And to make matters worse for the opponents, the quarterback doesn’t ever know which of the safeties is actually driving the defense from play to play.

Sophomore free safety Caleb Downs gets the attention. He is a Unanimous All-American who is third on the team with 72 tackles and tied for sixth with 6.5 tackles for loss. Fifth-year senior Lathan Ransom has 69 tackles on the season and is tied with defensive end Jack Sawyer for third on the team with 8.0 tackles for loss. He also happens to lead the Big Ten in forced fumbles (3).

The third member of the trio is nickel Jordan Hancock, who could be called the linchpin in all of this if all three weren’t in fact linchpins in their own right. Hancock’s ability to go from nickel to deep safety allows Jim Knowles’ defense to present any number of pictures to a quarterback.

Think of them as ever-changing billboards that only give bad advice to opposing quarterbacks.

“Yeah, it helps a lot. It gives us a lot of different looks,” Hancock explained. “It’s awesome. I can go down and play man. Caleb can play man. Lathan can play man. It’s awesome. They don’t know what defense we’re in because it all looks the same. But when the ball snaps, it’s a totally different picture, and that’s kind of what we pride ourselves on. That’s why we watch a lot of film. A lot of walk-throughs is why we can play at a high level in this cause.”

When there is a difference between what a quarterback thinks he sees before the snap and what is actually happening after the snap can cause him to hold onto the ball longer than the play is intended. When that happens, the defensive line can then get to the quarterback. That’s one of the things that happened in the Rose Bowl when the Buckeyes sacked Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel eight times.

Over the second half of the season, Knowles has also started to employ Caleb Downs more as a linebacker in the middle of the defense. He’s basically been enabled to just go and make plays, and there are few better players equipped to do so.

“He’s just really good. Makes me look good,” Knowles said. “I’ve done that throughout my career with different players, more with players from the front than the back end. At Oklahoma State, when you had to defend against the explosive play all the time, is really when I created that structure. It just makes sense when you have a guy like Caleb Downs to get him in the middle of the action.”

Why didn’t they use it earlier in the season?

“Didn’t need it, I guess,” Knowles said. “We’ve played pretty well over the course of my time here. It’s my job to pull these things out when we need them. I think we didn’t have a great game against Oregon the first time. That led me to say, ‘okay, what can I do now to change things up?’ That’s one of them.”

It hasn’t just been the Ohio State defense that has benefited from having Caleb Downs, Lathan Ransom, and Jordan Hancock running security. The Ohio State offense has also had to find ways to deal with it in practice, and they’ve gotten better because of it.

“Yeah, it is difficult. So you’re not sure who was who when they’re playing three safeties and how they fit and where they are and what they do,” Buckeye offensive coordinator Chip Kelly explained. “One of the things that has made us good offensively is we’ve had to go against those guys every day. I think the fact that Caleb and Jordan and Lathan can move around like that and they have versatility, they can present some different pictures for quarterbacks than some other teams.”

Up next for the Buckeyes on Friday night in the Cotton Bowl is a Texas offense led by former Buckeye quarterback Quinn Ewers. Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian is one of the best offensive minds in football. Together, this is a formidable tandem for any defense to handle.

Jim Knowles’ safety-driven defense will be put to the test once again.

And once again, an opposing quarterback is going to have to keep trying to figure out who is actually doing the driving from play to play.

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