This is pretty much my feeling. You can have a cookie cutter defense against Western Kentucky and blow their doors off. You can do that type of thing against Purdue and win comfortably. You might be able to beat Penn State at home during a night game like that too.

But Oregon, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, and the like will carve you to pieces if you show up with exactly what it is they've seen on film all season. You've got to mix some things up and make something happen, even if like you said you drop a DE in the flat and bring a LB from a different angle... SOMETHING!

If there is hope that the defense won't be a liability down the stretch against good teams, then some changes better be on the horizon, because you show up at a neutral site to play Texas with that defense and you're cooked, you're giving up 50 points.

IDK what they can do schematically, do they overhaul the entire thing mid-season? Not sure you can do that, but if the DEs don't get some kind of a consistent pass rush going in these games there is no hope for a conference title, let alone a natty.

My feeling is that if the Buckeyes have what it takes to go the distance, the DL is only going to come up against better competition in the form of opposing OL's. There are teams right now that have much more NFL talent protecting their QB than Oregon.

That does not bode well for a DL that has been an embarrassment, at least at the edge rushing positions, so far this year.

I don't know as much as any of the coaches in the building making millions to coach the team, but I know I'm sick as shit of hearing "the defense just needed 1 or 2 more stops."

We hear that garbage every year... When are they going to get the 1 or 2 more stops? They needed those 1 or 2 more stops against the rival, Georgia, Clemson, Oregon, and Oregon... In every loss it seems like we fans are saying "if the defense could just get that 1 or 2 more stops."

Where are those stops and when does the defense get them against a top ranked opponent?

I commend you for doing the work, but I don't think any of us really needs to spend too much time dragging our disappointed asses over the charred, burning coals that remain of that performance.

I, instead, feel like you can sum up this entire performance by pointing to one player... Denzel Burke... dude just did not leave the team hotel for this game, and I think that his performance is the microcosmic example of the bigger problem as far as the defense just not showing up when they needed too.

It's so funny this topic comes up.

Last night, either I needed the trip down memory lane, or I just wanted something to cry about... I watched the '14 Big Ten championship game (condensed version) on YouTube and also watched the Sugar Bowl against Alabama.

Gosh I miss those teams. Those defenses with Bosa, Washington, Bennett, Miller, Lee, Grant, that secondary of Apple, Bell, Powell, and Grant... Those guys flew around, made all the open field tackles, and when they put their foot on someone's neck they didn't let off until they were sure they had crushed their throat.

I miss those days, but that also could be a sign of the times as far as college football. You don't see many teams that play any portion of their season the way that Buckeye team closed out the final four games of that season.

I'm still saying the rival needs to be looked at as a threat. I know who they look like on TV, but I'm telling you there is a formula there that if executed perfectly could beat any team. If the rival is healthy the last game of the year, and they're conditioned, and if the conditions aren't great as far as the weather, the rival could force the Buckeyes to fist fight in a phone booth for four quarters, and if they make it a brawl and the Buckeyes can't change the pace of the game the rival could wear them down and pound the rock in the fourth quarter.

I hate seeing articles and comments referring to the rival as being passe, I'm telling you, if that team executes on the right day and they're ready to go four quarters they're going to be very tough to beat, I don't care how many losses they have.

It's tough to doubt Jeremiah Smith on his claim here. The dude is balling out at an alarming rate and his counter part in Alabama is as well.

Man, I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels that.

I don't expect him to give away game plan stuff on a radio show, but when you just repeat yourself in every situation everyone is going to believe you just don't care.

You do make a good point. I guess Williams, for me just didn't play his way out of potentially being picked in the first round, but he didn't help himself in anyway to become a lock. 

I appreciate and respect LJ so much for his time at Ohio State, but I am firm in my belief that the DL and OL could probably both use different voices in those rooms. It's not that he hasn't done well, I just think the game maybe passed him by. 

Tyliek displayed his draft stock by simply not showing up for a game and seeing how weak the interior was without him vs. with him. He's a difference maker and should be a first round pick if he can stay healthy down the stretch.

Egbuka is a lock.

I think Burke just played his way out of the first 2 rounds.

As far as hitting their goals, Penn State is now a must win game, period. They can beat Penn State, and I think a rematch on a neutral field against Oregon goes differently, assuming between now and then they clean up the stuff they're in control of.

A few days removed I'm seeing the game against Oregon like this... On the road in a small, but very difficult place to play, Ohio State did just about everything they could to wind up getting pounded on and they had a very good chance to win it at the end.

Assuming the Buckeyes see Oregon again in the Big Ten I do have a lot of faith that game can and should go differently.

Every week they need to get better, and Penn State is now do or die.

The only unit on the defense that's consistent is the safeties. Downs is as advertised and I think ransom has made a decent accounting for himself. 

Otherwise the defense is a soft mess

He's really good... if your team has no capability whatsoever to throw the ball 

This aged appropriately 

Edge rushers are a joke. JT and sawyer combine for 5 total tackles? Where's Larry Johnson been the last few years?

Denzel Burke got smoked. I have no words, that was like watching his entire sophomore year. That was just hard to watch.

Ryan Day is overrated and this team was obviously built with money and it all comes down to hype. Caleb Downs is the real deal, the rest of the defense couldn't stop a slow nose bleed. 

I wouldn't sleep on Oregon at all. NFL talent on the roster and a solid coaching staff. The 

Wear whatever you want, just go out there and play pissed and whip their asses 

They look pretty sharp. That's the thing about Oregon, I know they have a "base color scheme" but they literally do every damn color inexplicably so it's hard to say what would be the right combo for a black uniform. They'll look good getting their asses beat in them, that's for sure.

I do love seeing the team get some of those defensive accolades... But let's wait and make sure this defense is elite against an offense that can score a lot of points? This Saturday should do the trick. 

What a massive game this is. Welcome the Big Ten, Oregon. Time to get your asses beat.

I don't think as much pressure is on the back seven in comparison to the DL. The corners are elite, they can cover anyone, but no one can be left on an island forever. The DL has to get home and be disruptive.

Ugh.. This is the nonsense I can't stand even more so than "fans" reaching out to players. Making an 18 year old kid feel some kind of way about a vice you chose to engage in? Get a life.