First Posted: 9/24/2014
COLUMBUS – When Ohio State’s football team heard the changes that were going to be made on defense this season, they liked what they heard immediately.
Three games into the season, the rest of the world is still waiting to see what those changes are.
Navy passed the ball only four times against the Buckeyes in the opener. Virginia Tech moved the ball better than expected the next week and Kent State was so overmatched it never had a chance to get into its offense.
All that will change on Saturday night, though, when Cincinnati comes into Ohio Stadium with an offense that will be by far the best OSU has had to defend against this season.
“They throw to all areas of the field. They’re very fast. They also have two tall guys on the outside and two good slot guys on the inside. They are a complete throwing package,” Ohio State cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs said. “We’re going to be tested like we have not been tested other than going against our team in practice.”
Ohio State ranked 110th nationally and 11th in the Big Ten in pass defense last season. It made average passing teams look good and good passing teams look great.
Something had to change and the changes started with being more aggressive, OSU’s players have been saying since last spring. They also have been saying they were instantly receptive to that approach.
“When you hear the word aggressive as a player that is one of those buzzwords you really get excited about,” linebacker Joshua Perry said.
“When Coach Fickell (co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell) was talking about how the new defense was going to be really aggressive, the linebackers said, ‘That’s all we need to hear.’ ”
Cincinnati quarterback Gunner Kiel has thrown 10 touchdown passes in two games to seven different receivers. The Bearcats rank ninth nationally in passing offense.
“He’s a smart quarterback and he has a really good arm,” Perry said about Kiel. “It’s a challenge. We have to be able to cover them but we also have to find some ways to get pressure on him.”
Perry said Ohio State’s struggles against the pass in 2013 were “a little bit disheartening.”
“At the end of the day, you just have to go out there and get the job done,” he said.
Notes:
• HALL OF FAME: Thirteen former Ohio State athletes, led by Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Troy Smith and cornerback Antoine Winfield, a 15-year NFL veteran, will be inducted into OSU’s Athletic Hall of Fame this weekend.
The other inductees are: Bob Vogel (football), Ralph Wolf (football), Russ Hellickson (wrestling coach), Nancy Darsch (women’s basketball coach), Rosiland Goodwin (track), Tami Smith (track), Tessa Bonhomme (hockey), Boaz Ellis (fencing), Ralph Guarasci (golf), Becky Kim (synchronized swimming) and Jeremy Wurtszman (tennis).
The new Hall of Fame members will be honored at a banquet on Friday night and recognized at Saturday’s football game against Cincinnati.
Smith is currently with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League but his status with the team is uncertain. He will come off the six-week injured list later this week and has lost his starting job.
He told the Montreal Gazette he thinks he has a future with the team and a future in football but admitted his situation “looks a little bleak right now.”
• ROOM TO IMPROVE: Tight end Marcus Baugh caught a touchdown pass on his first college catch in the Kent State game after being suspended the first two games of the season.
But OSU’s coaches let him know he still has a long way to go.
“Unfortunately the rest of it wasn’t up to our standards as far as the ability to block guys and continuously block guys and finish those plays,” tight ends coach Tim Hinton said.
“He obviously has a lot of talent and there a lot of good things ahead of him at Ohio State. But my expectations for him were a little different than his on that game day,” Hinton said.
• RAISING AWARENESS: Ohio State’s coaches will wear shoulder patches that say “Coach to Cure MD” on Saturday night to raise awarenss of muscular dystrophy.
Also, half-brothers Jacob Jarvis, 14, and Noah Studebaker, 7, will be on Ohio State’s sideline. They have been frequent visitors to OSU practices this season.
The brothers have Duchene muscular dystrophy, a form of the genetic disorder which generally worsens as a child gets older.
