Joel Klatt: Something needs to change for Ohio State's defense

Ohio State‘s defense was less than ideal in its 32-31 loss against Oregon this past weekend. On Thursday, FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt identified where the Buckeyes’ defense must improve.

“It felt like Ohio State was playing really good defense, and then, bang, it would be a big play,” Klatt said. “You’ve got to go back to the drawing board, and you’ve got to understand, ‘Well, why, why are these big plays happening against Ohio State’s defense and for Oregon’s offense?’

“There were a few different issues for Ohio State’s defense. No. 1, I would say that it was not a great tackling night for the Buckeyes.”

Ohio State had 11 missed tackles against Oregon. Its mistakes added up, with Oregon amassing 252 offensive yards on only seven passing plays. With their 16 other completions, the Ducks finished the game with 341 passing yards and 496 total yards.

Moreover, Ohio State’s inconsistent tackling lowered their chances of knocking the ball loose. In the loss, Ohio State committed two turnovers, both of which were fumbles. In comparison, Oregon never turned the ball over.

While the missed tackles were detrimental to OSU’s defensive efforts, they weren’t the team’s only mistakes.

“They did not adjust the structure when Oregon started to attack what was clearly a weakness in structure — their defense in the run game, and that was to the short side of the field, in that B gap,” Klatt said. “The last thing was just they didn’t get enough pressure on the quarterback.

“When you don’t get enough pressure on the quarterback, your defensive backs will be beat. There’s not a defensive back on the face of the planet that can cover for long as long as Oregon was giving Dillon Gabriel to throw. There just was not enough pressure on him.”

Ohio State didn’t record a single sack in the loss. For reference, the Buckeyes entered the game with 17 sacks, ranking in the top 20 in the nation. Worse, OSU only tallied two tackles for loss against the Ducks, knocking them back just three total yards.

With a bye this weekend, Ohio State will have a chance to review the game film and learn from its mistakes. After all, the Buckeyes’ season is far from over.

With three ranked opponents left in the regular season and a budding Nebraska team up next, OSU has plenty of opportunities to come back from its heartbreaking loss to Oregon.