Ohio State changes defensive play-calling duties, expected to continue

Ryan Day was not going to let Ohio State‘s defensive problems carry on another week. After losing to Oregon, the Buckeyes head coach made adjustments to his defensive play calling. Defensive coordinator was moved up to the press box while secondary coach Matt Barnes was on the sidelines, calling plays in to the defense.

“Everybody has input on the gameplay, but Matt [Barnes] was calling it today,” Day said in his postgame press conference. “Kerry [Coombs] was up there, helping and doing a lot in-game adjustments and things like that.”

Buckeyes defense making progress

The improvements were noticeable throughout the game. The Buckeyes improved on shutting down the running game, allowing just 73 yards in their 41-20 win over Tulsa. A week ago against Oregon, they yielded 269 yards on the ground.

Ohio State had success forcing turnovers, too. The Buckeyes nearly had an interception in the first half, before potentially the worst overturn in college football review history ruled it an incompletion. But late in the fourth quarter, defensive back Cam Martinez picked off the Golden Hurricane quarterback and took it 61 yards for a touchdown.

“I thought we stopped the run better,” Day said. “We did mix up some of the looks, had a lot of conversations this week on different things. Thought we changed some things, just how we did things structurally on gameday. Again, we’ll look at the film and analyze that and see how that went. But I thought for the most part, they played with good energy, they prepared well during the week.

“Everybody was on the same page, there were some in-game adjustments that were done much better and efficient than the week before.”

Defensive play calling moving forward

Day is not going to break something that worked. While it took a while for the defense to find a rhythm Saturday, there were plenty of signs that showed the switch worked.

There’s a youth movement on the defensive side of the ball, too. The Buckeyes freshman were all over the field against Tulsa, as Denzel Burke, Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimoloau and Tyleik Williams all made huge plays in the win.

Having Coombs upstairs and Barnes on the sidelines could be a recipe for success for Ohio State.

“We’re gonna watch the film and assess it and go back in there,” Day said. “That’s kind of the way I see it moving forward right now as I sit here. Larry Johnson’s obviously very, very involved and has a lot of input on the game plan as well.

“So it’s a team effort over there. But I think the way the things went today was pretty smooth, and hopefully we can build on it.”