Scarlet Sunrise: Creating takeaways a priority for Buckeyes in Cotton Bowl

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Creating takeaways a priority for Buckeyes in Cotton Bowl

Jim Knowles understood this offseason that, at Ohio State, he didn’t need complex scheme and a feast-or-famine approach to effectively coordinate his defense.

He had the talent to simply put his players in positions to make plays.

For the most part, that mindset shift worked beautifully. Ohio State went from 24th to second in scoring defense, 14th to third in total defense and, most notably, tied for 115th to first in 40-plus-yard plays from scrimmage given up.

The year prior, an overly-aggressive and out-of-position Buckeyes defense allowed five touchdowns of 40-plus yards against Michigan.

But there’s a chance Knowles pivoted a tiny bit too hard in the other direction. Because when it mattered most at Michigan in this year’s regular season finale, Ohio State couldn’t get off the field in the second half, and especially on the Wolverines’ final, clock-churning drive. The Buckeyes desperately needed a tackle for loss, or any stop really, to get Michigan off schedule and ultimately force a punt.

Except, havoc has been hard to come by in 2023 for Knowles’ unit, a price his defense has had to pay for its mostly-positive philosophy change.

Ohio State is tied for 96th nationally with 64 TFLs and, more notably, tied for 124th with 11 takeaways.

“I think we could create more turnovers,” Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer said this week. “I think it’s just more focus on attacking the football maybe when we’re going in for tackles and attacking the ball when it’s in the air.”

Sawyer continued: “I think we can get better at creating turnovers. And I think there’s a lot of areas we can still improve on going into this game that we hope to accomplish in this game, and turnovers is definitely one of them.”

Only seven teams in the country this season have forced fewer turnovers than Ohio State.

Ohio State actually lost the turnover battle in five of its nine Big Ten games — against Indiana in Week 1, Purdue in Week 7, Penn State in Week 8, Wisconsin in Week 9 and Michigan in Week 13.

In other words, the Buckeyes have won the turnover battle a mere four times this season, and two of those instances were games against non-Power Five competition.

2023 OHIO STATE TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL	TURNOVERS	TAKEAWAYS	WIN THE TURNOVER BATTLE?
WEEK 1 vs. INDIANA	1	0	X
WEEK 2 vs. YOUNGSTOWN STATE	0	1	✓
WEEK 3 vs. WESTERN KENTUCKY	2	4	✓
WEEK 4 vs. NOTRE DAME	0	0	N/A
WEEK 6 vs. MARYLAND	0	2	✓
WEEK 7 vs. PURDUE	2	0	X
WEEK 8 vs. PENN STATE	1	0	X
WEEK 9 vs. WISCONSIN	3	1	X
WEEK 10 vs. RUTGERS	1	1	N/A
WEEK 11 vs. MICHIGAN STATE	0	0	N/A
WEEK 12 vs. MINNESOTA	0	2	✓
WEEK 13 vs. MICHIGAN	2	0	X

Ohio State’s 11 takeaways so far are its fewest it’s had in a season this century, according to Sports Reference. The Buckeyes are flirting with the 12 Ohio State notched in 2005.

“I think it just comes down to film study,” linebacker Steele Chambers said, “just knowing what play’s coming and being able to react off it and then maybe get there a step earlier. Maybe if you have a full focus more on maybe a punch or possibly picking off the ball, something like that. So I attribute to just knowing what’s coming.”

Cornerback Denzel Burke added: “Really, just doing your job and letting the plays come to you. It comes with a lot of film study, knowing where you’re at, anticipating routes and really just being proactive on the field.”

It’s a balance of being reactive, as Chambers said, and proactive, as Burke said, while not aimlessly guessing on plays.

You can’t force forcing turnovers, essentially.

“That’s a problem I run into sometimes,” Chambers explained. “You just got to play every play as its own. You can’t guess sometimes. I would just say, just reading your keys, having good eyes. I think that’s certainly something that can help.

He reiterated: “And just not guessing on plays.”

Creating a few takeaways could make the difference in Friday night’s Cotton Bowl against No. 9 Missouri, which is tied for 10th in the FBS in turnover margin per game (0.75) and tied for first in the SEC with 18 takeaways this year.

Game moving slower for a more consistent Devin Brown ahead of first Ohio State start

Consistency was the differentiating factor in the Ohio State quarterback battle this year. It’s what Devin Brown has been working on since he lost that longstanding and back-and-forth competition to Kyle McCord.

His teammates and coaches can tell.

“I have seen that evolve and grow,” Ohio State offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline said. “He’s done a really good job being on target and putting the ball not just to the right guy per se but instead of on the back hip, it is on the front hip, which is a major deal.”

For the full story, go here.

Quick hitters from Ryan Day, Eli Drinkwitz Cotton Bowl press conference

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz met with the media Thursday, a day before the Cotton Bowl and answered questions about not only the top-10 matchup but also the chaotic month of December in college football and the current landscape of the sport.

Both coaches displayed their respect for one another, and Drinkwitz — as usual — had a few jokes in the chamber on the eve of his program’s biggest game this decade.

Check out what they each said in the 30-minute press conference here.

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• Breaking down three Ryan Day quotes from final Cotton Bowl press conference

Counting down

Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 337 days

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