What We Learned from Ohio State defensive assistant coaches

COLUMBUS — Jim Knowles was hired as Ohio State's defensive coordinator last year after serving as the architect of an Oklahoma State defense that went from 97th in points per game allowed his first year on the job in 2018 (32.5) to ninth during 2021 (18.1), his last year in Stillwater. He used a scheme-intensive and aggressive safety-driven 4-2-5 system to turn a host of former three-star prospects into a top-10 defense that had the Cowboys contending for a spot in the College Football Playoff. It took him a year to understand that he didn't need to follow the same blueprint at Ohio State.