Ohio State football: 5 reasons the Buckeyes will demolish Tulane
By Alec Hartman
4. The Buckeyes’ defense will shut down the Green Wave
Though it may not have seemed like it, the Buckeyes’ defense played well considering the circumstances. The TCU offense played directly into Ohio State’ weaknesses and still could not do enough on offense to stay in the game. TCU spread their skill players out wide and gave them plenty of space to operate against the Buckeyes’ secondary.
As what was reasonably expected, the Buckeyes conceded a few big plays to the TCU offense. It didn’t take long as TCU quarterback Shawn Robinson connected on a deep ball for 42 yards halfway through the first quarter. Though it was an amazing one-handed catch made by the receiver against good coverage, the Buckeyes’ secondary has been known to give up such plays.
The next big play came on a broken defensive containment in the second quarter when TCU running back Darius Anderson broke a long run to the outside for a whopping 93-yard touchdown run. Ohio State will learn sooner or later not to bunch up on the line too much or an explosive runner like TCU has will break free for huge yardage without a defender back to contain. This problem was exactly the worry coming into this game as TCU thrives on getting chunk yardage in space.
The Buckeyes’ defensive line also did a great job last weekend, per usual. The best defensive front in college football stepped up and made things incredibly difficult for their quarterback to get time to look down the field. TCU made it incredibly obvious that they did not want their quarterback to stand in the pocket for more than half a second due to the Buckeyes’ prolific pass rush.
In fact, one of the first times Robinson actually stepped back to pass instead of just throw a quick screen pass he was strip-sacked for a touchdown by Nick Bosa. The TCU offense was pressed more than ever to make quick throws in less than three seconds or they knew trouble was coming. TCU did everything possible to keep the ball moving up the field to minimize idle time in the quarterback’s hands.
Tulane ranks 67th in the nation in yards per game. Having success against the Buckeyes would require the Green Wave to get ahead of the chains. That may be difficult though as their run game is also weak at 63rd in the nation. Their offense is led by senior quarterback transfer from Kansas State Jonathan Banks.
Ohio State recorded three sacks and seven tackles for loss. They forced two turnovers as well in which both resulted in scores for the Buckeyes. The consistency of the Buckeyes’ defense is fueled by depth which they have plenty of. Expect the Buckeyes’ defense to cause many problems for the Green Wave on Saturday.