Can Ohio State’s Defense Repeat Its Ballhawking Ways in 2015?

By Tim Shoemaker on July 1, 2015 at 10:10 am
Tyvis Powell and Vonn Bell return in 2015.
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Ohio State safety Vonn Bell had a phrase he used last season when he garnered an interception. Bell referred to those takeaways as “money balls.”

If the interceptions were actually worth any sort of cash consideration, Bell would have been richer than any other Buckeye on defense in 2014. Bell’s six picks led all Ohio State players.

“It’s just having a knack for the ball,” Bell said last season. “I always wanted to be a ballhawk and always wanted to make plays for this defense.”

But the Buckeyes as a team would have fared pretty well, too. Ohio State recorded 25 interceptions during last season’s national championship run. That number was first in the Big Ten (by a wide margin) and fourth nationally. Only Louisville, Louisiana Tech and TCU recorded more team interceptions as each of those programs had 26. Michigan State was second in the Big Ten in interceptions as the Spartans recorded 18 as a team.

Ohio State's Returning Interception Leaders
PLAYER INTS
VONN BELL 6
TYVIS POWELL 4
ELI APPLE 3
DARRON LEE 2
JOSHUA PERRY 1
RAEKWON MCMILLAN 1
ERICK SMITH 1

The 25 interceptions were quite the jump from the 16 Ohio State recorded in a 2013 season where its pass defense was one of the worst in the Big Ten. The large jump begs a couple of questions: Is it sustainable? Can Ohio State’s defense force a similar number of turnovers via the interception in 2015?

Well, for starters, we have to look at what the Buckeyes return in the secondary — the position group which the majority of interceptions take place. Of Ohio State’s 25 interceptions, 18 came from the four starting members of the secondary. Bell led all players with six, Doran Grant had five, Tyvis Powell added four and Eli Apple had three. Non-starting safety Erick Smith also had an interception last season.

The only member of that group not returning in 2015 is Grant, the lockdown corner who was a fourth-round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers. But Bell, Powell and Apple all return and Ohio State has plenty of talented cornerbacks who will step in and see plenty of snaps.

The Buckeyes’ linebackers also had their fair share of takeaways, recording five interceptions on the season. Darron Lee led the way with two, while Joshua Perry, Raekwon McMillan and Curtis Grant each nabbed one of their own.

In total, Ohio State returns 18 of its 25 picks from 2014.

Obviously, it’s impossible to predict these types of things as there are multiple factors that go into a team’s interception total throughout a season. But with the amount of players returning on the Ohio State defense, a repeat in this particular statistic seems like a strong possibility. 

“Going off last year and seeing the success we had late in the season, basically we’re just coming out here and trying to enhance it and get that better," Powell said during spring practice. "Everybody’s coming out here playing with more confidence."

Powell's running mate at safety, the "money ball" man himself, agreed.

“I agree with that, we’re playing with more confidence and we’re getting faster to the ball," Bell said. "It’s a lot of guys that have got a year under their belt and they really feel like they’re in the mix now so everybody knows what they’re doing and I think we’re playing faster.”

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