Eleven Warriors

Indiana has the best passing offense in the B1G 10 and probably one of the top 3 offenses in the conference. I fully expect a better performance from the D going forward. Penn State is the one that scares me, as they are the best passing team lef ton our schedule, and its in Happy Valley

As unbearable for it is for some of the posters who say they are getting tired of seeing posts and topics on how the defense is playing, it is the same that we who talk about it have to read the same thing over and over again and it seems like we are repeating ourselves alot.

I've been saying to myself " after this performance the D will be ready next week" and it hasn't happened but only during the Michigan state game in my opinion..obviously what we are trying now isn't working so why not mix it up and see what happens..throw some of these highly touted freshman beasts out there and see what they got..

@BUCKEYEJASON - It's not necessarily "youth", but this defense is definitely "green".  Williams is off missing a season lost to injury, Klein and Sabino had largely underachieved up until this point, Howard's been decent up till now, and Johnson and Brown have struggled to find consistent playing time.  I think it's a bit of inexperience, coupled with the fact that a lot of these guys just aren't the elite players that we've become so accustomed to.

I agree Jason, also, wasn't it the offense that had a complete makeover this year and the defense is still pretty much what it has been for the past few years?  So why the claims by some of growing pains when there should be none?  I will state that there are new coaches on the D, but the concept is still the same.  It's not like OSU is moving to a 3-3-5 setup (thank god).

People are miffed at the defense, understandably - I can't recall very many teams hanging 49 on us. This is where people vent and I think it proves that OSU fans aren't lemmings.

Having said that, Urban assuredly doesn't need our expert advice to recognize the D needs help and now he's personally involved, great!

Hopefully we'll have a new major topic of discussion moving forward.

I think the only thing we expected to be green this year on defense was Curtis Grant at Mike..and maybe a little curious about the pass rush. Turns out that there was more to worry about them that.

I didn't know getting better was allowing the most offensive points this season. I didn't know 49 points as "stepping up" and getting better each week. Thank goodness Urban is charge and not some of you guys.

I've said it many times, why did anyone expect the horrible D from last year to be any better with the same players and mostly the same guys running the show on that side of the ball. Williams has played some but been hurt a lot.  We're depending on Klein to be a key part of the D, that says an awful lot about the state of the LB position this season.  Sabino finally was playing good and broke his leg .  

The recruits that were inherited by the staff aren't as good as they were advertised.  Both Grants may end up being solid contributors when all is said and done, but they look pretty bad out there right now.  No one in their right mind(in my opinion at least) can reasonably expect all of Urbans recruits from last season to come in as true freshman and dominate on D.  They are reeling in the talent, but it may take a little bit before we get the kind of D we're happy with.  That's the big reason I've said all along, 2014 is the year we have a shot to win it all, definitely not 2013. 

"Hey guys , I really wish people would stop talking about the defense. That's why I'm going to start a thread about it!"

For albert.  I would say that a part of the problem last year with the D was they were on the filed all day and they were flat out tired and as the season went on, beat up.  Who do I place blame on for the D being bad?  Bollman with his Run up the middle, try it again, pass 25 yards, then punt game plan is who I blame.

The offense will be just fine then Jason.  Dunn and Ball will be here in the backfield Rod will still be here too.  I'm pretty comfortable with the young Devin Smith will still be here.  Heurman and Vannet, will still be here. We'll have play makers like Marshall and Elliot who will be sophomores then.  Same with guys like Woodard and Burrows.  There are guys like Doran Grant who I have confidence will end up being very good players when all is said and done.  All these great young LB recruits from 2012 as well as Curtis Grant(I stillt hink he ends up being a good player) and Shazier will be here.  Everyone is going to have seasoning then too.  I believe 2014 will be the year.  Next year, we're going to have a lot of really young guys plugged into the line and still young guys at LB.  2014 those guys will all be Jr's and the electric playmakers on offense will be sophomores and oh yeah we'll have Braxton as a senior.

I've said it many times, why did anyone expect the horrible D from last year to be any better with the same players and mostly the same guys running the show on that side of the ball.-Btalbert

Good point BT, but typically experienced players returning the following year show growth and maturity. Their play typically is improved to some degree. Furthermore, Fickell was the defensive guy during his tenure and I thought he was distracted trying to run schemes on both sides of the ball last year. My assumption, that was wrong, was to take some responsibility away from Fickell and allow him to focus solely on the defense. I thought that, along with maturity and more experience, except at certain positions, would give us a better defense. That's why, at least for me.

Doesn't mean we can't expect it. this is OSU. the annual expectations is to be the best. Hence why some of us feel a NC is near.

@buckeyejason, I think the offense including the Oline will actually be better. If you want to say this team won't win it all in 2013, very feasible. But I think there are many positions that will be filled with this years freshmen and next years freshmen to be a formidable opponent to anyone in 2014. Like you said, Braxton will be a senior then. The Oline I believe will be better than this Oline. Not sure where you stand on Jalin Marshall and Zeke Elliott but I think they will be way better than the current Hall and Philly Brown. Rod, Dunn and Ball should fill Hyde's shoes within reason. The defense will obviously have more talent and there is a strong chance it won't be Grant, Reeves, Powell and Tanner starting in the secondary that year. Might actually be sophomores Burrows, Woodard, Thompson and hopefully Bell. That defense could be considerably deep!

It may take some imagination but 3 years of Urban recruiting should be considerably better than now! We are currently talking about how horrible the recruiting has been over the past couple of years. LB and Oline were extremely thin at recruiting. Hence why we have freshmen as backups instead of sophomores and juniors.

in warriners defense i thought this yrs oline would be putrid. to my delight hes done wonders with them

The thing about this O-line is that 4 of the starters have gotten a lot of game time experience before the season started. Hall, Mewhort, Linsley, and Norwell all have a good amount of reps under their belt. Not to knock their ability but I think playing in a quick offense/run oriented scheme has made it easier for them..where as If we were in an i or pro formation with the QB taking 4-5 step drops to pass downfield more..it would be much tougher for them to execute and hold their blocks. 

Warriner has done a great job though, I agree.