Urban Meyer 'Wants More' Out of Ohio State's Overhauled Defense

By Patrick Maks on September 10, 2014 at 9:00 pm
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For Ohio State’s overhauled defense, a loss to Virginia Tech was a tale of two halves.

The Buckeyes weren’t at their best in a 35-21 defeat to the Hokies Saturday night. But they weren’t at their worst either. It all seemed symptomatic of a defense that’s still trying to find its footing after implementing a new system and new schemes in the offseason.

Still, the effort wasn’t enough to satisfy head coach Urban Meyer.

“We all want more,” he said Wednesday after practice. “We want more. I felt for almost three quarters we played very good defense and we didn’t close the deal.”

In the first half, Ohio State surrendered 7-of-10 third down conversions to Virginia Tech. It allowed 2-of-7 conversions in the final two quarters, but the Hokies’ ability to sustain drives ultimately doomed the Buckeyes. For whatever the reason, the defense seemed to break down at the game's most critical junctures. 

“The last drive in the second, the drive to put them up 28-21 was a heartbreaker," Meyer said of Virginia Tech's game-winning march down the field. "But I’m seeing improvement and I’m seeing a young secondary getting better.”

Which is among the team’s top priorities after finishing 112th in pass defense last season.

“We played some excellent snaps of football defensively Saturday night — just not for four quarters,” co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Chris Ash said Monday. “That’s the challenge that we have to get there sooner than later.”

Added Meyer earlier in the week: “For the most part I'm very pleased, but I want to get to the point at Ohio State where it's shut-down, lockdown defense, and let's keep it to seven points,” he said.

“I think we can make that happen as we continue to grow this year. There is still some new blood out there playing and there were far too many — when you meet with our defensive coaches — there were far too many mental mistakes. Effort was not an issue.”

Motivation shouldn’t be a problem, either.

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