I think there was one huge similarity between the 2013 season and the 2018 season. Obviously the loss that kept up from the postseason in 2013 was vs a MSU team who went 13-1 while the loss in 2018 was a blowout against an unranked opponent, but the two teams had one parallel that really stood out to me.

The parallel I'm referring to is the fact that each team had an elite offense (both finished the season in the top-5 in total offense), but an unreliable/inconsistent defense. The difference is, of course, that the 2013 offense relied heavily on the run game while the 2018 offense was centered around the passing attack.

In 2013, Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde running behind what was, in my opinion, the best run-blocking offensive line in the Urban Meyer era was nearly unstoppable. The defense just was never able to be as good as they should've been with the talent they had. The defense looked good against weak competition, but Northwestern, TTUN (who didn't even have a good offense that season), MSU, Clemson, and even ILLINOIS of all teams were all able to move the ball without much of a problem against us. 

2018 allowed us to watch the best quarterback in tOSU history. The O-line was good in pass protection, and we had a good group of receivers with plenty of depth. Unfortunately, our defense consistently allowed big plays, and we dealt with more pass interference/defensive holding penalties than I can count.

We've also had some teams where the offensive side of the ball was our weakness, and the defense was why we won games and had a high ranking- the 2016 team is the most team we've had where this was the case, as far as I can remember.

I know this post is a little random, but it was something I often thought about this season. Bottom line is that I think both the 2013 and 2018 teams would've been the best in the country had their defenses been up to the typical tOSU standard. I really don't wanna have to watch another one of our teams be in the top 5-or-10 in the country on one side of the ball, while the other side of the ball takes us out of contention. This roster is gonna be so loaded with talent that there's no reason we shouldn't make the playoff, if not win it all.

Day knew he had to make coaching changes on the defensive side of the ball and we have to trust that all of the moves he made were with great reason. There are never any guarantees in football, largely due to how common injuries are. But if this team remains healthy for the most part, I don't see why we wouldn't beat any team in the country in 2019