On paper, Ohio State's defense played a pretty decent game Saturday against Penn State, holding the Nittany Lions to just 10 points and 315 yards of total offense.
The Buckeyes did have one glaring deficiency, though: an inability to stop Penn State freshman running back Saquon Barkley.
Barkley, who had missed the Nittany Lions' two previous games due to injury, racked up 194 yards on the ground on 26 carries, good for 7.5 yards per rush. He had several explosive runs, most of which came to the outside where Ohio State had some difficulty setting the edge.
"Gave up a lot of yards rushing," head coach Urban Meyer said. "That's more alarming."
Penn State had just seven completions as Ohio State cruised to the 38-10 victory. The Nittany Lions gained just 120 yards as a team through the air.
But Penn State's ability to run the ball with such ease is certainly an issue the Buckeyes need to get fixed going forward.
Third-Down Defense Superb
While the overall run defense wasn't great, Ohio State's collective defensive effort on third downs couldn't have been much better: The Buckeyes held Penn State to just 1 for 11 on third downs in the game. The Nittany Lions were also 0 for 2 on fourth down.
"When it came down to it, I think they were 1 of 11 on third down and 0 for 2 on fourth down, the ball got down there but we made some big stops," Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell said.
A huge part of that was Ohio State getting Penn State into passing downs. When the Buckeyes knew a pass was coming, they were able to pin their ears back and really get after Christian Hackenberg and made life extremely difficult.
Ohio State recorded five sacks against the Nittany Lions, as Adolphus Washington led the way with a pair. Joey Bosa also had a huge game as he consistently applied pressure on Hackenberg all night long.
More Red Zone Touchdowns
Meyer demanded more from Ohio State inside the red zone and ever since that happened the Buckeyes have delivered.
Ohio State was 6 for 6 in the red zone Saturday against Penn State, five of those resulting in touchdowns. The week before against Maryland, the Buckeyes were also 6 for 6 in the red zone. So, if you're keeping score at home, that makes Ohio State a perfect 12 for 12 in red zone scoring opportunities with 11 of those chances resulting in touchdowns.
"That's a lot of times in there," Meyer said, "which is good."
J.T. Barrett has given Ohio State a different element deep in opponent's territory with his ability to run the ball. He's an exceptional read-option quarterback and against the Nittany Lions he put his full arsenal on display. All four of Barrett's touchdowns came from inside the red zone.
It's probably unrealistic for Ohio State fans to expect these perfect numbers in the red zone to continue, but the vast improvement in that department the last two weeks is certainly an encouraging sign.
