No one player stood out much from the rest on Ohio State’s defense against Minnesota.
That might sound like an insult. It’s not. It’s the complete opposite, actually. Every Golden Gopher run play saw a swarm of Silver helmets speeding to stuff it. Every pass play after the Gophers’ first drive seemed to have a different defensive back stopping the completion.
It was total team dominance from a defense that has looked head and shoulders above any other through five games of action in 2025.
“I think you sink back to the level of training, I think we train that way in camp, in spring ball,” linebacker Sonny Styles said. “Coach (Matt) Patricia has kind of instilled that mindset into us. We're always one out there. And we're just going out there as 11 brothers. I think you see it out there when guys are making plays.”
Minnesota marched downfield 66 yards and kicked a field goal on the game’s opening possession. The rest of the game, the Golden Gophers had 96 total yards of offense to end with 162. For reference, the No. 1 total defense in the country entering Saturday, Missouri, surrendered an average of 203.8 yards in its first four games. Minnesota only had two more first downs (seven) than it had three-and-outs (five) against Ohio State after that first drive.
The Buckeyes created a respectable number of negative plays, logging seven tackles for loss and one sack as a defense, though not the nine TFLs and six sacks they piled up against Washington. But Minnesota had nowhere to run the ball, and quarterback Drake Lindsey was under constant duress.
“I feel like we're on the attack,” Styles said. “I think we know that the different looks we give the offense, it just kind of keeps them on their heels, keeps them a little bit confused. So it just feels good. I think we're all confident in what we're doing. We all know our jobs. And I think we're really just growing in terms of playing football.”
The Gophers finished with 68 rushing yards on 25 carries, 2.7 per attempt. They had just one run longer than 5 yards in the first three quarters when the game was still in question.
Ohio State stuffed Minnesota on a key 4th-and-1 in the second quarter, a perfect example of the unified, team defense the Buckeyes drove through Minnesota’s heart all night. Nose guard Kayden McDonald walled up the Gopher center and guard as fellow defensive tackle Will Smith Jr. crashed with Styles down the line. Defensive end Beau Atkinson swept the tight end down the line and safety Caleb Downs came flying in to pin running back Darius Taylor short of a first down.
Because Minnesota couldn’t run the ball effectively, it often found itself behind the chains, where Ohio State’s pass rushers got to tee off. With linebackers Arvell Reese and Styles often showing blitz but mixing in whether they go or bail, it created constant chaos up front for Minnesota. Reese recorded the Buckeyes’ lone sack but there were many more hurries and hits of Lindsey.
“Our goal is to get you to third and long. That's where we get to have fun,” Styles said. “We get to call games, stuff like that. You start to get blitzes coming. And it's awesome. Especially me and Arvell getting to work together. We're so interchangeable, I rush you drop, you rush I drop.”
After settling for a field goal in a goal-to-go situation at the start of the game, Minnesota did manage one more sustained drive in the fourth quarter, its only other drive of the game that went 20 yards or longer down the field. It reached the Ohio State 23-yard line, then missed a 41-yard field goal attempt. The Buckeyes continue to be the best red zone defense in college football, on top of being the best defense overall. Eight times this season, opponents have reached the red zone against OSU. None of those trips resulted in a touchdown.
“You get down there, you got to button up, tighten up a little bit,” Styles said. “I think we were a little frustrated that we let them drive down the field a few times. But you get down to the red zone, a team can't score, it’s going to be winning football.”
That’s the point that Ohio State’s defense is at. Frustration at giving up drives. Not points, of which, again, Minnesota only managed three. The Buckeyes have only given up 25 points total in five games, a number that most teams across college football have surrendered in a single game at some point already this year.
Defensive coordinator Matt Patricia is another key reason for the defense's dominance. He’s placing the Silber Bullets in their most lethal positions and, as evidenced by his unit’s tendency to get better as the game goes on, making elite in-game adjustments.
“The football knowledge side of it,” Styles said of how Patricia has boosted the defense. “I think guys are really starting to understand the game. It’s bigger than just understanding the play and understanding your job, like, understanding what the offense is trying to do, the defenses they’re trying to attack, their mindset throughout the game.”
From front end to back end, Ohio State’s 11 warriors played as a united army against Minnesota. None stood clearly above the rest. But that’s the greatest compliment to give them from another dominant outing of a defense that looks more generational by the game.
“That comes from all the tough times we went through in practice,” nickel Lorenzo Styles Jr. said. “The practices are kind of harder than the game. So going through the weight room, training in the winter, going through ups and downs as a defense, I think it's brought us closer together. And then even through the season going through some, like you saw, they brought it all the way down there and we had to get a stop. So just knowing we can do that, we've done it before, just continually gives us confidence.”
