Buckeye Defense Stymies Toledo, Despite Missing Three Starters

On a night where the Buckeye offense erupted for 77 points, the defense largely played well.

Author:
Brendan Gulick
Sep 17, 2022 10:51 PM EDT

In this story:

Look, there are going to be a lot of people who are looking for something to complain about today and the easy target is going to be the defense.

To those people: stop over-reacting.

Dequan Finn is maybe the best skill position athlete that Ohio State has faced so far in three games this year and he was always going to make a few plays with his legs.

In fact, I'll say right now that I'd be surprised if he were still playing for the Rockets next year. I think a quarterback-desperate team will pick him up in the portal. He's a very good player - reminds me a lot of the way Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. played for Indiana against the Buckeyes in 2020.

I thought Ronnie Hickman played really fast, which was critical against Finn. He also had a perfect read on Dequan Finn's pass over the middle to open the second half, which he picked off for Ohio State's first takeaway of the season.

Tommy Eichenberg and Jack Sawyer played really hard too.

It was a bit concerning to see Mike Hall Jr. not on the starting defensive line, as he's arguably been Ohio State's best defensive player so far this season.

The secondary took a couple of lumps and that's going to be a sticking point on film for the coaching staff.

Cam Brown got torched on the opening drive on the 50-yard touchdown pass from Dequan Finn to Thomas Zsiros.

Then with 10:23 left in the third quarter, Finn was flushed way out of the pocket and threw up a prayer before he got leveled by Eichenberg. Denzel Burke got caught behind Jerjuan Newton, who scored a bit of a miracle touchdown. Still, Burke has made a few highlight reels for the wrong reasons the last couple weeks.

When the Buckeyes chose to punt from Toledo's 39-yard line in the third quarter, Jesse Mirco pinned Toledo back on its 1 yard line. The D responded with a terrific 3-and-out there.

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