Minnesota head coach makes bold statement about Ohio State's defense

A perfect record remains intact.

On Saturday night, the Ohio State Buckeyes started slow, but vaulted its way to a massive 42-3 victory at home over the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Buckeys maintained the stellar defensive play that has them slotted as the No. 1 team in the nation, shooting their average points allowed per game down to 5.0 on the season.

The Buckeyes were led by quarterback Julian Sayin on the offensive end, who stayed atop the Big Ten in completion percentage as he went 23-of-27 through the air for 326 yards and three touchdowns. He connected with wideout Carnell Tate nine times for 183 yards and a touchdown.

However, it wasn't the offensive end that stood out the most.

The defense, which shut down the Golden Gophers after they got on the board first with a field goal, forced the passing game of Minnesota to sit at a measly 94 yards on 15-of-26 passing.

Minnesota head coach PJ Fleck, who's been with the program since 2017, gave the Buckeyes the flowers they deserved after such a lockdown performance.

“That's one of the best defenses I've ever seen in 13 years. ... It's not just the players and the depth – that's exceptional, that's off the charts," he said following the loss.

The Buckeyes have now held opponents to less than 10 points in each of their first five games of the 2025 campaign. That includes the then-No. 1-ranked Texas Longhorns and the then-top offense in the nation of the Washington Huskies. Each task the defense was faced with, they came out swinging and shut down the signal caller standing opposite of them.

Ohio State is being led by linebacker Arvell Reese and defensive end Caden Curry in tackles with 29 each, with Curry also leading in tackles for a loss with 8.5 and sacks with 3.0. The Buckeyes' defense has only found two interceptions this season, with those coming from the hands of safety Caleb Downs and defensive back Jermaine Matthews Jr.

This isn't a turnover-heavy team, they just do the little things right and play hard-nosed football.

Fleck continued that this Buckeyes team has adapted well to the college landscape and have formed a well rounded roster.

“Some nights you just get your butt kicked," he said. "You gotta give credit where credit's due. They dominated all three phases and won the line of scrimmage. ... That's a really good roster and that's a really good football team, and you need to credit them on doing what they do and the way they've adapted to college football their way.”

The adaptation of the team not only comes off the field in recrutiing and development, but also for in-game situations.

After the opening drive where Minnesota scored three points, they came out and changed the defense to match what the Golden Gophers were throwing their way.

“They put you in a corner and mix up so many different coverages and fronts," Fleck said. "After that first drive, I thought we had them in their base defense, their base coverages, and we had a really good beat on them. Then we came back out, and they changed it. That's really good coaching.”

Head coach Ryan Day and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia have themselves a really well-balanced team that is playing some of its best football at the right time.

The schedule only continues to grow in difficulty at this point in the season, with the Buckeyes clashing against nationally ranked Illinois next week and previously nationally ranked Penn State in three weeks.

With what the Buckeyes have put out onto the field this fall, the scarlet and grey are poised to keep winning. It'll be a continued watch to see if anyone can give them their first loss of the season, especially with the No.1 ranking placing a target on the team's back.