Columbus: With only three starters back on defense, the Ohio State football team was afraid it was going to have to play a game of, “What’s my line?” this season.
Worse yet for the Buckeyes, only preseason All-American defensive end Tyquan Lewis was returning up front on a team with the least experience in the nation.
Then starter Tracy Sprinkle was lost for the season with a knee injury in the opener against Bowling Green.
Heading into Saturday’s game at Wisconsin, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer is resting a little easier. The front four is a big reason the Buckeyes are undefeated and ranked second in the country through their first five games.
“Well, we’re closer than we’ve ever been because of our depth and recruiting and guys staying healthy, and you have to visualize if we had Sprinkle still, so we did lose a very good player,” Meyer said. “I don’t want to tag [the line] SEC because I haven’t been there in a while, but we’re very close. You’d like to have a rotation, and we’re very close to that.”
A big part of Meyer’s national championship in 2007 when Florida beat Ohio State 41-14 came from the Gators’ defensive front. Florida rotated fresh linemen in, wreaking havoc against a Buckeyes offensive line that had no chance.
It’s still early, but Ohio State looks like they’re mirroring that team with a number of linemen playing significant minutes.
The Buckeyes rank third overall in total defense (246.4 yards), fifth in passing defense (148.6) and seventh in rush defense (97.8 yards per game).
They remain the only defense that hasn’t allowed a rushing touchdown and are second in the nation in points allowed per game (10.8).
Not bad for a lineup that lost Joey Bosa to the San Diego Chargers and Adolphus Washington to the Buffalo Bills.
“With the defensive line, it’s about replenishing,” Lewis said. “We all buy into what Coach [Larry] Johnson says. We buy into what he’s coaching. What he preaches and what he shows us and what we display on film is what he’s doing with the defensive line.
“As far as what everyone is saying with how far we’ve come on the defensive line it has always been there. It’s just guys stepping up into bigger roles.”
The proof up front shows in just how close everyone is statistically.
Jalyn Holmes (15 tackles, 1 sack, 3½ tackles for loss) is a perfect complement to Lewis (13, 3, 4½) with Dre-Mont Jones (15 tackles) and Michael Hill (10) filling.
Sam Hubbard (12 tackles, 1½ sacks, 2½ tackles for loss) is a beast as is Robert Landers (11, 1, 7), but it’s the play of Nick Bosa (13, 2, 4) that really has Ohio State excited.
A true freshman, Bosa has worked his way into the lineup and shows no signs of leaving soon much like his brother did before him.
“He’s very strong,” Buckeyes defensive coordinator Greg Schiano said. “And he plays with great technique, which young guys usually don’t. Even if they do, they’ll usually be flopping around with their hands and feet not coordinated. He’s well trained.”
That front is frothing thinking about going into Camp Randall Stadium against a NFL pro-style offense that will test it right off the jump.
“We’ve been preparing for this week and for other weeks down the road where we see offenses like this,” Schiano said. “Now, it’s time to put it into action.”