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The Ohio State football team is coming off of a bye week, and they needed it after losing their first game of the season against Oregon the week prior.
It was a great game as it came down to the final seconds, but Ryan Day and the Buckeyes once again came up short when the lights were brightest. Ohio State still has all of their goals ahead of them, but they need to find a way to bounce back.
Against Oregon, one of the biggest problems that the Ohio State football team had was getting to the quarterback. The Buckeyes have loads of talent on their defensive line, but they didn't sack Dillon Gabriel even once. The Ducks were able to score 32 points, and they really should've scored even more.
Nick Saban talked about the lack of pressure that Ohio State got on Dillon Gabriel, and he knows that it's a problem for this Ohio State team.
“They didn’t affect the quarterback in any way … they didn’t ever pressure,” Nick Saban said on The Pat McAfee Show. “I mean, there was just four guys rush, which, you know, that’s kind of an antiquated way to play defense.
“And I’m not being critical of somebody’s philosophy at Ohio State, but there’s so much four-man rush simulated pressure, still able to play the coverages that you play, drop different people, rush somebody that is supposed to be dropping, drop somebody that’s supposed to be rushing, and these things are ways to get pressure without giving up anything in coverage.
“And I think in this day and age of football, you’ve got to go down that road a little bit or you’re going to be behind the 8-ball.”
Remember, Saban is one of the best college football coaches of all-time. He knows what he's talking about, and he was the coach at Alabama just last year. Listening to his criticism might be a good idea.
Ryan Day did acknowledge the comments that Nick Saban made, and he had a short response to address them.
“When it doesn’t work, it’s accurate,” Ryan Day said, according to a post from Andy Backstrom. “It’s not working.”
Ohio State football has to make a change
It's important that Ryan Day is aware that something isn't working, and he's aware that change is probably needed. That's an important thing for a college football coach to be able to do. Being stubborn about it typically backfires.
The good news for the Ohio State football team is that the Oregon game is done, and the Buckeyes should be able to cruise through the rest of their schedule. The Buckeyes still do play #3 Penn State and #13 Indiana, but they should be comfortable favorites for both of those contests, and it would be surprising if they lost either of those games.
Up next for the Buckeyes is Nebraska as the two teams will do battle this weekend. The Cornhuskers will travel to Ohio State, and the two teams will kick off at noon ET from Ohio Stadium, and the game will be airing on Fox. The Buckeyes are currently favored by 25.5 points.
