Ohio State had one of its most thrilling victories in recent memory on Saturday as a Chip Trayanum touchdown with one second left lifted Ohio State to a 17-14 win over Notre Dame.
The Buckeyes defense had another stellar performance, holding the Fighting Irish scoreless in the first half and to just 14 points in the game.
Buy Buckeyes TicketsThe unit did an excellent job of playing bend but don’t break type of defense as Notre Dame was able to move the ball but ultimately stalled out on all of their first five drives with two massive stops on fourth down and one.
To date, the defense has given up a total of just 20 points in the first three games and this performance against a good Notre Dame solidifies the Buckeyes as one of the nation’s top defenses.
With that in mind, will we break down each defensive position group’s performance using Pro Football Focus grades for each player. While PFF grades aren’t the end all be all, it is a great tool to break down individual players’ performance.
Edge Rushers
Starter: J.T. Tuimoloau
PFF Grade | 68.3 (65 snaps)
Stats | 4 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 4 pressures on 25 pass rush snaps
Starter: Jack Sawyer
PFF Grade | 68.8 (65 snaps)
Stats | 0 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 4 pressures on 24 pass rush snaps
Other: Caden Curry
PFF Grade | 60.0 (1 snap)
Stats | 0 pressures on 1 pass rush snap
What It Means
This was a tough matchup for J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer as Notre Dame’s offensive tackles are very good. Ultimately, they each had a solid performance with both playing all 65 snaps with four pressures each.
Tuimoloau made two big plays late in the game when he blew up Notre Dame’s first down run in the backfield for a four-yard loss and batted down a screen pass on the next play. This was massive as it ultimately led to Notre Dame being forced to punt giving the Buckeye offense a chance to drive for the win.
Interior Defensive Linemen
Starter: Tyleik Williams
PFF Grade | 82.4 (56 snaps)
Stats | 4 tackles, 2 assisted tackles, 5 pressures on 22 pass rush snaps
Starter: Ty Hamilton
PFF Grade | 60.9 (34 snaps)
Stats | 2 tackles, 2 assisted tackles, 1 pressure on 12 pass rush snaps
Other: Michael Hall Jr.
PFF Grade | 70.0 (35 snaps)
Stats | 3 tackles, 2 assisted tackles, 3 pressures on 14 pass rush snaps
What It Means
This was a good performance from both Tyleik Williams and Michael Hall Jr. because they were able to create pressure on Sam Hartman, combining for eight pressures between the two of them.
Linebackers
Starter: Steele Chambers
PFF Grade | 29.9 (65 snaps)
Stats | 7 tackles, 5 assisted tackles
Starter: Tommy Eichenberg
PFF Grade | 36.1 (65 snaps)
Stats | 4 tackles, 1 assisted tackle
Starter: Cody Simon
PFF Grade | 59.6 (15 snaps)
Stats | 1 tackle, 1 assisted tackle
What It Means
PFF was low on the performances of Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers giving them the two lowest grades on the unit.
While they didn’t play flawlessly these both seem like harsh grades. Moving forward, Eichenberg and Chambers remain two key players on this defense.
Cornerbacks
Starter: Denzel Burke
PFF Grade | 66.3 (63 snaps)
Stats | 0 tackles, 0 assisted tackles, 1 reception allowed on 1 targets for 7 yards on 26 coverage snaps
Other: Davison Igbinosun
PFF Grade | 58.7 (60 snaps)
Stats | 4 tackles, 3 assisted tackles, 4 receptions allowed on 6 targets for 23 yards and 1 TD on 26 coverage snaps
Other: Jordan Hancock
PFF Grade | 70.6 (21 snaps)
Stats | 0 tackles, 0 assisted tackles, 1 reception allowed on 2 targets for 12 yards on 14 coverage snaps
What It Means
This was another strong performance from the cornerback unit as Notre Dame’s wide receivers were kept in check for the most part. Mitchell Evans, the Notre Dame tight end, had a big game but he was more so the linebackers and safeties responsibility.
Between the five Fighting Irish wide receivers to receive a target in this game, they ultimately combined for just 98 receiving yards.
Safeties
Starter: Lathan Ransom
PFF Grade | 66.8 (65 snaps)
Stats | 11 tackles, 5 assisted tackles, 2 receptions allowed on 2 targets for 40 yards on 26 coverage snaps
Starter: Josh Proctor
PFF Grade | 68.0 (65 snaps)
Stats | 7 tackles, 2 assisted tackles, 0 receptions allowed on 2 targets on 26 coverage snaps
Starter: Sonny Styles
PFF Grade | 64.4 (44 snaps)
Stats | 3 tackles, 2 assisted tackles, 1 reception allowed on 1 target for 12 yards on 12 coverage snaps
What It Means
Just like the cornerbacks, the safety group had a strong performance once again. Lathan Ransom and Josh Proctor each played all 65 snaps and combined for 18 tackles by PFF.
Sonny Styles also continues to show how special of a talent he is with a key fourth down stop him and Ransom made to stuff Notre Dame on its first drive of the second half.
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