Ohio State traveled to West Lafayette to take on Purdue on Saturday and came away with a dominant 41-7 victory.
The Buckeyes defense which has been outstanding this season, put together another strong performance as they held the Boilermakers to just seven points.
Bend but don’t break has been a theme for the Buckeyes throughout the season. They have sought to limit the explosive plays that plagued last year’s unit. They executed that game plan well in this game, limiting Purdue to just one play of over 25 yards.
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.
Interior Defensive Line
Starter: Tyleik Williams
PFF Grade | 72.3 (41 snaps)
Stats | 3 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 0 pressures on 24 pass rush snaps
Starter: Michael Hall Jr.
PFF Grade | 71.9 (39 snaps)
Stats | 1 tackle, 1 pressure on 24 pass rush snaps
Other: Ty Hamilton
PFF Grade | 71.7 (15 snaps)
Stats | 1 assisted tackle, 0 pressures on 10 pass rush snaps
Other: Jaden McKenzie
PFF Grade | 57.3 (14 snaps)
Stats | 1 tackle, 0 pressures on 9 pass rush snaps
Other: Hero Kanu
PFF Grade | 59.6 (12 snaps)
Stats | 0 tackles, 0 pressures on 5 pass rush snaps
Other: Kayden McDonald
PFF Grade | 77.4 (12 snaps)
Stats | 0 pressures on 4 pass rush snaps
Other: Tywone Malone
PFF Grade | 54.6 (7 snaps)
Stats | 1 pressures on 2 pass rush snaps
What It Means
The Buckeyes defensive tackles were integral in limiting Purdue’s rushing attack as Williams (79.2), Hamilton (75.6), Hall Jr. (74.4) and McDonald (73.1) all received good run defense grades.
Edge Rushers
Starter: Jack Sawyer
PFF Grade | 67.3 (43 snaps)
Stats | 1 tackle, 4 pressures and 2 sacks on 22 pass rush snaps
Starter: J.T. Tuimoloau
PFF Grade | 67.1 (40 snaps)
Stats | 2 pressures and 1 sack on 22 pass rush snaps
Other: Caden Curry
PFF Grade | 50.0 (23 snaps)
Stats | 1 tackle, 0 pressures on 15 pass rush snaps
Other: Kenyatta Jackson
PFF Grade | 58.5 (21 snaps)
Stats | 0 pressures on 10 pass rush snaps
Other: Mitchell Melton
PFF Grade | 71.1 (13 snaps)
Stats | 1 tackle, 2 pressures on 7 pass rush snaps
Other: Omari Abor
PFF Grade | 65.4 (7 snaps)
Stats | 1 assisted tackle, 0 pressures on 1 pass rush snap
What It Means
This is one of the best performances of the season from Jack Sawyer. He had four pressures and two sacks.
Linebackers
Starter: Tommy Eichenberg
PFF Grade | 70.6 (55 snaps)
Stats | 5 tackles, 3 assisted tackles, 2 pressures
Starter: Steele Chambers
PFF Grade | 58.8 (32 snaps)
Stats | 3 tackles, 1 assisted tackle
Other: Cody Simon
PFF Grade | 69.8 (45 snaps)
Stats | 4 tackles, 3 assisted tackles
Other: C.J. Hicks
PFF Grade | 62.7 (11 snaps)
Stats | 1 tackle
Other: Gabe Powers
PFF Grade | 61.9 (1 snap)
Stats | 0 tackles
What It Means
With Steele Chambers’ struggles in recent weeks, Cody Simon ended up playing a big role on Saturday with 45 snaps while Chambers played 32.
Cornerbacks
Starter: Davison Igbinosun
PFF Grade | 73.5 (63 snaps)
Stats | 3 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 3 receptions allowed on 7 targets for 22 yards, 1 TD and 3 PBUs on 37 coverage snaps
Starter: Denzel Burke
PFF Grade | 69.6 (62 snaps)
Stats | 4 tackles, 4 receptions allowed on 5 targets for 30 yards on 21 coverage snaps
Other: Jordan Hancock
PFF Grade | 68.5 (50 snaps)
Stats | 4 tackles, 0 receptions allowed on 1 target on 30 coverage snaps
Other: Jermaine Mathews Jr.
PFF Grade | 97.2 (11 snaps)
Stats | 0 receptions allowed on 2 targets on 11 coverage snaps
Other: Jyaire Brown
PFF Grade | 63.3 (11 snaps)
Stats | 1 reception allowed on 1 target for 8 yards on 3 coverage snaps
What It Means
The Buckeyes secondary put in another strong performance, holding Purdue to just 3.7 yards per attempt.
Safeties
Starter: Lathan Ransom
PFF Grade | 64.2 (61 snaps)
Stats | 3 tackles, 1 receptions allowed on 4 targets for 5 yards on 37 coverage snaps
Starter: Josh Proctor
PFF Grade | 61.0 (61 snaps)
Stats | 2 tackles, 1 reception allowed on 2 targets for 15 yards on 37 coverage snaps
Starter: Sonny Styles
PFF Grade | 65.2 (30 snaps)
Stats | 2 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 1 reception allowed on 3 targets for 5 yards on 12 coverage snaps
Other: Ja’Had Carter
PFF Grade | 61.2 (11 snaps)
Stats | 3 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 0 targets allowed on 3 coverage snaps
Other: Malik Hartford
PFF Grade | 69.6 (11 snaps)
Stats | 1 tackle, 0 targets allowed on 3 coverage snaps
What It Means
Ransom, Proctor and Styles have been the starting safeties all season and they’ve backed up with their play with all three having PFF grades of above 70 all season.
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