COLUMBUS, Ohio – Following a year in which the Buckeyes struggled to do much right on the defensive side of the ball, the 2019 season proved more successful thanks to the injection of new blood in the coaching staff and the development of players on the defensive end.
With the season coming to a close in Arizona, the Buckeyes made their last impression on the campaign, and the defensive resumé was drastically improved from a year ago. The roster was largely the same on the defensive side of the ball, but the addition of Jeff Hafley, Greg Mattison and Al Washington seemed to be the magic formula for a group that struggled to make stops a year ago.
After allowing 25.5 points a game in 2018, the Buckeyes excelled and became a top-five scoring defense that surrendered only 13.7 points a game in 2019. Thanks to a new philosophy on defense and stars at every level, the defense became one of the strengths of a team that was capable of winning it all.
That being said, let’s take a look at how each unit graded out in the 2019 season. The grades will compare the Buckeyes to the rest of college football, so a C grade is average, but a prestigious team like Ohio State has set a higher bar than being average.
Defensive Line
Every year it seems like Larry Johnson is able to conjure up a group that can dominate opponents, and 2019 may have been his most dominant group to date. Behind the most impressive individual season from any defensive lineman in school history, the unit was able to impose its will on any team that lined up across the line of scrimmage.
It would be wrong to start this evaluation on any player other than Chase Young. On a team full of offensive stars and firepower, Young proved that a defensive player can not only be one of the most dominant players in a football game but the most fun to watch.
Young shattered the single-season record for sacks in school history, beating Vernon Gholston’s record and posting 16.5 sacks on the season. His impressive season would also earn him a spot in New York for the Heisman ceremony, which had rarely invited a defensive end in its history.
Between his four-sack performance against Wisconsin and three-sack domination against Penn State, Young put his stamp on the 2019 campaign, and opposing offenses were forced to send double and triple teams his way for the final stretch of the season.
