What does a Jim Knowles defense look like at Ohio State?
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State struggled mightily on third down in 2021 defensively.
The Buckeyes were No. 12 out of 14 Big Ten teams, allowing opposing offenses to convert on 41.6% of chances.
Ohio State needed a change to improve on that number, and the No. 7 scoring and total defense it had this season, allowing 20.9 points and 365.4 points per game.
Heading into 2022, Ohio State filled its defensive coordinator position with former Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who led the Cowboys to the second-best third-down conversion percentage of any defense in the country, allowing only 26.1% of attempts to be successful.
In a statement released Tuesday, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said that Knowles would start with the Buckeyes Jan. 2 after their appearance against Utah in the Rose Bowl.
Knowles seemingly knows how to turn around a defense.
When hired by Oklahoma State in 2018, he inherited a defense that allowed an average of 32.5 points and 452.5 yards per game. Each season, those two totals dropped, getting down to 379 yards per game in 2020: the lowest the Cowboys defense has allowed in 2009.
In 2021, those numbers fell dramatically.
Oklahoma State led the Big 12 in points allowed (16.8), touchdowns allowed (21) and yards allowed per game (278.4), along with the only defense in the conference to allow less than five yards per play.
And Knowles was very versatile in his approach.
With players like linebackers Malcolm Rodriguez and Devin Harper, along with defensive end Collin Oliver, Oklahoma State was the only defense in the conference to allow less than 110 rushing yards per game, allowing 91.2 rushing yards per contest — fifth-best in the country— and only 2.74 yards per rush. The Cowboys were one of 12 defenses in the country this season to allow less than 10 rushing touchdowns, including Alabama, Georgia and Clemson.
Opposing offenses couldn’t do much better in the passing game either. While the Cowboys weren’t very successful with takeaways, recording eight in 13 games, they allowed 187.2 yards per game and was the only defense in the Big 12 to allow less than 6.3 yards per pass.
Running primarily a 4-2-5 defensive look, Oklahoma State also had pressure on its side too with 55 sacks in 13 games, leading to opposing quarterbacks to complete 57.9% of his passes against the Cowboys: easily the lowest in the Big 12.
Simply, Knowles turned this Oklahoma State defense around in three seasons.
The former Cowboys will inherit a defense that had the fourth-most interceptions in the Big Ten, recording 12 in 12 games, along with four returned for touchdowns. He will have a defensive front that lacked pressure against Purdue and Michigan, but totaled 35 sacks in 12 games: second-most in the conference.
In the run game, Ohio State allowed 118.5 yards per game — fifth-best in the Big Ten — and only 3.5 yards per rush, but allowed 15 rushing touchdowns.
Ohio State was dreadful at stopping opposing quarterbacks, allowing 246.9 passing yards per game and 6.8 passing yards per play. With opposing quarterbacks completing 60.6% of attempts, they throw 18 touchdowns against the Buckeyes this year.
On Jan. 2, Knowles will inherit a project. But it’s a project he’s had before, and succeeded in.