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After seeing two games of defensive errors and a lack of significant change, Ohio State coach Ryan Day handed the playcall duties to secondary coach Matt Barnes on Saturday against Tulsa’s visit. .
Kerry Coombs, the Buckeyes’ defensive coordinator, had called for playing from the sideline to start the season, but after the 41-20 win over Tulsa, Day told reporters they made the switch earlier in the week. to give the defense their best shot at Success.
“We just took a close look at this and had a lot of tough conversations and tried to figure out what gives us the best chance to move forward,” Day said. “It’s kind of the pace and structure that we think are best suited to defense at the moment. [Coombs] is a professional. He’s an Ohio guy from Ohio State, he’s got a lot of pride, and he just wants to win, so he’s still a big part of that defense and a big part of Ohio State. “
Coombs had been on the pitch for the first two games, but was in the booth on Saturday while Barnes was on the pitch.
The Buckeyes allowed 408 yards in the season opener against Minnesota and allowed 505 yards in a loss to Oregon. High school has been a concern since last season, and Ohio State has allowed more than 200 passing yards in each of its first two games.
When asked if this would be a permanent move, Day said he wanted to go back and watch the movie again and see how it worked, but thought that was how the roles would continue to evolve.
“I thought we had changed things, the way we did things structurally on match day, which, again, we’re going to watch the movie and analyze that and see how it went,” Day said. . “But I thought for the most part they were playing with good energy, they prepared well during the week, everyone was on the same page. There were some tweaks in the game that were good. better and more efficient than the previous week. “
Defensive players Ronnie Hickman and Cam Brown spoke to reporters after the game and said there wasn’t much of a difference in the game between Barnes and Coombs, and they felt the change went well.
Day said he felt the change was necessary, but the defense has always struggled against Tulsa, giving up 501 total yards, including 428 in the air. It was a close game until the end of the fourth quarter, when Ohio State pulled out for the win.
Day acknowledged that there was still work to be done, but was encouraged to see the growth of some of the young defenders start to contribute. True first-year corner Denzel Burke is in a starting role and true first-year defensive tackle Tyleik Williams had a sack on Saturday. Redshirt rookie Cameron Martinez returned an interception for a touchdown.
“It’s kind of like give and take, and it’s going to be growing pains along the way, but whatever you invest in these guys, you’ll be coming back here in the future, and that’s the exciting part here.” , Day said. “I think we have a really exciting young team here. I mean you look at these guys [on defense], you watch TreVeyon [Henderson] and you see some of the guys we have up front in the O line, our quarterback is young – I mean we’re young, but we’re also talented. So if we can keep building and getting stronger, then the future will be really, really bright. “
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