Alabama Football: Bring on the Buckeyes and their ‘bad boy’ swagger

Alabama Football: Ohio State defenders known as ‘Bad Boys’ goes back to Urban Meyer. Today’s Buckeyes are an aggressive bunch who play with a salty attitude.

Alabama football fans took particular notice of two components in the Ohio State thrashing of Clemson. One was of course, that Brent Venables had no answer in slowing a Buckeye’s offense that ran up over 600 yards. The other was that Clemson could not run on the Buckeyes. A big, first-half Ohio State lead forced Clemson into a pass-heavy mode. When it did try to run the football, Travis Etienne was held to 3.2 yards-per-carry. Going into the game, Etienne was averaging almost 5.6 yards-per-carry.

Clemson, with a Top 10 offense, could not deliver enough points to win a shootout. While the Ohio State secondary was and is suspect, the front seven for the Buckeyes delivered with two sacks, five tackles-for-a-loss and a quarterback hurry.

Did the Buckeyes front seven earn some legitimate swagger against Clemson? Talk is cheap, results matter. The measure of Ohio State cannot be taken by one football game. Statistical review of the Buckeyes, while pertinent, is skewed by their reduced game schedule.

Using NCAA stats, the Buckeyes are No. 2 in Rushing Defense. The Alabama football defense ranks No. 13 for the same stat.  As a point of comparison, Georgia is No. 1 and Texas A&M is No. 3. The Alabama Crimson Tide rushed for 172 yards against Georgia with Najee Harris averaging 4.9 yards-per-carry. Against the Aggies, Crimson Tide running backs averaged over 4.8 yards-per-carry.

A deeper dive into another set of stats is more favorable to the Buckeyes. Thanks to Football Outsiders, more detailed scrutiny is available. ‘Stuff Rate’ is the stat for when a running back is stopped before or at the line of scrimmage. Ohio State is No. 3 in the FBS for this stat. The Crimson Tide is No. 80. Another good data point for Ohio State is ‘Passing Downs Sack Rate’ of No. 28 nationally. The Crimson Tide is No. 58. Using the same source, for ‘Power Success Rate’ (allowing a first down or touchdown on 3rd or 4th down, needing 2 yards or less) the two teams are comparable. Ohio State is No. 72 and the Crimson Tide is No. 91.

Context is always needed when considering stats. Ohio State’s defense, blemished by its secondary is only No. 41 in NCAA Total Defense. The two stiffest challenges for the Buckeyes were Indiana and Northwestern. The Hoosiers were No. 43 in Passing Offense but No. 114 in Rushing Offense. Northwestern was No. 65 in Rushing Offense and No. 96 in Passing Offense.

A fair conclusion is Ohio State’s defensive stats are inflated by less than stellar competition. The Buckeyes have not battled against an offense as balanced as the Alabama football offensive system. Ohio State will struggle to contain the Crimson Tide passing attack, leaving it unable to load the box enough to stop Najee Harris.

Alabama football fans can be concerned about the Buckeye’s ability to run the football. Trey Sirmon is averaging 7.55 yards-per-carry. Another Bama Hammer post will consider how good were the rushing defenses on Ohio State’s opponents.