Understanding Matt Patricia’s Ohio State Defense

In its Big Ten opener, Washington is tasked with one of the top defenses in college football. Ohio State ranks 10th in total defense, allowing 227 yards per game, and second in scoring defense, giving up 5.3 points per contest. Buckeye defensive coordinator Matt Patricia gave up just seven points to Texas in the first game of the season. The group is stout. It has shown several different variations of pass coverage this season; it uses a familiar concept to slow opposing run games, and it allows two athletic second-level defenders to play a versatile brand of football.

Breaking Down the Ohio State Defense

Coverage Disguises

Ohio State’s secondary has exceptional versatility. Patricia’s defense generally lines up in some form of cover one or cover three with a single high safety. It will look, at times, similar to Ryan Walters’ defense with cornerbacks and a nickel playing man coverage, a post safety, and a down safety. But it gets in and out of that coverage efficiently, playing both cover two and quarters coverage, especially in later downs or against passing situations. One of the ways it does this is by rolling out after the snap. 

After lining up in what looks like cover one, the deep safety will roll one direction to play a deep half responsibility after the snap, with the opposite side slot corner (typically the down safety) rolling into the other deep half. The defense can now play cover two after this rotation. This rotation can also allow it to play a traditional quarters coverage, where the outside corners drop into deep quarters of the field. It then becomes their responsibility to play man coverage on the outside receiver, or shed their coverage to the inside if the receiver’s route takes them that way. All of a sudden, a cover one defense with what looked like man coverage on the receivers before the snap becomes a match quarters defense with deep defenders matching route coverages and guarding the field in zone.

Diagnosing coverage disguises is not a new concept for the Husky offense, of course. Walters’ defense does similar things with its cover-one concepts. Ohio State does it tremendously efficiently with the athletes that it has within its defense. One of them is Caleb Downs.

Caleb Downs’ Versatility

Ohio State’s defense allows Downs to play all over the field. In the Texas game, Downs was the only Buckeye defender to line up for at least two snaps at every defensive level. Five times, he lined up along the defensive line, with 24 total snaps in the box. Twice he lined up at corner, 12 times at nickel, and 24 times at free safety. Downs recorded five tackles in the game with four stops. On the season, Downs has played 45 snaps in the box, 58 snaps at free safety, and 27 at slot corner.

The Buckeye defense gets him involved in the run game often. Against the run, the defensive front has different ways it can force the outside run. Whether it be in a diamond front (which we’ll get to shortly), making it difficult to find creases in a zone run scheme. Or in a three-man front, where Ohio State will add up to three linebackers on the field to aid in stuffing run lanes. When executed properly, both defensive fronts can cause the running back to bounce outside. That’s where the athletic Downs will be waiting. When the run is diagnosed, he can crash down onto the formation from his deep safety position in a hurry to defend the outside. 

This is a form of spilling the run game. Edge defenders create inside leverage on blocks, forcing the running back outside. This works well with sure-tackling second-level defenders like Downs and versatile linebacker Arvell Reese. Each can make open field tackles on the edge and prevent explosive outside runs. Downs and Reese have eight and nine stops on the season, respectively. 

Arvell Reese Mirror Technique

At linebacker, Reese plays a significant role in the middle of the Ohio State defense. Patricia often utilizes the 6’-4” and 243-pound athlete as a quarterback spy in passing situations. Against Texas, they would move Reese up to the defensive line, almost like an additional defensive lineman, but in a two-point stance. On the snap, he’d sit back in the middle of the formation at the line of scrimmage as the play developed. Reese navigates this area like a mirror of the quarterback. It allowed the defense to contain the elusiveness of Arch Manning while not having to sacrifice coverage defenders. It also allows him to get into throwing lanes over the middle of the field. Reese has a team-high two pass breakups thus far in 2025.

Patricia adds wrinkles to his usage of Reese as well. There were passing downs against Texas where Reese showed the same tendency before the snap, crowding the line of scrimmage. But post-snap, he’d fake like he was bouncing back into a middle-of-the-field zone before rushing the quarterback. Reese earned a third-down tackle for loss in the second quarter of the Texas game with this tactic. 

The other way Reese is used in the Buckeye defense is as a speed rusher. He lined up on the edge of the defensive line on 34 of his 64 snaps against the Longhorns. Reese produced five quarterback pressures in that game and notched nine tackles, a tackle for loss, and a sack. Manning and Ohio quarterback Parker Navarro are both dual-threat quarterbacks. Patricia’s usage of Reese as a mirror of the quarterback helped slow those running games. Manning is averaging 4.4 yards per rush this year. He had 10 runs for 38 yards in the game against the Buckeye defense. Navarro has over 250 rushing yards in just four games thus far. Ohio State held him to just three rushing yards. Reese has a team-high 20 tackles through three games this season.

Diamond Front vs. Zone Run

Washington primarily runs the football with a zone running scheme. Linemen get off the snap and block in a designated area of the formation, rather than an individual gap. The line works in one direction in unison, creating double teams on defensive linemen before working into the second level of the defense to block linebackers. It’s the running back’s job to read the blocks, identify a seam, and make a decision. Either bend (cut back), bang (hit the hole), or bounce (bounce it outside). Jonah Coleman has run the football 41 times behind a zone blocking scheme this season. Just eight of his carries have come in gap scheme. He’s averaging 6.8 yards per carry on the season with a breakaway run percentage of 36.6% (seventh best in the Big Ten).

The Buckeye defense has an answer for the zone run scheme, and it’s similar to something Washington does with its defense. A five-man defensive line makes it difficult for offensive lines to get off and run in a zone blocking scheme. Five defenders at the point of attack put a “hat on a hat” and produce one-on-one blocks. Without the ability to easily produce double-team blocks, elevating to the second level of the defense becomes more difficult, and zone run schemes can struggle. 

Patricia calls it a “diamond front,” which is five linemen, one linebacker, and five defensive backs. It’s slightly different from Walters’ base package, which consists of five linemen, two linebackers, and four defensive backs. With it, the Buckeye defense aims to get a numbers advantage in run protection. Texas was able to run the football generally well against Ohio State, averaging a sack-adjusted 4.6 yards per carry on 36 attempts. In that game, the Longhorns had a more evenly distributed run scheme with 25 zone runs and 33 gap runs. Ohio had a sack-adjusted 91 rushing yards on 30 attempts, but only three attempts were in the zone scheme. The zone run scheme of the Huskies will be tested against this front on Saturday.