Ohio State Did Not Give Out A "Defensive Player Of The Game" Because Giving Up 14 Points To Marshall Is Unacceptable

So Marshall took the ball on Saturday and jammed it right down Ohio State's throat on the opening drive. There's really no other way to put it. Went up 7-0 in The Shoe and rightfully so, every Marshall fan (and probably some of the coaches) took out their phone and took a picture of the scoreboard. And that, as an Ohio State fan that has heard all summer about how these elite defense from a year ago has gotten even better with everyone returning plus Caleb Downs transferring in, is flat out unacceptable. It was unacceptable when Akron moved the ball on the first drive on us, and it was embarrassing when Marshall did it on Saturday....and it wasn't just on their first possession. It was 28-14 at halftime and when you're 40 point favorites that hadn't given up a touchdown the entire season.....you can't be playing that close after two quarters.

People that agreed with me: defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who elected not to give out a Defensive Player of the Game after reviewing the game tape.

Can we have an honest moment together real quick? Just between me and the readers. If I'm being real, I do like that our coordinator recognizes that we did not play up to our standard, and no one deserves to be called the Defensive Player of the Game when you give up 14 points at home to Marshall. We had 1 fucking sack all game. Against a roster that quite literally would've taken off their uniform on the 50 yard line and walked over to our sideline if we even offered them a chance to walk on. But if we're staying honest, I'm also nervous that we're pulling out stops like not giving out a DPOG after Marshall. And I'm nervous how we started against Akron. I would never say it out loud, but our schedule has not been very good thus far this season. Akron, Western Michigan, and Marshall are not elite. And this defense was supposed to be an all-time great. So I know our stats look good and we're giving up less than a touchdown per game which is good enough for 4th in the country.....it seems fake. And it needs to get better, ASAP.

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Starting this week at Michigan State, things get tougher. Don't get me wrong, we're 24 point favorites and I'm sure we'll look good like we generally do agains the cupcakes of the Big Ten, but teams have been losing unexpected games this season. Michigan State and Iowa are not out of the realm of possibilities of beating someone. And then we go Oregon, Nebraska, and Penn State right in a row. All I'm saying is that, while I still think we're far and away the best team in the conference, I do have a lot more riding on this season than usual. And I'd like to be shutting out teams like Marshall, not going down 7-0 after a sustained first drive of the game.

I agree with Coach Knowles on not giving out any unearned awards this week, but also Coach Knowles, make our defense better instead of these public stunts. November 30th is coming.