Ohio State Football: 3 hot takes from heartbreaking loss to Oregon

2. Ohio State’s run defense is a major weakness

Ohio State’s defense did not play well on Saturday, especially on the defensive line. The Buckeyes gave up 269 yards rushing and 236 through the air to Oregon. CJ Verdell led the way for Oregon, rushing for 161 yards on 20 carries, scoring two touchdowns on the ground as well. Verdell also scored had one touchdown reception to bring his total to three on the day.

Oregon gave up over 600 yards on the day defensively but was still able to come away with the victory minus two of their key players on defense in Kayvon Thibodeaux and Justin Flowe. You have to think if these two players are in there for the Ducks they help reduce the yardage given up.

Coming off last week, many expected the Buckeyes’ defense against Oregon to play with more of an edge to show that Week 1 was not who they were as a unit. If you compare the defensive line last week against Minnesota next to what we saw Saturday against Oregon, it sure looked like it got a lot worse. The Ducks’ running backs were able to pound the ball really well all afternoon long and exploit this weakness for Ohio State.

Ohio State is going to go up against a lot of teams in the Big Ten that really rely on the run, so it needs to help get their defensive line issues worked out here soon or teams will be running with success against them all season long.