IRVING, Texas — Imagine this scenario as a college quarterback:<\/p>\n
It\u2019s third-and-long, and across from you stand two linebackers, both somewhere around 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds. Both have identified a gap and are standing in a way that suggests they are about to bring pressure, but you\u2019re not entirely sure if they will or not. The film has shown you that sometimes both come, sometimes only one, and sometimes both are bluffing. <\/p>\n
The problem is that they\u2019ve already had enough time this season to provide a reason why you can\u2019t afford to just assume that either is only bluffing. Because being wrong has dire consequences<\/p>\n
That is the dilemma that every quarterback has faced since the moment Ohio State<\/a> beat Texas 14-7. Matt Patricia<\/a> spent nine months installing a defense designed to toy with the minds of quarterbacks and offensive coordinators. And third-down situations have become the Buckeyes\u2019 playground.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s one of the most fun downs for us,\u201d Sonny Styles<\/a> said. \u201cI remember…in spring ball, and the way he was coaching it\u2019s like we have a lot of free will to choose what we wanted to do. He was giving us all the tools. It\u2019s so much fun out there, especially when you get to third-and-long. You get to really play with the offense a little bit and have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Patricia\u2019s scheme is simply a structure that his linebackers are playing inside of, but it\u2019s not a box. It\u2019s more like a blank canvas that the two have been given the proper tools to paint a disruptive picture.<\/p>\n Styles is the run-stopping saveant with 80 tackles, five tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, three pass breakups, a forced fumble, an interception and 13 pressures. He\u2019s the only FBS player to play more than 350 snaps and is still yet to miss a tackle this season. The captain and \u2018Block O\u2019 recipient is so good as a linebacker that it\u2019s almost unbelievable that he\u2019s technically only in his second season playing the position.<\/p>\n Yet somehow, a guy this good is constantly overshadowed by a player no one outside of Ohio knew much about before that win over the Longhorns.<\/p>\n Arvell Reese<\/a> has become the biggest breakout story of the 2025 season. He walked into OSU\u2019s season-opener as a Cleveland native making his first appearance as a full-time starter and left it as an NFL Draft prospect. His performance \u2014 nine tackles, a tackle for loss and five pressures \u2014 vaulted him to the top of the scouting report of every offensive coordinator. Then he\u2019d spent the next two months repeating it every Saturday.<\/p>\n Then November arrived, and all of it stopped.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the stuff we attacked early in the season now, I think teams have kind of seen enough film on it,\u201d Patricia said. \u201cA lot of times, they\u2019ll slide to his spot where he is, or they\u2019ll try to make sure they have him accounted for in different ways. But that\u2019s great. That gives opportunities for other players on the field,\u201d Patricia said. \u201cI think his impact has been great. His role, his flexibility, the way that we\u2019ve been able to utilize him is super special.\u201d<\/p>\n Teams adjusting to his presence is one thing. But Ohio State has also played a role in why a player who had 22 pressures in the first eight games has only had three in the last five.<\/p>\n The idea that Reese might be coming to get your quarterback is so powerful that there hasn\u2019t been much of a need to make that idea a reality lately. But at some point, you have to validate that fear you\u2019ve already instilled in people, right?<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s really showcased what he can do and how he can impact the game, which has been awesome to see,\u201d Patricia said. \u201dBut we are seeing some of those game plan things that offenses do to handle \u2014 when you have an impact player like that, offenses have to adjust, you know, they have to do something. We\u2019re gonna try to stay in front of that a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s where that blank canvas idea comes back into play. Patricia\u2019s scheme has been built on the back of the absolute trust he has in the 11 people on the field, especially Reese and Styles. You can even throw Caleb Downs<\/a> into that mix, given he\u2019s played at practically every level of the defense this year. They have the freedom to do what they feel is necessary in those situations as long as the basic parts of their jobs are being done and there\u2019s a high level of communication happening every snap.<\/p>\n Patricia\u2019s job is giving them the tools. The picture they paint is up to them.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes you get on the field, and you give them the concept of the call,\u201d Patricia said. \u201cBut they\u2019re making the changes on the field based on what they see.\u201d<\/p>\n Teams are only converting 29.01% of their third-down attempts. That\u2019s fifth among Power 4 teams and second only to Indiana among teams left in the College Football Playoff. To Styles\u2019 point, this team is having a lot of fun in those situations, and his defensive coordinator agrees, especially as more people get involved.<\/p>\n BETTING: Ohio State -9.5 point spread<\/a> is listed at -105 on Caesars<\/a> for Wednesday night\u2019s matchup against Miami. Our Caesars Sportsbook review<\/a> provides an in-depth guide on how to register and use their platform.<\/p>\n Caden Curry<\/a> was the first Buckeye since Chase Young<\/a> to have double-digit sacks in the regular season with 11. Kenyatta Jackson<\/a> went from asking Patricia for permission to use pass-rushing moves to having unlocked the best version of himself over the past month. Kayden McDonald<\/a> turned into the Big Ten\u2019s best defensive lineman. Tywone Malone<\/a> and Will Smith Jr.<\/a> have become more than just serviceable players. Eddrick Houston<\/a> is starting to round into shape now that he\u2019s a year into his transition from defensive end to defensive tackle.<\/p>\n Everybody in OSU\u2019s front seven is having fun. But for the last month of the season, that appeared to be happening without its most terrorizing weapon getting in on it.<\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s time to unleash that weapon again, as Ohio State tries to repeat as national champions.<\/p>\n \u201cAs much as we can get out there and let the guys show off their ability and their talent in that situation, it\u2019s great,\u201d Patricia said. \u201cBoth of them have really good coverage skills. They\u2019re both really good in the rush. They\u2019re big. They\u2019re long. I think some of the match-up stuff they can do, and they have a little bit of savviness suddenness to them. When you are inside, and some of those alignments, sometimes that quickness is just a little bit different than a defensive tackle three technique or something like that.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to keep that spinning, but they do a lot of it on their own, which is fun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"IRVING, Texas — Imagine this scenario as a college quarterback: It\u2019s third-and-long, and across from you stand two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-376144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}