Ohio State football finishes the season with an 11-2 record after a poor performance in a 14-3 loss to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl.
The Buckeyes defense put out a tremendous effort as it managed to keep Missouri scoreless through three quarters and off the scoreboard on its first nine drives of the game.
The Tigers were eventually able to wear down the Buckeye defense as they put together touchdown scoring drives of 95 and 91 yards in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
In this article we dig deeper into each position group’s performance on the defense using Pro Football Focus grades.
Interior Defensive Line
Starter: Tyleik Williams
PFF Grade | 58.5 (59 snaps)
Stats | 2 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 1 pressure on 26 pass rush snaps
Starter: Michael Hall Jr.
PFF Grade | 62.8 (48 snaps)
Stats | 3 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 3 pressures on 25 pass rush snaps
Other: Ty Hamilton
PFF Grade | 74.1 (21 snaps)
Stats | 5 tackles, 1 assisted tackles, 0 pressures on 5 pass rush snaps
Other: Hero Kanu
PFF Grade | 47.5 (9 snaps)
Stats | 0 tackles, 0 pressures on 1 pass rush snap
Other: Jason Moore
PFF Grade | 60.9 (4 snaps)
Stats | 0 tackles
Other: Tywone Malone
PFF Grade | 63.7 (2 snaps)
Stats | 0 tackles
Edge Rushers
Starter: Jack Sawyer
PFF Grade | 73.1 (61 snaps)
Stats | 1 tackle, 6 pressures and 3 sacks on 28 pass rush snaps
Starter: J.T. Tuimoloau
PFF Grade | 64.5 (54 snaps)
Stats | 2 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 2 pressures on 29 pass rush snaps
Other: Kenyatta Jackson
PFF Grade | 70.5 (21 snaps)
Stats | 1 tackle, 0 pressures on 3 pass rush snaps
Other: Caden Curry
PFF Grade | 63.6 (10 snaps)
Stats | 0 tackles
Linebackers
Starter: Cody Simon
PFF Grade | 76.2 (73 snaps)
Stats | 8 tackles, 4 assisted tackles
Starter: Steele Chambers
PFF Grade | 66.9 (68 snaps)
Stats | 8 tackles, 1 assisted tackle
Other: C.J. Hicks
PFF Grade | 61.2 (4 snaps)
Stats | 0 tackles
Cornerbacks
Starter: Denzel Burke
PFF Grade | 65.8 (73 snaps)
Stats | 5 tackles, 5 receptions allowed on 5 targets for 77 yards on 30 coverage snaps
Starter: Davison Igbinosun
PFF Grade | 63.6 (73 snaps)
Stats | 6 tackles, 0 receptions allowed on 1 target on 30 coverage snaps
Starter: Jordan Hancock
PFF Grade | 56.1 (72 snaps)
Stats | tackles, pressure, receptions allowed on targets on coverage snaps
Other: Lorenzo Styles Jr.
PFF Grade | 60.4 (2 snaps)
Stats | 2 tackles, 1 pressure and 1 sack, 3 receptions allowed on 4 targets for 40 yards on 29 coverage snaps
Other: Jermaine Mathews Jr.
PFF Grade | 60.7 (1 snaps)
Stats | 0 tackles, 0 targets allowed on 1 coverage snap
Safeties
Starter: Josh Proctor
PFF Grade | ( snaps)
Stats | 4 tackles, 3 assisted tackles, 1 reception allowed on 2 targets for 7 Yards and 1 TD on 30 coverage snaps
Starter: Sonny Styles
PFF Grade | 64.1 (73 snaps)
Stats | 3 tackles, 2 assisted tackles, 0 targets allowed on 29 coverage snaps
Other: Malik Hartford
PFF Grade | 60.4 (2 snaps)
Stats | 0 tackles, 0 targets allowed on 2 coverage snaps
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