Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles speaks with media prior to No. 4 Ohio State’s (11-1) matchup against No. 1 Georgia (13-0) in Atlanta on Saturday. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor
Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles considers the Buckeyes near the pinnacle of college football, which drew him toward taking the defensive coordinator position last offseason.
Knowles nearly had his first chance to coach in the College Football Playoff at Oklahoma State last season, but ultimately fell in the Big 12 Championship Game to Baylor. The CFP didn’t invite the Cowboys into the playoff after the loss, their second of the season.
Ohio State’s standard year in and year out is to compete for a spot in the CFP and contend for a national championship. Although it didn’t reach two of its goals of beating Michigan or winning the Big Ten Conference championship this season, Ohio State received a berth into the playoff with a national title still on the table.
Although Knowles reached that pinnacle he envisions by joining the Buckeyes, he hasn’t taken too much time to smell the flowers. He said reflecting on reaching this point is something he has “not taken time to do” and “that’s not my job.”
“We expected to be here when I took the job,” Knowles said. “I knew that it would lead to this, so we’ve made it to this spot.”
Knowles and the No. 4 Buckeyes face a challenge in the Peach Bowl Saturday against No. 1 Georgia, which averages almost 492 yards per game and ranks as the No. 8 total offense in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Halting the Bulldogs’ momentum and keeping their offense, which averaged 39.2 points per game in the regular season, stalled on the field is Knowles’ priority. He said he anticipates “a huge challenge,” but believes the Buckeyes are bought in.
“The stop rate is very important to me, something I think our guys take seriously,” Knowles said. “Each team presents different challenges, and this is the reigning national champion, so you’re talking about a bunch of guys that are going to play at the next level. You’re talking about a serious program that has a consistency to it and multiplicity.”
Criticism of the Buckeyes’ defense has lingered over the past several seasons, and the loss to Michigan in 2021 prompted head coach Ryan Day to make a change in effort to see more favorable results.
Ohio State’s second-straight loss to the Wolverines Nov. 26 came as a result of explosive plays, as Michigan scored five touchdowns of 45 yards or more — including runs of 75 and 85 yards. Day said coaching fundamentals are among what it will take to fix errors defensively.
No player wants to make mistakes on the football field, and Day said he looks toward his coaches to guide them toward success. Knowles said “it’s up to me” to fulfill his role as a coach — and if a player makes a mistake, the responsibility falls on him.
“I think it’s easy and a cop out as a coach to say, ‘Well, that guy blew this particular play,’ or, ‘He didn’t get it right and I coached him on that.’ Well, I didn’t. I didn’t do a good enough job,” Knowles said. “If he didn’t show up in the game doing it right, then the fingers need to be pointed back to me and I’ll say, ‘OK, what did I call. Why did I call it? Why did we not finish that play right?’ And those are the things that keep me up at night.”
Knowles said Ohio State has taken steps toward evaluating what went right and wrong in its loss at the end of the regular season, and Day said he sees progress toward the game plan for Georgia.
“The coach’s job is to make sure that we put our guys in a situation to be the most successful, and then it’s our guys’ job to play really, really hard,” Day said. “We’ve taken a hard look at certainly what happened in the last game but also the challenge coming into this game and put a good plan together.”
Reaching the CFP is something that is among “the expectations of the Ohio State University,” Knowles said, and the Buckeye defense will be under the spotlight.
For Knowles, he’s reached the pinnacle of college football — Ohio State and the CFP — and gotten the Buckeyes finally back to the playoff after missing it a season ago.
The Buckeyes are eager to take their second chance on this season, but Knowles is focused, he said. He’s got a job to do.
“They need to know they have a leader who believes in them and that we’re going to have a great plan and allow them to play fast,” Knowles said.
