The maturing of Ohio State football

There's obvious patience and competence from a team that might occasionally bore you into a second straight national championship.

COLUMBUS — One of the plays from Saturday’s 24-6 Ohio State win over Washington that left Huskies coach Jedd Fisch a little frustrated was the third-down call shown in the screenshot above.

It was a third-and-goal play from the Ohio State 10-yard line in a scoreless game early in the second quarter. Washington lined up leading receiver Denzel Boston in the slot against Davison Igbinosun. Boston had inside position against the OSU corner, and when he broke his route at the goal line toward the middle of the field, safety Jalen McClain was just … standing there.

Right where he was supposed to be.

You can see No. 18 for the Buckeyes between the S and K in the endzone, greeting Boston like he’s about to give the Washington receiver a hug at a family reunion.

And that was it.

Ohio State rushed three on the play, with linebacker Arvell Reese serving as a spy, waiting for quarterback to Demond Williams to run. The rest of the Buckeyes played solid coverage, nothing fancy. The result was Williams bouncing on his toes at the top of his drop five times, waiting for something to come open, then taking off and getting tracked down by Reese for no gain.

Wasn’t a sack. Wasn’t a pass breakup. Wasn’t a turnover.

“We wound up trying to get Dez the ball,” Fisch said, “and they had a hole player right in the throwing lane. … They wind up playing certain coverages where they’ve got guys really playing zone, hole players all throughout the end zone, so that made it challenging.”

A hole player is someone in underneath coverage who fills a hole in defense. In this version of the Ohio State defense, and of Ohio State in general, you’ll find hole players everywhere. Guys filling gaps, doing jobs, making things difficult on the opposition.

As a result, you’ll find no holes.