Ohio State Seeks Return of Big-Play Pass Defense

Coming off the 2022 spring game in which a host of players in the back seven of Ohio State's defense showed flashes, there's room for optimism newly minted defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and his batch of new assistant coaches can fix the Buckeyes' flailing pass defenses of 2020 and 2021.

The Buckeyes ranked No. 96 in pass defense in 2021 (245.8) which was, unbelievably, an improvement over the 2020 group's No. 122 ranking (304.0 ypg).

Both of those seasons saw the Buckeyes rank no better than 40th in total interceptions.

Despite the fact Ohio State's 2022 pass defense will feature a lot of the same guys in coverage, there's still hope for drastic improvement as the Buckeyes become more…