Ohio State was supposed to have one of the nation's best secondaries this season. Instead, the unit has been so mediocre that coach Urban Meyer calls its play "alarming."
Junior cornerback Bradley Roby and senior safeties C.J. Barnett and Christian Bryant were returning starters, and the thought was that all that experience would help Ohio State have a lockdown secondary. Instead, the Buckeyes are allowing 240.0 passing yards per game, a figure that ranks 77th nationally, and they have surrendered at least 343 yards twice and at least 295 three times in six games.
In the past two games, wins over Wisconsin and Northwestern, the Buckeyes allowed 638 yards, four TDs and a completion percentage of 69.2 (45 of 65). And that came against teams ranked 61st (Northwestern) and 74th nationally in pass offense.
"We really spend a lot of energy and focus on the run game and stopping the run game," coach Urban Meyer told reporters. "And my challenge to them is, without sacrificing that, how do we get that same focus into stopping the pass game?"
Ohio State is sixth nationally against the run (86.2 yards per game).
Roby (5-foot-11, 192 pounds) went into the season generally considered the No. 1 cornerback in the nation. But he has not played up to that standard. His skill set, including excellent speed, is such that he almost certainly will be a first-round pick should he choose to come out. But he was dominated by Wisconsin wide receiver Jared Abbrederis, to the extent that Ohio State had to start rolling over a safety to help him out, and he struggled again against Northwestern.
Barnett (6-1, 204) is third on the team with 30 tackles, but he has made zero big plays -- no tackles for loss, no pass breakups, no interceptions, no fumble recoveries, no forced fumbles, nothing.
Bryant was playing perhaps the best of anybody in the secondary, but he was lost for the season on the penultimate play of the Wisconsin win. His replacement is senior Corey "Pitt" Brown (6-1, 203), a physical presence who struggles in coverage.
Junior cornerback Doran Grant (5-11, 191) has done a solid job in his first season as a starter, but he still had problems against California, Wisconsin and Northwestern.
One positive for the Buckeyes is that Iowa, this week's opponent, is one of the poorest passing teams in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes average just 209.3 passing yards per game, which ranks ninth in the Big Ten -- which isn't exactly filled with prolific passing attacks -- and 87th in the nation. Thus, a good performance by the Buckeyes' secondary Saturday may be fool's gold in a way: Stifling Iowa's passing attack isn't that big a deal.
The flipside, of course: If the Hawkeyes throw it around effectively, the situation with the Buckeyes' secondary could reach critical mass.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
