Ohio State Football: Falcons Will Test The Buckeye Pass Defense

You can expect Bowling Green to test the new Ohio State starters through the air.

Ohio State will have three new starters in the secondary on Saturday. You can be sure that Bowling Green will test them often and see how well the Buckeyes can defend the pass.

I do agree with Thomas Scurlock's assumption in a recent Scarlet And Game article that the Falcons will probably run the ball early. After all, the Buckeyes will have five new starters in their front seven.

But I think they will try to take advantage of the new starting cornerback Marshon Lattimore and Denzel Ward who be replacing him from time to time. Also, they will test the two new safeties, Malik Hooker and Damon Webb.

Every coach knows when you rebuild a defensive backfield it takes some time to gel as a unit. Often the opposing team can hit on a few big plays against them because of their lack of communication.

The safeties also have a new position coach in Greg Schiano. That was the same situation in 2014 with Chris Ash and that talented young defensive backfield. The unit struggled at times early that year before gelling into one of the nation's best by seasons end.

Also, there will be two new starting linebackers for Ohio State. Learning to play pass coverage is one of the more difficult things for most linebackers to become efficient at.

The new starting defensive backs for Ohio State are talented players and their backups are as well. They will more than likely develop into a strong unit later in the season, but it could be a work in progress.

As Tom pointed out in his article, James Knapke played most of season in 2014 after replacing the injured Matt Johnson. Knapke threw for over 3,000 yards that season and 15 touchdowns. He knows how to throw the ball around a little bit.

Everyone knows that Bowling Green can't go toe to toe with Ohio State's size and talent. They will have to look for some big plays along the way to stay in the game.

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The best way for the Falcons to do that is to test the Buckeyes revamped pass defense and hope for some blown coverages. It looks to me like the Ohio State secondary will get a good test in the very first game.

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