The hire of Matt Patricia as Ohio State defensive coordinator was nothing less than a home run hire by head coach Ryan Day. The former New England assistant and Lions head coach quickly installed a defensive scheme that played fast and aggressive all the way to the nation’s No. 1 defense in the country statistically.
The challenge will be to back that up in Year 2, especially since the Buckeyes lost some key personnel to the NFL draft, like Sonny Styles, Arvell Reese, and Caleb Downs. But as they say, at a place like Ohio State, they don’t rebuild; they reload, and that’s the expectation again in 2026. So, don’t be surprised if guys like linebacker Payton Pierce, defensive lineman Eddrick Houston, and transfers Earl Little Jr. and Christian Alliegro keep things between the guardrails and have the Buckeyes as one of the top defenses again.
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In fact, On3 dropped its list of top ten college football defenses for 2026, and OSU is among them, but maybe not as high as others have ranked the unit. According to On3, Ohio State is ranked as the No. 8 defense in the country for 2026 behind Oregon (1), Oklahoma (2), Notre Dame (3), Georgia (4), Texas (5), Miami (FL) (6), and Texas Tech (7). The other two teams behind the Buckeyes, rounding out the top ten, are Iowa (9) and Indiana (10).
