COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — All anybody around Ohio State wants to talk about is the spread offense being molded by new coach Urban Meyer.
Tucked away in the corner of the Woody Hayes practice field going through the paces in the August heat is the real backbone of the 18th-ranked Buckeyes.
John Simon, Johnathan Hankins, Garrett Goebel, Adam Bellamy and Nathan Williams aren’t household names — even in the households with scarlet-and-gray fan caves. Yet it is the defensive front that determines how rapidly the Buckeyes can erase an awful 2011 and start looking to the future.
How much pressure the big guys up front apply can make a thin group of linebackers and a solid secondary look worlds better. And it can take a lot of heat off Meyer’s new offense.
