A look ahead at week three and where Kent State's defense needs to continue to improve

By Brian George

Defensive Coordinator

Preparing to play Ohio State is like preparing for any game. You want to put your players in a position where they can win the game. 

Obviously, when we get that opportunity, we have to make the plays on the field that we need to make. We have to get off of blocks, make tackles, and cover their guys. But in terms of preparation, it is no different than how we prepare any week. If we did treat this game differently, players will figure it out very quickly.

In watching film on Ohio State’s offense this week, you can see they are very talented. They are also more youthful than they were last season, and so up to this point they have been a lot simpler in terms of what they do. I think they have some very talented guys, though, which is what you would expect. They are a top-10 recruiting class every year. They have some young players on their offensive line, and that’s one reason they are doing things simpler. But with Braxton Miller being out I think they are doing some things to make things easier on their young quarterback.

They had a tough loss last week, so they will probably make some adjustments. It will be interesting to see where they go and what direction they take with what they are doing.

It’s going to be good to see our guys go against very good competition. I think our guys have continued to improve from week one to week two. We have to keep improving in two ways. No. 1, we need to keep getting better fundamentally.

The second one is understanding situational football. Where are we on the field? How does offense and defense change the closer you get to the end zone. Recognition of the whole formation and not just what is directly in front of me.

Coming up as high school players, you aren’t asked to see the big picture. But at this level it can really help you if you learn to see the big picture. You have to study really hard, though, to know what is going on around you. We are getting to that point even though we are still a relatively young crew. The guys are very attentive and they are taking in what we are teaching. I’m hopeful we will continue to take steps forward in that area.