A.J. Hawk and Bobby Carpenter continue to get the ink. But a couple of their
defensive co-workers continue to contribute. Saturday's 31-6 victory over Iowa
was no different.
Anthony Schlegel, a senior linebacker, and Mike Kudla, a senior defensive
end, made life miserable for Iowa QB Drew Tate and the rest of his Hawkeye
teammates.
Schlegel totaled five tackles on the evening while Kudla registered three
tackles, including 1.5 sacks and several other pressures of Tate.
"We really wanted to make them pass. The D-line played great and that's
really what happened," Schlegel said of Kudla and the rest of the defensive
line. "When the defensive line stops the run like that, we can get some
penetration and get some sacks."
Entering Saturday's game against Iowa, Schlegel had registered 16 tackles and
a quarterback sack. Kudla, meanwhile, had been solid from the rush end with 10
tackles and two quarterback sacks.
Senior co-captain and the defense' emotional leader, Hawk, couldn't say
enough about the job the defensive line did of getting penetration.
"Oh man, today you have to give credit to all of our defensive
linemen," Hawk noted. "They all did a great job of coming out and
getting penetration and making it tougher for them to move the ball.
"Give credit to our line for this win," he added.
Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Heacock believes the credit goes all
around, but he singled out the linebackers as a group for continuing to play at
another level.
"About the only way I can say is I think what's happened on the defense
is they were very unselfish linebackers, that's the thing that impresses me the
most," he said. "They're playing as a team. I think the evidence today
was a team effort. If you look at it, I think you'll see the back end did a
great job, the secondary did a great job, and I'm not taking away from the
linebackers, but I think it was a great team effort."
"But we're very fortunate to have three outstanding linebackers and
they're playing unselfish and they're leading out there and they're very
intelligent, which really helps," Heacock elaborated.
At least four times during the game, Ohio State came up with a crucial
third-down sack of Tate.
Iowa lost a total of 43 yards in tackles behind the line of scrimmage against
Ohio State. Schlegel noted they didn't move Tate out of the pocket nearly as
much as the Buckeyes expected.
"I think they ran one dash where they tried to get him outside and throw
to the boundary and they only did that maybe one time," Schlegel said.
"They only ran maybe one bootleg and looking at how many times they did
that last year, we thought maybe they would get him out moving some more again,
but they didn't. I think the pressure really took them out of their game."
That pressure, continued to come from guys like Kudla all day long.
"The nice thing is, the nickel package, Bobby (Carpenter) is on one
side, Mike's on the other. There's no way they can double team either one of
them," Heacock explained. "Mike's always been a good football player
for us. He's had some problems with health, staying healthy, and had some injury
problems over the years. When he's played, he's always been a good football
player for us."
The pressure definitely got to Tate. The one play in particular was the third
quarter sack of Tate by Bobby Carpenter for a loss of 12 yards on third down
which led to Iowa's first points of the day, a 52-yard field goal by Kyle
Schlicker.
Frustration from Tate showed in his post-game comments.
"They (Ohio State) are a great team and very fast," he said after
the loss. "I couldn't step up in the pocket because they closed in really
fast."
On the day, Iowa finished with 18 rushing attempts for a net loss of minus
nine yards. When the Hawkeyes tried to pass, Tate was sent running for his life.
It was Kudla, among the rest of the seniors, doing the chasing.
"Coach Tressel always talks about for us to be good, our seniors have to
be great, their best football, and I think that's what these seniors are doing -
stepping up and playing their best football," Heacock concluded. "Mike
Kudla is doing that."