‘Big, fast defense’

SEATTLE — Sometimes, Ohio State quarterback Todd Boeckman considers game days a reprieve.

That’s not a knock on whoever the Buckeyes are playing on any given week, and in the case of this week, on Washington. Their defense is just that good.

“It’s nice going against them in practice, but sometimes it gets too tough,” said Boeckman. “Going against them in camp is especially tough. Going against them every day, oh man, they provide a lot of problems for us.”

The defense he raves about isn’t just getting the job done on the practice field. After two games, the Buckeyes have allowed just 122.5 yards per game, giving them the top-ranked defense in the nation. Ohio State is also allowing just 44 rushing yards and four points per game. Ohio State has yet to allow a touchdown.

Granted, the Huskies should be a much better offense than what Ohio State has seen in Youngstown State and Akron, but the numbers the Buckeyes are allowing — or not allowing in their case — don’t appear to be a fluke.

“These guys are good,” said Washington offensive coordinator Tim Lappano. “These guys are real good … We’ve got our work cut out.”

Leading the Ohio State defense is junior linebacker James Laurinaitis, who as a sophomore won the Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation’s top defensive player. A preseason All-American, Laurinaitis is one of many talented linebackers on the Ohio State defense, says Lappano.

“He’s big and he can run,” said Lappano. “All those guys can run. All those guys are 230 plus and they can all change direction. … They run really well. This isn’t a big, slow defense. This is a big, fast defense. When you talk about the Big Ten sometimes, you talk about a bunch of big, physical, slow guys, but these guys can run. These guys have speed.”

Laurinaitis, the son of professional wrestler Joe Laurinaitis, better known as the “Road Warrior Animal,” came into last season hoping to win a starting job and blossomed into one of the country’s best linebackers.

He talks about the Nagurski Award with humility you might not expect from the offspring of a professional wrestler.

“It was surprising,” he said. “When you come in as a sophomore trying to start, I was just trying to get a position locked up. And that award wasn’t all me at all. We’ve got a tremendous line in front of me and I’ve got tremendous guys around me. It’s more of a humbling experience. It makes you realize that you didn’t accomplish that alone.”

And in case you were wondering, Laurinaitis calls his father his role model, but says that a wrestling career will not follow football because, “My mom would kill me.”

Laurinaitis is far from being the only talented player on the Ohio State defense. Defensive end Vernon Gholston was a second-team all-conference player last season and finished the year with 7.5 sacks. All three linebackers are considered dangerous, and cornerback Malcolm Jenkins was a first-team All-Big Ten selection last year.

“We will have our hands full,” said Huskies coach Tyrone Willingham. “They are talented on defense at every position.”

The silver lining for Washington can perhaps be found in January’s BCS National Championship game. Florida upset Ohio State in that game employing a spread option somewhat similar to Washington’s attack.

Lappano said the Huskies will look at that game, but not drastically change what they do.

“You try to look and see what’s hurt them and see if you have anything similar,” he said. “But we’re going to run our offense. We can’t worry so much about them. They’re a good football team, but we’re not going to reinvent the wheel here. We need to execute our offense.”

Like their coaches, Washington’s players know they have their hands full, but are looking forward to the challenge.

“It’s going to be big challenge,” said receiver Marcel Reece. “Ohio State, they’re the Buckeyes, they’re THE Ohio State University. They’re going to come out with a great scheme, great athletes, and it’s going to be a challenge. We’re going to make it a challenge for them too.”