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What Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said after the Buckeyes’ 32-31 loss to Oregon

Vaseline October 13, 2024

EUGENE, Ore. – Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles addressed the media following the team’s 32-31 loss to Oregon Saturday night at Autzen Stadium.

It wasn’t the best night for its defense, as the Ducks marched up and down the field for 45 minutes.

Here’s what Knowles had to say:

“We need to do better job coaching. That’s it. That is the starting point. We didn’t play enough, I didn’t think we excelled in any area. It felt like we were always behind. It was uncharacteristic. We must learn from it. We have to train better, we have to coach better.”
On why and how Ohio State allowed so many big plays: “We didn’t execute. The coach spoke, but we didn’t execute. When you play against a better opponent, you have to increase your level of our game. I just felt like our guys, we just got to coach them better. We need to get them in better positions and focus on the details and make sure this loss doesn’t hit us again.”
On not getting after Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who threw for 341 yards: “He does a good job of getting into the pocket. We knew that. He’s a really good quarterback. What we had didn’t work. We certainly need to evaluate that entire process and plan.”
“The players we have always play at the level of their training. It comes back to me and coaching. We have to find a way to increase that competition and simulate those situations in a better way.”
On the message to cornerback Denzel Burke, who didn’t have a good night in the secondary: “I would just tell him that he’s a great player, that we love him, and he knows it and they all know that all the bad play hits me. Him, me, the entire defense, we have to learn from it. And we get even more opportunities. We have to find a way to get better.”