By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) –

Columbus — When 13 years later you remember and regret the shutouts that should have been as much as the ones that happened, you were part of a great defense. Though Ohio State’s 1996 defense did shut out three opponents in 12 games, former linebacker Greg Bellisari recalls the one that got away, a 38-7 win over Penn State when the Nittany Lions were dominated before scoring on Ohio State’s second team in the fourth quarter.

“A shutout is the ultimate accomplishment as a defense,” Bellisari said this week.

When Ohio State’s defense put up a second consecutive shutout last week, hanging a zero on Illinois after doing the same to Toledo, it was the first time the Buckeyes had done it since beating Minnesota, 45-0, and Illinois, 48-0, in November 1996. That group played at Indiana the next week, just as the Buckeyes do tonight in Memorial Stadium, winning 27-17.

While the members of that 1996 defense didn’t mind the look-back they received from the new shutout streak, they were more excited by what they’ve seen on the field this season.

“I’m really impressed this year,” said Matt Finkes, who started as a senior defensive end in 1996 and particularly likes what quick Buy Cipro Online defensive end Thaddeus Gibson has done this season. “What we have that we haven’t in a while is a really talented defensive line. That’s the first thing I look for, and I think they’ve done a great job in both aspects of the game, against the run and the pass.”

“I am overly impressed by the level of emotion and physical play that I’ve seen so far,” said Bellisari, a senior starter at linebacker in 1996. “That’s the hallmark of any good defense. Of course we have talented players, but it’s the emotion. It’s fun to watch good team defense. As a linebacker, I love it, and I think that the sky’s the limit for them.”

Both in 1996 and this year, the defense felt it had a little something to prove. Thirteen years ago, the Buckeyes had lost stars Eddie George, Terry Glenn, Bobby Hoying and Ricky Dudley from a 1995 offense that was the most prolific in Ohio State history.

“That didn’t sit well with us, that the offense had carried the team that year,” Bellisari said. “But we had some senior leaders going into ’96, and we were confident. But more than having talent, we were a cohesive group, and that’s what made us so good.”

Coming into the season, the Buckeyes were trying to get past the loss of big-name defensive stars like Malcolm Jenkins, James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman, and while adopting a “No blame, no names, no worries,” slogan, had their own group of senior leaders in Kurt Coleman, Doug Worthington, Todd Denlinger and Anderson Russell.

“I’m biased because it’s my defense and it’s something I feel so special about,” Worthington said, “because I’ve been around these guys for so long. We have a special bond, and we’ve been together through the bad, through the good, through the OK…….

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE DIRECTLY FROM THE SOURCE PAGE AT THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER BY CLICKING HERE.

READ MORE GREAT ARTICLES ABOUT THE OHIO STATE BUCKEYES DIRECTLY FROM THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER BY CLICKING HERE.

No related posts.