Ohio State’s defensive coordinator, Matt Patricia, has emerged as one of the top coordinators in college football this season. Having not coached at the collegiate level since serving as a graduate assistant at Syracuse in 2003, Patricia has made a remarkable comeback to the college game.
The Buckeyes defense is holding teams to an average of less than six points per game this season, and it couldn’t be possible without Patricia, who is loving his time at Ohio State.
“It’s been unbelievable,” Patricia said, via The Silver Bulletin. “This place is amazing. The fans are great, the stadium atmosphere, my kids are in awe. They’ve seen some really cool things in sports, but this has been unbelievable.”
Ohio State is a job unlike any other, with its great history and tradition. If Patricia, who coached with the New England Patriots in a handful of Super Bowls, is amazed by coaching the Buckeyes, then any coach would be.
Coaching at Ohio State is never easy, and Patricia didn’t have an easy test coming into the season.
Usually, the Buckeyes kick off their season against a smaller college, but this year they began with Texas, which was favored to win the championship before the start of the season. Patricia made Texas’ quarterback Arch Manning have a tough day, throwing for only 170 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
The Longhorns only touchdown in the game came late in the fourth quarter, and after that game, many Buckeyes fans, including head coach Ryan Day, knew Patricia was special.
“Well, he did a great job,” Day said of Patricia to FOX’s Jenny Taft after the Texas games, via On3’s Nick Kosko. “Our staff did a great job. I thought the play coming in was excellent. They kept fighting. I can’t say enough about these guys for the first game coming out and playing like this. It’s just a start. We got a lot to improve on. But yeah, defense really did a great job all night. A lot of respect for Arch and for Sark and they’re gonna have a great season. But man, what a great win for us to start off with such a young group.”
While the Texas win was phenomenal, Ohio State and Patricia know that it isn’t even one of its primary goals for the season.
Ohio State is enjoying its second bye week and won’t be in action this Saturday. However, the team will be back on the field at home to take on Penn State on Nov. 1.
