Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck knows what his Golden Gophers are up against Saturday: a No. 1-ranked Ohio Stateteam that, in his words, might be the best team the Buckeyes have had under head coach Ryan Day.
Fleck isn’t one to hand out compliments lightly. Like his own team, the Buckeyes reflect the attitude, demeanor and habits of their head coach. Day’s group is confident, disciplined, and explosive — traits Fleck both respects and recognizes.
So when Fleck singles out a fellow coach for praise, especially the one standing across the field this weekend, it’s worth listening.
“He’s an incredible man, first of all, and then just a fabulous coach,” Fleck said. “But I know he has a lot of confidence in this football team he’s coaching, and I think statistically when you look at them under Ryan Day … in the first four games, [this] could be the best team he has ever coached.
“This is a really good football team. We’re gonna have to play our best football game of the year. We know that.”
Not many would argue with that assessment of Day or his 2025 team, especially given how the Buckeyes are moving differently on defense, leveling up from last year’s top-ranked scoring unit into something nastier and largely unseen in the College Football Playoff era.
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In fact, the Buckeyes are flirting with becoming the best defense since Alabama in 2011. That Crimson Tide team allowed a salty 8.2 points per game en route to a national title — and Ohio State has been even better. The Buckeyes are allowing just 5.5 points per game, haven’t surrendered a touchdown in the red zone all season, and have held every opponent to nine points or fewer.
One week after Washington dropped 59 points and 471 total yards on in-state foe Washington State, including 298 passing yards and 88 rushing yards from QB Demond Williams Jr., the Buckeyes held the Huskies to just six points and sacked Williams six times.
“They’re holding opponents to five points, so Washington did a good job scoring one more point than what they’re averaging,” Fleck said. “That’s an above-average performance.”
Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson Sr. deserves the most credit for that. Once again, he has identified and developed a pair of game-wreckers off the edge in senior Caden Curry and junior Kayden McDonald, who have combined for 8.0 sacks and 13 tackles for loss through the first third of the season.
But it’s defensive coordinator Matt Patricia’s entire unit that has been stingy from the start. At every level, there’s at least one player who could be a first-round NFL draft pick — and that’s without even mentioning Buckeyes safety Caleb Downs, who is still the best defensive player in the country.
“You can see how the front seven understand how the back end works,” Fleck said at his press conference this week. “The back end understands how the front seven works. They work cohesively together. They’re relentless.
“Those four guys up front, they get into Double Eagle packages, and they’re straight up the field. Coach Johnson coaching that D-line — they’re coming after the quarterback, and if the run happens to get in the way, they’ll tackle the run. … They’re relentless in their pursuit. They’re really good tacklers. They’re smart.”
Caden Curry #92 of the Ohio State Buckeyes looks on during the game against the Washington Huskies. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
And the scariest part? This defense might not have hit its ceiling yet in 2025.
Ohio State is No. 1 in both the AP Top 25 poll and my latest top 25 rankings — right ahead of Oregon, a team it beat in last season’s Rose Bowl and won’t face again this year. But matchups with Penn State, Indiana and Michigan still loom.
Heading into Saturday’s game, Minnesota looks like food for a Buckeyes team that is not only hungry — but healthy, rested, and hunting to become the second program since Georgia to win back-to-back national titles since Georgia in 2021 and 2022.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him @RJ_Young.
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