Kenyatta Jackson Jr. enters this season as one of the most important pieces of Ohio State’s new-look defense.
A year ago, Jackson made the jump from contributor to full-time starter. He started all 14 games, played 589 defensive snaps and finished second on the team with 11 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks, along with 28 total tackles. He earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors. (Ohio State)
Now, with several major pieces from last year’s championship defense gone, Jackson is one of the veterans Ohio State is counting on up front.
That makes Saturday a pretty important measuring stick.
Eight Pressures. No Sacks.
The box score doesn’t exactly jump off the page.
Against Ball State, Jackson recorded three tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss. He didn’t record a sack. (Ohio State)
But the underlying performance was much more encouraging.
According to Pro Football Focus’ charting, Jackson generated eight quarterback pressures, the most among Power 4 defenders in Week 1. (
And here’s the part we really like for this week’s conversation:
Jackson wasn’t satisfied with it.
When asked about his performance, Jackson described it as “decent” and said some of those pressures should have been sacks. He specifically pointed to finishing plays and staying on his feet as areas where he needs to improve.
That’s a pretty good mindset heading into Texas.
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Now Comes Arch
The difference this week is obvious.
Ball State wasn’t going to tell us everything about Ohio State’s pass rush.
Texas might.
Arch Manning opened the season by throwing for 305 yards and four touchdowns against Texas State. He was also kept remarkably clean, taking just one sack in the opener. (Burnt Orange Nation)
But we also have a pretty important piece of history.
In last year’s 14-7 Ohio State win, the Buckeyes generated 15 pressures against Manning and consistently made him uncomfortable, particularly early in the game.
Texas will obviously have a plan to deal with that this time around.
And one of the biggest individual matchups will be Texas offensive tackle Trevor Goosby against Jackson. Goosby played the majority of Texas’ Week 1 game after dealing with a preseason knee injury, and Texas will need him to handle one of Ohio State’s most dangerous pass rushers.
That’s where Jackson can change the game.
He doesn’t necessarily need to sack Manning three times.
If he can consistently collapse the pocket, force Manning off his spot, speed up his internal clock and create opportunities for the rest of the defensive front, he’s doing his job.
The BFB Question
This is the first game of the season where we can really start to answer the question:
Is Kenyatta Jackson ready to be the guy on this defensive line?
Not because he needs to replace last year’s production by himself.
And not because we’re expecting a sack every Saturday.
But because elite defenses need someone who can change a game when the opponent has a great quarterback.
Jackson showed against Ball State that he can generate pressure.
Now he gets an experienced Arch Manning, in Austin, in a game where every possession matters.
And Jackson knows exactly what this game represents. He called Ball State a “warmup” and described Texas as the “big test”—the kind of game he came to Ohio State to play.
So we’re watching more than the sack column Saturday.
We’re watching disruption.
Can Kenyatta Jackson make Arch Manning uncomfortable?
Because if he can turn those eight pressures from Week 1 into game-changing plays against Texas, Ohio State’s new-look defense might have found its new centerpiece.
Buckeye Film Breakdown will return soon with some fresh content.
