Even the defense thinks its play could be better

The offensive players have their own problems and refuse to point fingers.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Wherever Ohio State fans congregate, you can hear the same thing repeated over and over: "You can't blame the losses on the defense. That might be the best defense in the country."
By most numerical standards, the Ohio State defense is beyond reproach heading into Saturday's game at Indiana. It is no secret that the Buckeyes offense has sputtered most of the year while the defense has continually flattened opponents.
Yet even the defenders acknowledge that they have fallen far short when it comes to intercepting passes and pouncing on fumbles. The 14th-ranked Buckeyes (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) rank 104th of the 117 I-A teams in turnover margin, are tied for 85th in interceptions and tied for 98th in fumbles recovered.
Matter of time
"We go out there and fly around and hit people and the turnovers just haven't been bouncing our way," safety Nate Salley said. "I believe that they're going to start coming. It's just a matter of time. I know time is winding down, but it'll happen."
The question is, how good is a defense if it doesn't get the ball back? Just last Saturday, Michigan State ran 87 offensive plays to 41 for Ohio State's offense. In time of possession, the Spartans had the ball 41 minutes to the Buckeyes' 19.
Of course, this is not solely the fault of the defense. Since the offense has been having difficulty putting together long drives, opposing teams get the ball many more times and with better field position.
But how can the defense sack Michigan State's Drew Stanton a school-record 12 times, yet never take the ball away?
"The guy didn't throw bad passes," linebacker Anthony Schlegel said, referring to Stanton. "How you going to get picks like that?"
The defense ranks No. 2 in the nation in stopping the run and is ninth in total defense. Yet the players clearly are stumped why they haven't gotten many takeaways.
Shortcoming
The Buckeyes have forced seven fumbles, recovering three. And they have intercepted just four of the 190 passes attempted by opposing offenses.
A year ago while splitting their first six games, the Buckeyes defense forced one more turnover -- eight -- than the current squad.
"Our defense hasn't done a good job of getting turnovers," linebacker A.J. Hawk said. "We don't know for one reason or another why we haven't. Maybe we haven't been stripping the ball as well as we should have. We've got our hands on a couple of balls but we just haven't caught them. You can't sit there and dwell on that, though. We just have to make sure we wrap up and tackle and try to get the ball out."
The players on the offensive side have their own problems and refuse to point out any failings by the defense. But coach Jim Tressel has been stepping up the heat on the defense in an attempt to shake out more turnovers.
"That's what coach has been speaking on a lot is that we have to force more turnovers on the defensive side," wide receiver Santonio Holmes said. "I know those guys are going out there and playing their butts off."
Confidence-builder
Turnovers help make an offense more effective and add to its confidence. A few short-field scores and a team starts thinking it can score from anywhere.
Salley said the defense has dominated in just about every aspect but one: until the number of turnovers increases the Buckeyes cannot be considered with some of the other great units in school history.
"We play extremely hard and make big plays," Salley said. "We're pretty efficient in what we do. I know that that's one thing [turnovers] we're lacking, but I don't think you can find very many weak spots."