Since various points of the preseason, Ohio State coach Ryan Day has discussed the need for his Buckeyes defensive linemen to be optimally fresh in the fourth quarter.
It's an element, Day believes, that remains central to Ohio State's ability to close out games defensively against equally talented teams.
For example, in last month's Ohio State loss at Oregon, the Ducks marched for the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter on an 11-play, 74-yard drive that melted most of the game's final six minutes from the clock.
Sure, Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard had a moment late to slide down and give OSU a chance to call timeout for a potential game-winning field goal, but Oregon largely won that contest because it outscored the Buckeyes 10-3 in the fourth quarter.
Tuesday, five days before No. 4 OSU visits undefeated, third-ranked Penn State, Day again expressed a desire to see more players rotated along the defensive front.
"I definitely think we want to rotate guys," said Day, Ohio State's sixth-year head coach. "But when the game's on the line like that we've got to make sure that we're getting stops. We did that.
"We'll have to do that again this week. But, yeah, I mean, we've got to get K-Mac (Kayden McDonald) mixed in more, and Hero (Kanu) mixed in more, Kenyatta (Jackson Jr.), Caden Curry and make sure that our guys are fresh in the fourth quarter."
That quartet of reserves combined for just 36 total snaps in Ohio State's narrow win last week against Nebraska, a game in which the defense was on the field for 72 plays.
But veteran defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, in his third season in Columbus, addressed the media Tuesday afternoon and didn't exactly back up his boss.
"I'm comfortable with whatever Coach (Larry) Johnson deems appropriate," Knowles told reporters in reference to the snaps being meted out by Johnson, the OSU defensive line coach. "He knows what he's doing."
The very different answers from the head coach of the program and the head coach of the defense left the Ohio State media to try and clarify where things stood moving forward.
Meanwhile, the Buckeyes did get some good news on the defensive side: the Big Ten overturned the initial targeting penalty/ejection levied against Arvell Reese in the Nebraska game.
Day credited the Big Ten office for overturning the ruling from the game, but he said the messaged remained the same to his team: Don't expect to start getting the benefit of the doubt with the officials' whistles.
"So without getting into details of all the conversation, it's very difficult to try to coach these players on what exactly to do in that situation," said Day, who noted the Big Ten ruled that Nebraska's Jahmal Banks had transitioned from defenseless wide receiver to forward-moving ball-carrier. "And so I think what Arvell did in that situation is about what we'd expect someone to do and react in that moment right there trying to go win the game with the game on the line. And it keeps it from what I believe, he keeps his head out of the tackle.
"And so it is, it's frustrating to think with everything on the line and you're trying to teach the guys what to do to be put in that situation is very difficult. Now I give the league credit. I think the easiest thing to do would have been just to say no and, but they did at least stand up and say, no, that should not have been targeting in that moment."
And ...
"Like, it's going to be the same thing on Saturday," Day said. "I don't know what's coming, and I'm not expecting to get a bunch of calls because it doesn't seem to just happen for us.
"So, we've got to go win the game and leave no doubt. And, and win convincingly. That's the goal."