Let’s not act like OSU was some middling team; iirc, many had them & Bama as the favorites to win it all. When u get to this level, u’re going to see def in spurts, but not total domination as u would see these teams maul lesser opponents throughout the season.
OSU’s def had their moments which led them to a two score lead at segments, & UGA’s defense had their moments which didn’t allow that scoreboard to get out of hand, giving their offense a chance.
TCU had their moments, stifling UofM’s O, scoring two TDs, building a 3 score lead, while UofM’s def had their moments, leading a come back, giving their O a chance ti steal the game.
U still need both, but of course the game has become skewed towards The O. The Def really only get:
1. Holding
2. False Starts/Illegal Shift/Illegal Formation
3. Chop Block
4. Too Many Men
5. The Occasional Offensive P.I
6. Illegal Block in The Back
7. Delay of game
The offense gets:
1. Offsides/Lined Up in Neutral Zone
2. Too Many Men
3. Block Below The Waist
4. P.I
5. Def Holding (Secondary)
6. Def Holding (At Line of Scrimmage)
7. Roughing The Passer
8. Targeting
9. Illegal Hit Out of Bounds
10. Face Mask
11. Horse Collar
12. Hitting A Defenseless Receiver
13. Running Into/Roughing The Kicker
14. Leaping over protection to block kick
So yeah, the game handcuffs defenses a bit, but u still see some very solid defensive performances throughout the season. The CFP or Nat’l Championship game is not an indictment on this, rather u’re seeing in a lot of cases of strength on strength. Go ask them OU teams that smoked the B12 what happened in the CFP.