Tuimoloau's performance greatest single-game in OSU history?
Cover photo: OSU defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau chases after Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford during the third quarter. Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports.
When the final seconds ticked off the clock in Beaver Stadium for No. 2 Ohio State’s 44-31 victory over No. 13 Penn State, the final score didn’t show the eye-popping stat line defensive end J. T. Tuimoloau put together.
Six tackles (three solo, three assisted), three tackles for-loss (including two sacks), two interceptions (including one for a 14-yard touchdown), one pass break-up (that resulted in the team’s first interception of the game by fellow defensive end Zach Harrison) and one forced fumble that was caused on one of his sacks and he recovered the fumble.
Those stats can make your brain swim trying to keep track of it all.
However, if you look at each stat on its own, they don’t necessarily jump out. Except for maybe the two interceptions, which is pretty impressive for any player but probably more so considering they came from a defensive end.
So let’s first take a look at each one of Tuimoloau’s stats and see where they stack up in relation to other single-game performances in Ohio State’s official record book.
Six tackles. Those certainly won’t go down in the school’s book seeing as how the top 16 guys in OSU history are listed with at least 20 in a game.
Three tackles for-loss for 17 yards. There are 31 performances listed in the book where four tackles for-loss in one game is the least amount listed and 35 yards for-loss is the lowest total. Five TFLs are the most with six guys tied at the top. Forty nine yards for-loss is the highest in OSU history owned by nose guard Tim Sawicki who accomplished the feat against Northwestern in 1979.
Two sacks for 16 yards. There are 25 different performances tied with three sacks in a game, which is the lowest amount listed. Four is the highest amount with five guys tied. Twenty seven yards for-loss are the lowest amount with three different guys achieving it while defensive tackle John Simon owns the lead with 36 against Wisconsin in Badger Stadium in 2012.
Two interceptions for 16 yards and one returned for a touchdown.
Once again, two interceptions in a single game is pretty impressive for any player on the field and the fact that a defensive end did this is remarkable.
However, it’s not the only time a defensive end has intercepted a pass for a score. Remember Steve Miller in the first-ever college football playoff semifinal against Alabama? For those who may have forgotten, the senior picked off Blake Sims and returned it 41 yards for a late third quarter score.
Three picks in one contest is the current OSU record book benchmark with nine performances but eight guys sharing the lead. Defensive back Fred Bruney is the only Buckeye listed twice when he had three INT’s for 43 return yards in a home game against Illinois in 1951 and then replicated the performance for the same amount of yards against Michigan in Ohio Stadium the following year.
The 16 return yards don’t even come close as three different guys are tied for first with 100 yard returns for a score and Kurt Coleman comes in at No. 5 with an 89-yard return for six that happened at home against Wisconsin in 2009.
So all of Tuimoloau’s stats in the win against the Nittany Lions will never see Ohio State’s record book.
But all of those stats combined in one game? It begs the original question to start this piece: Is this the greatest single-game defensive performance ever seen?
Columbus Wired took a deep dive into some memorable performances and compares them to what Tuimoloau did.
Tackles in a game
Both linebackers Chris Spielman and Tom Cousineau top the list with 29 in a single game. Spielman did it in the regular season capper at home against Michigan in 1986. Cousineau did it in a home game season opener, ironically, against Penn State in 1978. He finished with nine solo tackles, 20 assisted and one tackle for-loss for five yards.
Spielman concluded a 26-24 loss with 10 solo tackles and 19 assists.
Tackles for-loss in a game
Chase Young is tied with five others for No. 1 in OSU history with five, and his performance in a 38-7 drubbing at home against Wisconsin in 2019 where he finished with six solo tackles, five for-loss for 26 yards, four sacks for 25 yards and two forced fumbles is still to this day one of Buckeye lore.
However, what he did three games later against Penn State might be just as impressive, if not more so. Young again was an unstoppable force in the Buckeyes’ 28-17 win as he gave Sean Clifford his only sack taken of the game and got to backup Will Levis twice. Young finished the game with nine tackles (five solo, four assists), four tackles for-loss for 24 yards including the three sacks for 22 yards and forced a fumble.
As mentioned earlier, Simon’s 36 sack yards are the most in one game, which came against the Badgers in 2012. However, he’s tied with Young and others when he had five TFL’s in a home game 63-38 blowout against Nebraska earlier that same season. He finished that game with six solo tackles, one assist, five for-loss for 24 yards which included two sacks for 13 yards and forced a fumble.
Another memorable performance in this category was linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer in the Buckeyes’ 1997 Rose Bowl win against an undefeated, No. 2 rated Arizona State Sun Devil team, 20-17. The fourth-ranked Buckeyes were coming off of a 13-9 loss at home against Michigan, which was the first of the season, but had still done enough to win the conference and secure a trip to Pasadena. The true freshman went berserk and created havoc all night long for quarterback Jake Plummer, as he sacked the senior three times for 16 yards, had five tackles for-loss for 18 yards, broke up two of Plummer’s passes and picked him off once for an 18-yard return. The Big Kat finished the game with six solo tackles and one assist.
Tackles for-loss yards in a game
There’s really only one game that stands out in this category and it’s Sawicki’s previously mentioned performance against the Wildcats in 1979. The Buckeyes won a 16-7 defensive slobber knocker in Ohio Stadium and Sawicki was a big part of the Scarlet and Gray limiting the Purple and White to 194 total yards, 75 of which came on the ground. The senior defensive middle guard ended with 15 total tackles (eight solo, seven assists), four tackles for-loss for the highest ever amount of 49 yards that included three sacks for 39 yards.
Sacks in a game
When it comes to this category, there’s just something about playing Wisconsin that has proved fortuitous in this regard.
As mentioned above, Young sits No. 1 in this category when he harassed Badger quarterback Jack Coan in 2019 for four sacks. He is tied with Simon, who owns the sack yards record after clobbering Wisconsin quarterback Curt Phillips four times in a thrilling 21-14 overtime victory on the road. Simon concluded the game with six tackles (five solo, one assist) and all four sacks for 36 yards were tackles for-loss.
But those two aren’t the only guys to have four sacks in one contest. Three others, including defensive end Vernon Gholston, have done the same. The senior defensive end chipped in four for 32 yards against the Badgers in a 38-17 win at home in 2007. As a team, the Buckeyes sacked quarterback Tyler Donovan nine times as well as wide receiver Travis Beckum once. All four of Gholston’s sacks were solo tackles, the “only” stat he logged in the game and the 32 yards sit tied-for second.
Sack yards in a game
Simon sits No. 1 while Gholston is tied for second with linebacker Byron Lee, who had half as many sacks as Gholston but still shares the No. 2 spot.
The junior out of Columbus Eastmoor High School had two sacks for 32 yards in a 50-7 walloping against Indiana in the Horseshoe in 1984. One sack went for six yards midway through the second quarter. So if you’re good at quick math, his other sack was for a whopping 26 yards after IU quarterback Steve Bradley tried to scramble around but was dropped for the massive loss by Lee with under nine minutes to go in the third quarter. Lee finished the game with three tackles, where the two sacks were both solo, and he assisted in another.
Interceptions in a game
As stated earlier, nine Buckeyes make the list with three in one game with DB Fred Bruney being the only player to do it twice. Safety William White is also in the book as the only Buckeye to have three while also returning one for a touchdown in the same game. That was against West Virginia in Ohio Stadium for the 1987 season opener where White finished with four solo tackles, one assist, the three picks as well as one pass break up. Unfortunately, Ohio State’s website doesn’t go back any further than 1960 when listing box scores for individual games so it’s hard to say what Bruney did overall in the two aforementioned contests.
Interceptions for a touchdown in a game
Coming into this year, there were 90 different performances where a player returned a pick for six. Now there are 92, including linebacker Tommy Eichenberg’s 15-yarder the weekend before against Iowa and Tuimoloau’s 14-yard return late in the fourth quarter against the Nittany Lions.
Seeing as how OSU lists the most recent INT’s for scores, Tuimoloau’s name will indeed be included in the record books for this one.
For this reporter, the closest ones seem to be Katzenmoyer’s performance in the Rose Bowl. His name sits tied-for No. 1 in tackles for-loss (5) and tied-for seventh in sacks (3) because of this game. He also had two pass break ups and one interception returned for 18 yards but no score. That’s about as close to Tuimoloau’s stat sheet stuffer as one has had.
So what do you think? Is sophomore defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau’s single-game dominance possibly the greatest Buckeye Nation has ever seen?
If there are any other performances we may have overlooked, drop us a line on Twitter @Columbus_Wired.