Ohio State head coach Ryan Day wasn’t too pleased with how his offense fared, despite the big win against the preseason top-ranked Texas in Week 1.

However, the one silver lining out of that win was how exceptionally the Buckeyes’ defense fared.

Coming into the season, Ohio State lost significant members of the defense to the NFL in J.T. Tuimoloau, Jack Sawyer and Cody Simon. So with that, there was an underlying concern about how the defense would do in Week 1, especially since the top-ranked Texas was coming into town.

With a 14-7 victory, the Buckeyes hushed the chatter and showed up when needed, stifling the Longhorns.

Pro Football Focus singled out three key members of the OSU defense and one of them was defensive tackle Kayden McDonald.

The junior was a standout defender for the Buckeyes, given an 82.4 rating from PFF, along with one solo tackle and seven assisted tackles for a total of eight combined tackles.

Not only that, among all defensive tackles in the Big Ten, McDonald was given the highest tackle grade (77.1), as well as leading the team with an 82.2 score in run defense.

McDonald’s first full season as a starter included him playing every game, racking up 19 total tackles, two tackles for loss and a pass deflection.

Behind McDonald was backup nose tackle Will Smith Jr., the son of the late, great former Buckeye, Will Smith Sr., who made the most out of the 16 snaps he played by recording two tackles and recording an 80.7 grade.

And finally was junior cornerback Jermaine Matthews Jr., who recorded not just a solid 78.0 PFF grade, but he was also the top player in pass coverage for the team with an 84.4 grade.

Not only was he highly efficient, recording three solo tackles, but he also had the game’s lone interception late into the third quarter. Not only that, once Matthews intercepted, it set up Ohio State for the eventual game-winning drive.

Even if the offense wasn’t up to Day’s standards, the adage of “defense wins championships” couldn’t be further from the truth. Even when the offense isn’t clicking, if you have a strong defense, anything is possible.

The offense has barely scratched the surface. Just wait for former five-star quarterback Julian Sayin to break out and develop chemistry with superstar wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who only averaged 7.2 yards per catch on Saturday.

And now with the Buckeyes being ranked as the top team in the country, college football better be put on notice.