COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Greg Schiano didn't need to be reminded of the failures this season of putting Ohio State linebackers right up at the line of scrimmage.

He already saw that it didn't work. By the time the Buckeyes lost to Purdue on Saturday 49-20, the defensive coordinator had already pretty much abandoned the plan from the start of the year.

"There's different times this year that we have walked up one linebacker into the line of scrimmage," Schiano said Wednesday. "We actually moved away from that last week."

The Buckeyes did indeed. A second look at the 29-point loss to the Boilermakers showed that Schiano did have the linebackers back and diagnosing plays more often, as opposed to filling gaps between the defensive tackles.

They still were burned at times by hitting the wrong holes and by schemes from Purdue coach Jeff Brohm that moved them out of the way and created openings.

So Schiano said there were a few times linebackers walked up, but not nearly as often as the first seven games. Because it wasn't working.

"There's a lot of positive that can come out of that if you can get good at it," Schiano said as Ohio State offered news conferences with Schiano and offensive coordinator Ryan Day on Wednesday as part of the Buckeyes' off week. "The main thing being you can get double teams off your defensive line instantly."

A linebacker at the line of scrimmage forces an offensive lineman to block him, so that same lineman can't double-team defensive end Chase Young or defensive tackle Dre'Mont Jones. The Buckeyes like their chances when linemen like that go heads up.

But the linebackers weren't good at it. They weren't making plays. And teams were throwing over them.

"Quite frankly, we didn't do it as well as we thought we would do it," Schiano said. "It wasn't as comfortable as I thought it would be, we thought it would be, for our guys. It appeared that way in spring ball and it appeared that way in summer camp, but it didn't come to fruition in the games. So we've kind of moved away from it."

The Buckeyes will still do it on third down, but not as much. As a refresher, it looked something like this in the first half of the season, linebackers tight to the line - and then often immediately out of position.

On this play against TCU, which was called back for a receiver holding cornerback Damon Arnette, you can see linebackers Pete Werner (20) and Malik Harrison (39) were so tight to the line, they had no chance to diagnose or affect the play at all. TCU just ran wide and they were easily caught up in the wash.

The Buckeyes whiffed on that plan. Former OSU stars James Laurinaitis, Chris Spielman and Andrew Sweat have criticized the alignment and how it prevents the linebackers from making plays.

Again, Schiano considers third down a different animal, and he said every team offers different looks then, and the linebackers will always move around. So third down won't change.

But it still can't look like this third-down throw from the Penn State game that turned into a 93-yard touchdown as the linebackers sucked up and didn't affect the play at all. They didn't blitz and get to the quarterback, but they also took themselves out of the middle-of-the-field passing lanes.

But it wasn't just big plays. The run-pass options (RPOs) this season often had linebackers attacking gaps, and then seeing the ball thrown over them. It happened for several easy completions against Minnesota, like this one. The linebackers stepped up on this play, and did nothing, because the Gophers saw them and decided to throw.

So the good news is that the Buckeyes have moved away from their faulty linebacker plan, one that Brohm admitted he had noticed.

The bad news is the Boilermakers still smoked the Buckeyes, even with their adjustment.

So the good news again: most opponents won't have a play caller as smart as Brohm and a receiving weapon as dangerous as Purdue's Rondale Moore.

Moore gained 194 yards, but he also opened up avenues for teammates as the Buckeyes hedged their defense his way. A long screen to set up a touchdown worked because Moore drew so much attention.

Otherwise, Brohm worked Schiano on several plays.

On this one, a tight end crossing route drew Tuf Borland (32) out of the middle of the field. Then, somehow, Moore got matched up on linebacker Malik Harrison (39) in man coverage and beat him easily over the middle.

With the scheme shifted, fixes still are needed.

While not lining up right on the line, the linebackers still attacked toward the line of scrimmage too aggressively at times Saturday. They moved forward without really reading the play, and the Boilermakers threw over them or ran past them.

Watch a tight end get wide open over the middle as Borland (32) steps toward the line on this play.

Then there was this run that Schiano emphasized as one of the plays of the game. Purdue may have been happy to take a 7-3 lead to halftime after getting the ball back on their 20 with 1:51 to play.

But Ohio State allowed a 19-yard gain on first down, and that began a march, helped by a fake field goal, that led to a touchdown and a 14-3 halftime lead.

"We made a critical error on the first play," Schiano said. "We knew they were going to run the ball, we called a run call and we just don't execute it very well."

What happened?

Linebackers Harrison (39) and Baron Browning (5) both stepped forward, nearly colliding as they looked ready to attack the same gap. Harrison took himself out of the play, Browning allowed himself to be blocked, safety Isaiah Pryor came up and missed a flying tackle attempt, and the 19 yards looked easy.

Not good.

Yet Schiano, as expected, sounded an optimistic tone Wednesday.

"When you struggle, people want to be able to say, 'That's the reason, let's go," Schiano said. "The truth of the matter is we are making process in all areas."

He cited a rash of missed tackles as a primary culprit Saturday. He repeated that scheme tweaks had been made, and that the Buckeyes did limit the Boilermakers on a lot of plays before giving up a few big ones and then falling apart in a 28-point fourth quarter.

The linebackers at the line has been addressed, for the most part.

That's a step. But is it enough?