COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Doran Grant recognized the progression from film he had watched earlier in the week. He remembered the quarterback's drop and the receiver's route and Northwestern's intentions.

Grant seized the opportunity, jumped in front of the man he was guarding and intercepted the pass, a throw he knew was coming.

Four plays and 16 yards later, Ohio State breached the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter of what turned out to be a 40-30 win in Evanston, Ill.

"That was a game-changer," said coach Urban Meyer.

Grant's pick proved critical. It also displayed the ability Ohio State's secondary possesses, a potential Meyer wants to see tapped more often.

Meyer called the Buckeyes' pass defense "very alarming" earlier this week. He said the area of concern would be the team's chief priority during the bye week.

Ohio State ranks 76th in the nation in pass defense, having allowed 240 yards per game through the air.

"We've been doing pretty well," Grant said. "We just have to sharpen up a few things. We can't have missed tackles as a team. Everybody has to keep running to the ball and we have to keep playing."

Meyer did concede that the team has honed in on stopping opponents' rushing attacks, and that focus has influenced the pass coverage.

"We made a conscious decision to stop the run," Meyer said. "As a result, sometimes you leave people on islands and you don't have the same focus on the back end. That's who we are. We've won a lot of games doing it and now we have to improve the other end. We're working, as a staff, very hard on it."

Wisconsin strolled into Columbus in late September with the nation's leading rusher and the 10th-ranked rusher. Last week, Northwestern unleashed dual-threat quarterback Kain Colter and speedy back Venric Mark, who returned from an injury.

Ohio State, which boasts the seventh-best run defense in the nation, allowing 86 yards per game on the ground, thwarted both rushing attacks. Both opponents, however, excelled through the air.

"It's concerning when you start to look at stats," said co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell. "We're hard at ourselves. We know we have to get better in every area and that's one of those ones we have to do a better job at."

Wisconsin's Jared Abbrederis logged 10 catches for 207 yards against the Buckeyes, with most of the damage coming against Bradley Roby, widely surmised before the season as an eventual first-round NFL Draft pick. Roby blocked a punt and recovered the football for a touchdown against Northwestern, but also ceded a couple of significant gains.

"There have been a lot of distractions in his world," Meyer said. "I've coached guys in his situation before and it's relentless, the people that are probably out there in his ear, [saying], 'Do that. Do this.' You see it around college football. The best thing he can do is become a great practice player. It's a perfect correlation, if you have a great practice player, he plays great."

So what has the secondary worked on this week during practice?

"Everything," Grant said, before specifically listing tackling, fundamentals, technique and running to the ball.

"Obviously, we want to be better and there are a lot of things we need to do to get better," Fickell said. "But we can't panic. The name of the game is still to win."