'Job’s Not Finished': Ohio State Buckeyes’ Secondary Has Eyes Looking Forward

Coming off a bye, Ohio State's powerhouse defense is ready for Maryland.

The No. 2-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes scoring defense is giving up jus 8.5 points per game this season — which includes a bout against former No. 9 Notre Dame on Sept. 23. The secondary has put the nation on notice; especially junior cornerback Denzel Burke, who has truly found himself again.

Burke was targeted only once against the Fighting Irish, but he said this didn’t bother him as long as he was on the field playing with his teammates. He said he’s looking to the “best pass attack” they’ve played and is expecting much more action.

“We got a good team this weekend, really expecting some play-ups this weekend,” Burke said. “Hopefully it’ll go my way.”

The entire secondary had high praise for Maryland senior quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, the younger brother of Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa, who the Buckeyes compared eerily similar to each other.

“He can extend plays, he throws the ball on a rope, he’s a great player,” Burke said.

Senior linebacker Steele Chambers reiterated this sentiment.

“[Taulia Tagovailoa] likes to get out of the pocket, so we just got to have guys staying in their lanes. Just got to have eyes to the quarterback at all times because you know he’s going to be able to use his feet,” Chambers said.

Chambers said the team is “well-equipped,” however, for whatever the Terps offense throws at them.

“You got Coach Knowles up in the owl’s nest just cooking up whatever concoction he wants to and we’ve got, just, a bunch of athletic players that can chase people down, so I think it’s a perfect combination,” Chambers said.

Chambers spoke highly of junior cornerback Jordan Hancock, who he said has been a spotlight on the defense this year.

“I think [Hancock] contributes to our swarm mentality, just the fact that we’ve got guys that sometimes start 10 yards off the ball coming down, making a hit sometimes in the backfield,” Chambers said.

The Buckeyes have been on top of these kinds of plays this season — the longest touchdown they’ve given up has been a two-yard pass against both Western Kentucky and Notre Dame. Ohio State has done a great job on deep passes, but the team has also stopped check-downs from turning into big plays.

This could be a result of the Buckeyes all being on the same page. Hancock said sophomore cornerback Davison Igbinosun, who measures at six-foot-two and 190 lbs, has garnered confidence in his ‘hard-hitting’ mentality.

“When the D-line sees a smaller guy hit somebody, it sets the tone and the momentum shifts to us because they know it’s a lot of heart for a smaller guy to hit a bigger guy,” Hancock said.

Burke added that Igbinosun likes to run “to the contact.”

“He brings a lot of energy to the group, man, I’m glad we brought him in,” Burke said.

Senior safety Lathan Ransom said the team must stay disciplined moving forward because that’s “always the main thing.”

Against a Maryland team that converts on 49.3% of 3rd downs and has a top-25 passing offense, Ohio State has to stay home, not bite on pass fakes, not allow deep shots, and try to contain Tagovailoa.

Coming off a win that came down to the wire, Ransom added that the bye helped the defense find its flaws and work to cut them out.

“It was nice to have that bye week, it gave us more of a chance to focus on Maryland and focus on where we need to get better ourselves, so I think that came at a perfect time to critique our mistakes,” Ransom said.

Ransom and the Buckeye defense collectively have a forward-looking mentality as they seek out a championship this season.

“Like Kobe said: job’s not finished,” Ransom said. We got a long season left.”