BuckIQ: Nicholas Petit-Frere adds depth, building bright Ohio State future

COLUMBUS — The first start for Nicholas Petit-Frere at Ohio State had to come somewhere.

Maybe on the road in a primetime game against one of the stouter defenses in the Big Ten wouldn’t have been the ideal choice for easing the sophomore into the lineup for the first time. But as the Buckeyes looked at their options with Thayer Munford dealing with an iffy ankle and Josh Alabi ruled out due to injury, it’s meaningful that the coaching staff had more than enough confidence to let Petit-Frere have a crack at the left tackle spot in a key conference battle.

It wasn’t perfect, of course. But the former five-star recruit also showed glimpses at how high his ceiling might be for the program down the road, finishing with more positive plays than negative while contributing to a blowout win over Northwestern last week. And while that experience might primarily pay off in the long run for the Buckeyes, it also bodes well in the present as Petit-Frere proved he could bolster the unit if injuries happen to pop up again at tackle.

“That [shows] we’ve built depth there,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “That was our fourth tackle. That’s pretty amazing that we can put our fourth tackle in the game against Northwestern, against a pretty good front right there, and still kind of hang in there.

“He didn’t have a perfect game, didn’t grade a champion. He was competing the best he could. Thayer supplemented him in the second quarter, which was great. We even got Dawand in there at the end. But building depth from Day One was going to be critical. They’re all going to play. I didn’t know how they were all going to play, but they are. It was good to see Nick step up.”

The Buckeyes can certainly take comfort in the fact that Petit-Frere has now done it when it counts, which should take a bit of pressure off as they wait to see how close Munford can get to full strength this week and if Alabi will be cleared for a return. Munford did come off the bench at Northwestern to shoulder some of the load after Petit-Frere hit a rough patch with a penalty and missed a key block, but the youngster eventually returned and should be better off from the learning lessons.

Certainly the Buckeyes would prefer to have the veterans on the field against one of the nation’s toughest defenses on Saturday against Wisconsin. But if not, Petit-Frere has the first start out of the way and will now be even more prepared for the next one — whenever it comes.

How did Nicholas Petit-Frere handle himself in the first start of his career at Ohio State? What did the sophomore tackle do well as the Buckeyes marched right down the field for an early touchdown? Where can Petit-Frere continue to grow? Former three-year Buckeyes starter Bryant Browning was in the Lettermen Row film lab breaking it down and trying to answer those questions in the latest episode of BuckIQ.

Roll the tape!