Buckeyes confident 'banged up' cornerbacks room will be at full strength for opener
COLUMBUS — Ohio State has been working through some issues with its available cornerbacks for most of training camp.
Starting senior Cameron Brown has been on what the Buckeyes called a ‘pitch count’ after being hurt. Second-year rising playmaker Jordan Hancock has missed time, and even sophomore Denzel Burke has been banged up for some of the month of training camp.
But as the Buckeyes wrapped up practice No. 16 on Tuesday evening, their first afternoon session of camp now that classes have started, they’re confident all cornerbacks will be ready for the season opener in just 11 days.
It’s not a concern inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
“Feel good. Feel we will be at full strength, man,” first-year Ohio State cornerbacks coach Tim Walton said. “We should be good to go Sept. 3. So guys, are back, just starting to roll. So we feel good about it.”
Both of the starting cornerbacks at Ohio State, Burke and Brown, return to a new-look defense that features a new position coach. Walton inherited a room with just six scholarship cornerbacks on the roster, including two true freshmen.
Cornerback depth could be an issue all season long. But Walton isn’t too worried about that. The six he has are plenty to work with — and win with.
“We’ll be fine,” Walton said. “We always dual-teach and things like that. So I think we’ll be fine. You know, we’ll be able to work through it, there’s really no concern with that.”
Walton echoed the sentiment that the Buckeyes won’t be down any contributors when they face No. 5 Notre Dame in primetime in less than two weeks.
With a new defense and plenty of buzz heading into the opener, a full lineup of healthy cornerbacks would certainly be a positive for Ohio State. And the Buckeyes plan to have just that.
Yes, Ohio State has been banged up at cornerback in camp. No, the Buckeyes aren’t going to worry about it. They know what the roster will look like under the lights in early September.
And they know they’ll be just fine when the first-team defense takes the field, regardless of how banged up they’ve been in the month of August.
“It’s part of the game,” the second-year starting cornerback Burke said. “But you know, come Sept. 3, we’re going to be all at full strength. So I’m excited.”
