Lathan Ransom earns Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors after career day at Notre Dame
COLUMBUS — Ohio State safety Lathan Ransom got his chance at redemption on the national stage, and he delivered Saturday night at Notre Dame with a career-high 13 total tackles as well as seven solo tackles, both of which were game highs in the 17-14 Ohio State win.
That performance earned Ransom Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Ransom tripped and fell in coverage during the Buckeyes’ previous “matchup game” — a 42-41 loss to Georgia in last year’s Peach Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal — ultimately leading to a 76-yard Bulldogs score that helped kick things into gear for the defending champs’ fourth quarter comeback.
Ransom moved past that play a long time ago. But his outing this past weekend in Notre Dame Stadium helped shove that moment further into the rear view mirror.
Ransom was all over the field against the Fighting Irish, and he was laying down big hits in the process. He was one of five Ohio State players in for all 65 defensives snaps, according to Pro Football Focus: 32 in the box, 15 at free safety and 18 in the slot.
Ransom allowed two catches for 40 yards, per PFF, but he missed just one tackle. Ransom’s best play of the night came on a 4th-and-1 from the Buckeyes’ 39-yard line. Trailing 3-0 on the first drive of the second half, Notre Dame rolled the dice with a quarterback sneak.
Wake Forest grad transfer quarterback Sam Hartman couldn’t go up the gut, that’s where Ohio State linebackers Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers were infiltrating the trenches.
So Hartman tried to veer left — it was there, however, that he was greeted by Ransom and fellow Buckeyes safety Sonny Styles. Together, they halted Hartman short of the line of to gain.
The next play from scrimmage, Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson took a handoff 61 yards to the house. The Buckeyes didn’t force a conventional Irish turnover, but they did turn Notre Dame on downs twice.
Ransom is partly to thank for that.
Ransom is the first Ohio State player to win a weekly Big Ten award this season. He’s now tied for fourth on the team with 20 total tackles this year.
He also forced a fumble the week before against Western Kentucky and recorded a pressure against Notre Dame.
A Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist in 2022, Ransom continues to be a difference maker as a senior.
