No timetable right now for return of cornerback Denzel Burke, safety Lathan Ransom
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Ohio State was without two of its starters in the secondary Saturday at Rutgers: safety Lathan Ransom and cornerback Denzel Burke.
While the Buckeyes still managed to come away with a 35-16 win at Rutgers, the 19-point victory was much closer than the score suggests.
Head coach Ryan Day was asked after the game if he knows when Ransom and Burke will be able to rejoin an Ohio State defense that, once again, proved clutch this weekend.
“I don’t have the answer to that, and I don’t think we know the answer to that,” Day said. “So we’ll get back and reassess it.”
Ransom left last week’s game at Wisconsin with an apparent non-contact leg injury. The senior was taken to the locker room by wheelchair and cart. He did, notably, return to the field on his own power later in the fourth quarter, except he didn’t play the rest of the game. In Ransom’s absence, Sonny Styles filled in at the “bandit,” or strong safety position.
Styles did so again at Rutgers, earning the start at a “high safety” position for the first time this season. The sophomore has primarily played “nickel” safety this season.
Early in the week, all signs pointed to Ransom not playing against the Scarlet Knights. Burke, on the other hand, was a surprise addition to the injury report Saturday.
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After all, Burke played the full game at Wisconsin and even delivered a critical third down pass breakup that set the stage for Ohio State’s game-sealing touchdown. The previous week, however, Burke missed the Penn State game. And the week before that, he left the Purdue game in the third quarter with injury.
The junior has been one of the most improved Ohio State players this season. He’s also become a top Big Ten corner and emerged as a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, given annually to the best defensive back in the country.
Jermaine Mathews Jr. made his first career start in Burke’s place and — just like two weeks ago when he set a season high with 47 defensive snaps against Penn State — held his own.
The Buckeyes gave up a season-high 361 yards to Rutgers, but 232 of those yards came on the ground. Albeit against a mild Scarlet Knights passing attack, Ohio State’s pass defense was able to do its thing without Ransom and Burke.
Getting those two back, though, is a must for Ohio State down the stretch.
