Ohio State football: Safety spot Lathan Ransom’s job to lose

A win is a win, and that’s exactly what the Ohio State football team got on Saturday against Notre Dame. Now they focus their attention on Arkansas State. The guys who played well against the Fighting Irish will get more playing time against the Red Wolves.

One of those guys is Lathan Ransom. He played the majority of the snaps at one of the three safety positions after Josh Proctor was yanked following the first series. Ransom made the most of his opportunities and was the best player in the secondary on Saturday.

Proctor was pulled because of two really bad plays on the first series. He missed a tackle on the first play of the game that led to a 54-yard pass gain. Later in that drive, he missed another tackle that could have prevented a first down. Soon after, he was pulled from the game.

Proctor missed most of last year after breaking his leg against Oregon. In 2020, he really wasn’t all that good. The hope was that he had improved enough to warrant a starting spot this year. Clearly, he hasn’t. His loss is Ransom’s gain, and now it’s Ransom’s job to lose.

I’d be surprised if we didn’t see Ransom start in Proctor’s spot for the rest of the year. Ransom’s issue has been staying healthy in his Ohio State football career. If he can stay healthy this year, after what I saw on Saturday, there’s no reason he can’t be a really good player.

The defense at large should be even better this week against Arkansas State. They don’t have the talent on offense that Notre Dame does. I’d like to see them force some turnovers in this game after not getting any in the opener.

Ransom has his opportunity. Now he just has to keep ahold of it and not look back.