Ohio State Football: Freshmen on defense steal the show

The Ohio State football team dominated the Wisconsin Badgers 55-21 on Saturday night in Ohio Stadium. It was the freshman cornerbacks that stepped up in a big way.

Before the Ohio State football team took on the Wisconsin Badgers Saturday evening in Columbus, it was learned that the Buckeyes would be missing its two starting corners in Cam Brown and Denzel Burke. Both out with injury, Ohio State had to start two freshmen at its cornerback positions.

Redshirt freshmen JK Johnson and true freshman Jyaire Brown both made their first starts for Ohio State, respectively. They were not fazed by the bright lights, played within the scheme, and held Wisconsin wide receivers to only five receptions for 66 yards. A remarkable performance given the circumstances.

Head coach Ryan Day was sure to sing their praises after the game, via Eleven Warriors:

"“They practiced really hard all spring, they practiced all preseason, they’ve been out there and we told them right before the game that everybody on the team believes in them, and we do,” Day said. “And they have no fear. And they went out there and played. And they did a really good job."

Brown finished the night with one tackle and one pass breakup while JK Johnson had four tackles of his own. It’s good to see the depth starting to build in the secondary room. Last season, the lack of depth at the corner position was one of Ohio State’s downfalls on the defensive side of the ball.

If these two young players can take this valuable experience and build upon it, the Buckeyes have the possibility of being four or even five deep at corner by season’s end if sophomore Jordan Hancock can get back from injury.

A ton of credit also has to go to Ohio State cornerback coach Tim Walton for having them ready to play. It looks like he’s doing a fine job in developing the talent that the Buckeyes have in the cornerback room.