Ohio State football: Freshman CB stands out in uneven team defensive showing

Most notable among the former was Denzel Burke, a true freshman from Arizona who wasn’t perfect but more than held his own after drawing the start in his first college appearance.

“To be honest with you, I expected him to play well,” Ohio State defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs said. “I think that it would have been disappointing had he not.”

The coach’s confidence came as a result of what he had seen of Burke since he arrived on campus.

“He had a really good spring, so we knew we had something,” Coombs said. “Had a really good offseason, and he continued to play all throughout training camp. He continued to line up and play man-to-man against some of the best receivers that you will ever see, and he competes.

“He’s got a lot of growth and lot of improvement ahead of him, but he had a great camp, he had a good night Thursday, and we’re looking forward to more of those in the future.”

Confidence is key to playing cornerback, as is having a short memory.

Burke needed both as Minnesota targeted him a team-high eight times in coverage — more than twice as much as anyone else according to Pro Football Focus.

He gave up three catches for 32 yards and was hit with a pass interference flag once but also had a pair of pass breakups.

Overall, the passer rating against him (using the NFL’s formula) would have been just 50 according to PFF.

“The guy on the other side wearing a headset knows who the freshman is, so you better be ready, because they’re gonna come after you,” Coombs said. “We talked long and hard about that. He doesn’t strike me as a player in any practice environment that has shown fear, which is huge. I talked to him at length about being nervous, and he said he was, which I was glad to hear because if he said he wasn’t, he’d be lying, which would be a much bigger problem.

“Being nervous just means it’s important to you, and it was important to him to play well.”

Burke might have gotten more reps because of injuries to veteran cornerbacks Cam Brown and Sevyn Banks, but Coombs said the youngster did plenty to earn the start.

“He’s competed since he’s got here,” Coombs said. “He practices really, really hard, and he deserved to start. He did. It’s based on how he worked in the spring, how he worked in the preseason, and I think if you ask our receivers, he’s a very, very talented young man.”

Chris Olave confirmed that.

“He’s a pro to me,” the All-Big Ten Ohio State receiver said Tuesday. “In camp he’s running with the first team, he’s battling me and (fellow all-conference receiver) Garrett (Wilson), talking mess, playing with his swag.”

Even if Banks, Brown or both are back, Burke and other youngsters are expected to be part of the rotation.

Coombs likes to play multiple cornerbacks to keep them fresh, and so does Day.

“Well, first of all he’s the head coach, so of course I agree with him,” Coombs said with a smile.

“We are still finding our way. We’re still figuring out exactly who are the best players and the best combinations are in situations. And so, the only way to do that is to get some game experience. And so we played a lot of guys — guys who deserved to play.”

—Burke was one of 12 players to earn a champion grade from the coaching staff after the Minnesota game.

He was joined by safeties Josh Proctor, Bryson Shaw and Ronnie Hickman, defensive linemen Zach Harrison, Javontae Jean-Baptiste, Antwuan Jackson, Haskell Garrett and Taron Vincent and linebackers Teradja Mitchell, Cody Simon and Tommy Eichenberg.

—Proctor left the game late with an apparent injury, but Day declined to comment on whether or not he will be ready to face an Oregon team that brings a lot of speed and athleticism within an offense ranked No. 26 in the country per the SP+ advanced metric at ESPN.com.

He also wouldn’t say if Brown or Banks might be able to go.

“We’ll continue to rotate guys,” Day said. “We’re not going to get into details on who’s starting and all those type of things, but I think we’ll need to play depth. I think we’ll probably plan on playing somewhere between 70 and 80 plays on defense, so that will happen, but we also want to try to find a rhythm and find a chemistry back there as well.”