When Ohio State saw star corner Gareon Conley go down with an injury following a powerful collision with Oklahoma wide receiver Dede Westbrook, the rotation and depth it worked so hard to recruit and establish at the position were put to the test.
As Conley laid on his back, hardly moving and breathing hard while he spoke to trainers, some of the pressure of preserving Ohio State's 21-7 lead for essentially the final three quarters shifted to redshirt freshman Damon Arnette. The lone cornerback not listed as a starter on the team's two-deep — though he is its first option in the nickel package — the 6-foot, 195-pounder that missed nearly all of 2015 with a foot injury saw his role increase alongside Denzel Ward and Marshon Lattimore.
“Who's our starting corners? You got three of them. That's rare to have.”– Urban Meyer
And even though A.D. Miller beat Arnette and reeled in a 35-yard touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield later in the second quarter, he played well enough along with the rest of the defense to put any comeback for the Sooners out of reach in Ohio State's 45-24 win. Conley never returned to the game, but Ohio State did not change its plan schematically on the back end. That experience could pay off in the long run.
“I don't know if we've ever had that much depth at corner,” Urban Meyer said. “We have four corners that we believe in.”
The Buckeyes broke up four passes on Saturday. Conley swatted away one near the goal line on Oklahoma's first drive of the game to force a third down, an excellent play where he broke on the ball and extended his arm at the very last moment to turn away Westbrook. Oklahoma missed a field goal two plays later.
Before Conley went down, Mayfield was 5-of-11 passing for 60 yards if you include the play early in the second quarter when he got hurt. Mayfield finished the game 17-of-32 for 226 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. So his completion percentage rose from 45 percent (5-of-11) with Conley available to 57 percent (12-of-21) with him on the sideline. Mayfield's yards per attempt also rose from 5.4 to 7.9 in the final three quarters after Conley left.
Ohio State's defensive front deserves a bulk of the credit for slowing down the Sooners, freeing up linebackers to make plays in the running game and also applying pressure to harass Mayfield. But the way Ohio State rotated at corner through its first two games continued against a much higher caliber opponent and again didn't see much drop in production.
Arnette did not look good on Miller's touchdown catch but still was more than serviceable. The fact he is even in Kerry Coombs' corner rotation is impressive considering he arrived at training camp as a true freshman in 2015 on crutches. Ward finished with four tackles against the Sooners, while both Conley and Arnette each had one. Lattimore recorded five stops in addition to his third interception of the season, which is tied with Malik Hooker for the team lead.
Meyer said Conley "should be fine" and Ohio State kept him out the rest of the game as a precaution with what was described as a stinger. The Buckeyes did that because they remained confident in the guys they had rotating in his place, namely Arnette, as they continued to build a lead. Even after Miller beat Arnette for a touchdown, the score only cut Ohio State's advantage to 11. The Sooners never got any closer.
That is a credit to Arnette, Ward, Lattimore and safeties Hooker and Damon Webb. The Buckeyes intercepted two more passes to give them nine on the season, tied for the most in the country. Four of those have been returned for touchdowns.
So far, it hasn't mattered much who Coombs runs out there as part of Ohio State's cornerback rotation. The results are positive through three games.
“Who's our starting corners? You got three of them,” Meyer said. “That's rare to have.”
