Cody Simon had never fully experienced a true college football atmosphere until Thursday’s season opener against Minnesota.
All 14 of the linebacker’s defensive snaps as a freshman in 2020 came in front of sparse crowds because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even when he did see the field, the young 6-foot-2, 233-pound Buckeye wasn’t asked to do much besides play on special teams. Both narratives changed against the Gophers in the Buckeyes’ 45-31 victory Thursday.
Simon logged more than double his 2020 season snap count total on defense in one game (37 plays) and finished with seven total tackles while also recording OSU’s first sack of the season in front of more than 50,000 fans in a hostile environment. OSU won by two touchdowns, although the defense left a few things to be desired by allowing 31 points and 408 total yards to the Gophers.
“We’ve got a lot to improve on, obviously, it’s the first game,” Simon told reporters Tuesday. “Definitely a new atmosphere, I’m not used to that crowd and everything just because of the COVID year. But it was really exciting, and I’m happy to have been a part of that and to keep building and keep going every week.”
In three days, Simon will play in front of a home crowd for the first time at Ohio Stadium, where the Buckeyes are expecting at least 90,000 fans in attendance for their matchup with No. 12 Oregon. He couldn’t help but flash a grin when thinking about it.
“I haven’t even seen a full Horseshoe yet,” Simon said. “So this week is really going to be a good one. I’m just really excited for it.”
Leading up to Week 1, both Ryan Day and Kerry Coombs insisted a lot of defensive players would rotate a lot of players in at different positions. That wasn’t just coachspeak. Twenty-four defensive players saw the field for OSU, including five linebackers (seven if you count players that contributed on special teams). Simon played the fourth-most snaps of any OSU linebacker behind Teradja Mitchell (70), Tommy Eichenberg (49) and Dallas Gant (41). Running back-turned-linebacker Steele Chambers chipped in nine. Mitchell finished with 10 total tackles, Gant with eight, Simon with seven and Eichenberg with five. But that’s what Simon was expecting.
“Every week, we always prepare for anything,” Simon said. “We trust our coach, he’s going to put whoever he needs in at the right time. It’s always, stay ready. There’s never a time where your name might not be called. So, you have to be ready to make a play when your name is called.”
But rotating so many players in on defense may be short-lived. Defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs said the heavy substitutions were mostly to combat Minnesota personnel that sometimes featured as many as seven offensive linemen in on one play and rotating between 11, 12 and 13 personnel.
Mitchell likely isn’t a candidate to have his playing time reduced. Eichenberg, Gant and Simon could each theoretically see either an increase or decrease in playing time. But Simon has certainly made a case for extended snaps, both from his play on Thursday and from his fall camp, where Mitchell lauded Simon for his leadership qualities.
“From Day 1, I noticed that Cody's a natural-born leader,” Mitchell said in August. “He comes in, he puts his head down, he works every day. He's very disciplined, very detailed about his work. He's going to be great. He's going to be one of the greats here.”
Simon’s biggest contribution from Thursday was on the final play of the first half when he sacked Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan on a blitz with the Gophers driving into OSU territory already up 14-10.
“I just tried to do what I can to help the team,” Simon said. “At that point, that’s what the team needed. I’m just happy I could make (that play) for the team. It was a momentum booster for us, we came into the locker room and knew what we had to do.”
On 3rd-and-6, OSU sent six rushers after Morgan. With five offensive linemen preoccupied, Simon had an open lane to Morgan, who had no chance to escape the pressure.
Cody Simon sends a message before half #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/Qxw93ff3dz
— THE Bunch of Nuts Podcast (@bunch_nuts) September 3, 2021
“That play, I just kind of saw it and went … It was a blitz, it opened up and I went for it,” Simon said.
Simon knows any decision about playing time is out of his hands, and maintains he’ll simply be ready to show up when his number is called. Whatever the linebacker rotation looks like, Day maintains the Buckeyes have to improve as a whole unit.
“I think the linebackers did some good things, but again, it’s an inexperienced group,” Day said Tuesday. “They have not played a lot of football. You think of those four guys that left last year, lot of games, lot of snaps under their belt. But there were some good things, there’s some potential there, there’s some plays they wish they had back. Overall as a group, solid performance, but there’s room for some growth there.”
