Davison Igbinosun took some lumps alongside the quality plays he made against Indiana Saturday.
Easily the most evident was a fourth-quarter pass interference penalty that gifted the Hoosiers a first down on 4th-and-2. While the call was “iffy,” in Igbinosun’s words, it made him consider a change in approach — even if his efforts helped the Buckeyes hold Indiana to a mere 82 passing yards Sept. 2.
“Now that I know stuff like that has occurred, I’ll probably just start running the routes for the receiver and not be overly physical,” Igbinosun said.
Thing is, that’s not what Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles wants.
While there’s a balance and pass interference penalties are certainly something to be avoided, he and the coaching staff don’t want to take away what they feel is one of his better traits. As Igbinosun works to live up to what he has called “the BIA standard,” Knowles is encouraging him to be himself.
“You don’t hold him back at all,” Knowles said. “We want him to be physical, we want him to be aggressive. We want him to lay hands on people.”
Igbinosun’s game against Indiana started with a bit of a scare.
He was flagged for targeting early in the first quarter, a call that was overturned after replay review.
“I was very nervous, actually. I started praying,” Igbinosun said.
Given a new lease on life in the contest, Igbinosun racked up four tackles, three of them solo, and aided the Buckeye secondary in holding Indiana quarterbacks to a completion percentage of 43.
“I thought I played OK, I didn’t impress myself,” Igbinosun said. “I gave up a couple catches, and I don’t want to give up any catches.”
On the play in which he was flagged for pass interference, Igbinosun came out in press coverage against Indiana’s top wide receiver Cam Camper. He used a long left arm to play bump-and-run off the line of scrimmage and Camper never gained any separation.
Finishing those plays in a clean manner is the next step in Igbinosun’s development, per Knowles.
“Now you just coach the technique,” Knowles said. “There’s a right way to do it. Just like coaching offensive linemen, how things go on (in terms of holding) every play but there’s a right way and where to have your hands and how to be at the end of the play. But you want to keep encouraging the physicality.”
Still, if Igbinosun can clean up the few lapses he had against the Hoosiers, it will go a long way in replicating the performance Ohio State’s defensive backfield had against them in later games throughout the season.
“It was great, but it all started in practice,” Igbinosun said. “We touched the rock throughout spring and fall, so it just translated to the first game of the season.”
With the defensive line working in tandem with the pass coverage, Igbinosun feels as though the Buckeyes have one of their best defenses in years.
“I like this defense a lot,” Igbinosun said. “I feel like it’s a complex defense with a whole bunch of checks. I’m a big fan of our defense. I personally feel like the Silver Bullets are back.”
