Josh Proctor will be back in Ohio State’s starting lineup at free safety this week.
Ryan Day said Thursday that Proctor will be available for Saturday’s game against Western Kentucky after missing the Youngstown State game due to injury, and Day expects Proctor to start and play the majority of snaps at free safety against the Hilltoppers.
“He'll be available, and he'll play a lot,” Day said Thursday. “We'll still rotate guys, but Josh will be there and he'll plan on starting.”
Proctor started Ohio State’s season opener against Indiana and performed well enough that both Day and Jim Knowles said the following week that they expected Proctor to continue starting. He did not play at all against Youngstown State, however, after he was listed as questionable on the team’s status report.
True freshman Malik Hartford started in Proctor‘s place against the Penguins, but was replaced after one series by Ja’Had Carter, who made his Ohio State debut against Youngstown State after playing zero snaps against Indiana. Hartford often had to be told where to line up on Ohio State’s opening defensive series of that game, on which Youngstown State scored a touchdown, prompting the personnel change.
“Malik just looked like he struggled a little bit on the first series. And that's natural for a true freshman. He still will have the opportunity to play,” Knowles said. “Just thought it was best to get Ja'Had in there, a guy who had a little more experience.”
HS coaches: if you feel like you cant get your kids to line up right, power 5 kids struggle too. pic.twitter.com/1XHXSfHzWJ
— Justin Whitlatch (@WingT_Football) September 11, 2023
Day said he was impressed by Carter’s play last week and wants to see Carter continue to build on that this week even though Proctor will be back in the starting lineup.
“That was his first game in the Horseshoe, first game as a Buckeye really where he played significant time, and so that's the starting point, it's a jumping-off point,” Day said of Carter. “Now where it goes from there, that's going to be up to him. He watched the film and knows that there's areas that we've got to improve on, but there was some good things there as well. So he'll keep growing, he'll continue to have opportunities, and he's had opportunities this week and done some good things. He's pushing, so we'll keep growing on it. We know that there's talent there because we saw it when he was at Syracuse, and so now he's getting a better feel for this defense, and hopefully he'll take the next step as well this week.”
This week will be an important test for Proctor and anyone else who sees snaps at free safety as it will be the first time Ohio State faces a prolific passing offense this year. While Proctor performed well in the season opener against Indiana, recording four tackles with a tackle for loss and a fourth-down pass breakup, it came against an offense that ran the option for most of the game. Western Kentucky will test Proctor’s ability to be consistent in coverage as the adjuster of the secondary going into the Buckeyes’ first marquee game of the season at Notre Dame next week.
