It took a mere three plays for Cody Simon to remind Ohio State fans of his presence against Western Michigan.
On 3rd-and-4 of the Broncos’ first set of downs, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles dialed up a blitz for his starting Mike linebacker, back from injury after he missed the Akron game. Simon gave a jab step to the B-gap outside of Western Michigan right guard John Hofer, darted back into A-gap to make the 304-pound redshirt junior fall on his face and sacked quarterback Hayden Wolff.
“Coach Knowles makes great calls,” Simon said. “Lucky enough, I made the play. If I didn't make it, someone else was probably going to make it. I'm just lucky enough to make it.”
No, Ohio State didn’t need Simon to demolish Western Michigan in the fashion it did. But getting its top vote-getter for captain and “Block O” jersey recipient back to be the backbone of its defense is undoubtedly a spiritual boost to the team as it goes through its first bye week.
“Cody's the leader of the defense, the quarterback for the defense,” Knowles said. “Conscientious young man and bleeds Ohio State. There are, as you said, so many more things that he gives the team aside from statistics. I think it just brings a general confidence to everyone when he's out there.”
Simon indicated that his injury was nothing serious, “Just lower body,” in his words. Nicks, bruises and dings aren’t uncommon in preseason training when teams are put through the wringer in preparation for their campaigns. As Simon put it, “Camp gets tough.”
As is on-brand for the fifth-year senior out of New Jersey, more than anything, he was just happy to be back on the field leading and playing alongside his teammates.
“It felt amazing to be out there and just be out with all the guys. Great feeling,” Simon said.
Even though he was listed as out against the Zips, Simon wanted to be out on the field for that contest, too. Medical staff ensured every precaution was taken, however – after all, there are more important matchups ahead.
“Last week, I felt a little slow, a little bit, but when I ran down the tunnel, I was like, ‘Oh, I'm ready to go,’” Simon said. “Trainers were like, ‘Woah, slow down a little bit.’ But this week, definitely I could go.”
In Simon’s stead, Sonny Styles wore the green dot on his cap for in-helmet communication and played Mike linebacker after training at Will all offseason. Arvell Reese swapped in later. Both have made an impact, combining for 17 tackles and one tackle for loss in the first two games.
“They did amazing,” Simon said. “Like really, I was even giving props because sometimes the radio is a little tough to hear. It was g. They're doing really well right now.”
Styles and Reese were happy to have Simon back beside them, too.
“Cody's a leader on our defense,” Styles said. He's got the ‘Block O’ for a reason. So having him out there, obviously he's a great player, great leadership. He’s played a lot of ball, so it's definitely nice to play next to him.”
Simon finished the game with three total tackles, including his sack. As usual, he gave credit to his teammates for setting him up.
The Buckeyes pitched a shutout and surrendered less than 100 yards of offense, their first time accomplishing those feats since 2019 and 2017, respectively.
“We've been talking about it for four years now and trying to chase that and to finally get it – now we just want to get another one,” Simon said.
Simon isn’t satisfied, though. The Buckeyes returned to reviewing film this week, and the linebacker stated that one of the top areas they can do better is creating turnovers. After three against Akron in Week 1, the defense didn’t collect any takeaways against Western Michigan.
“We want to dominate,” Simon said. “We know the end goal in mind. The goal right now is not to just win game two. We want to get to the end and win everything. That standard that we set right now is super important for that.”
Simon and company will get their next shot to shut out a squad against Marshall on Sept. 21.
