Defensive tackle Hamilton ‘one of our most improved’
Davon Hamilton COLUMBUS — benefited from Nick Bosa’s forced fumble and Dre’Mont Jones inability to grab the football in the end zone, scoring his first career touchdown Saturday in a 40-28 victory against Texas Christian.
After receiving limited playing time the past two seasons on a deep defensive line, Hamilton found himself in the spotlight in the biggest nonconference game of the season for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
“It was a big moment for me,” Hamilton said Tuesday, “but really the opportunity wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for Nick.”
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer praised Hamilton this week, saying he could see his talent in previous seasons even when he wasn’t playing.
“I think him and (defensive line coach) Larry Johnson have really worked well together,” Meyer said. “He’s one of our most improved players.”
Now a redshirt junior, Hamilton faced extra pressure to break into the rotation in past seasons because he’s a local recruit. He graduated from Pickerington Central in 2015.
“A lot of people think going into college you’re going to start immediately,” Hamilton said, “especially being from around this area. They expect you to be playing as soon as you get here, but in reality, not a lot of people see what it takes to start here. It’s kind of big now that I’m playing. It’s kind of cool. Everyone’s acknowledging me. You see it through social media. People are excited for me. People around proud seeing me out there.”
Bulletin-board material: Defensive tackle Jones said TCU players thought the Buckeyes were “down and out” after they took a 21-13 lead against Ohio State in the third quarter.
“They were saying on the field we were going to quit and, ‘It’s over now,’” Jones said. “We knew the truth. We’re not afraid of a challenge. You kind of brush it off and play.”
Stopping big plays: TCU’s 93-yard touchdown run was the third run of more than 75 yards against Ohio State. Oregon State scored on runs of 80 and 78 yards against the Buckeyes in the opener.
“We’ve got to find a way to fix those little issues,” Jones said, “because eventually those little issues become bigger and we end up losing.”
Back on sideline: Life has returned to normal for the Buckeyes in that they will play the remaining nine regular-season games with Meyer on the sideline. His three-game suspension ended Saturday.
The Buckeyes went 3-0 with Ryan Day serving as acting head coach and will run out of the tunnel at Ohio Stadium behind Meyer for the first time this season Saturday when they play Tulane in their final nonconference game.
“I know he misses it so much,” cornerback Kendall Sheffield said. “It’ll be great to have him back. I’m excited to see him. Really he drives our culture. When he wasn’t able to be with us, thankfully our culture was still here, and our leaders knew what the deal was. I think that’s what we missed the most, just our leader being here.”