CB Banks held back so far by knee injury
Sevyn Banks has been one of the biggest enigmas with Ohio State's defense over the first month of the season.
Once expected to be the Buckeyes' top cover cornerback, he's played only sparingly with little explanation given.
Banks was in uniform for the opening games against Minnesota and Oregon and not listed as unavailable, but never stepped onto the field.
His role increased slightly the following week against Tulsa, then with Cameron Brown unavailable in Saturday's win over Akron he made his first start.
According to a tally from Pro Football Focus, the senior has been in for only 67 snaps in two games.
Secondary coach Matt Barnes on Tuesday shed some light on the situation, revealing Banks has been hindered by a knee injury that sidelined him during spring practice and then suffered a subsequent setback in preseason training camp.
“When you're injured, no matter how much experience you have, there's a timetable to get back to where you were,” Barnes said, “particularly when over the course of months you've missed a significant amount of football. To just say that you're going to jump right back in when you're really battling your way back through injury, I don't think that's fair to expect.”
Banks was Ohio State's only cornerback with a full season of starting experience prior to this fall. He started at the outside corner spot opposite Shaun Wade last year.
In his first start against Akron, Banks looked like he still might be working his way back into form.
He was flagged for holding on the Zips' opening drive and gave up a pair of completions on the two times he was targeted by quarterback DJ Irons.
But Barnes felt he's at least moving closer to full strength.
“We've seen Sevyn improve every week as he's gotten healthier and healthier and healthier,” Barnes said. “His attitude's been great, and he played well here in the last game.
The slow start by Banks has been mitigated by the fast rise of freshman Denzel Burke, who has started all four games at cornerback and earned praise from Barnes.
“Denzel's got a rare skillset, and he's another guy who works really hard at it,” Barnes said.
Why Pope was dismissed
During his weekly news conference, coach Ryan Day addressed the departure of senior linebacker K'vaughan Pope, who was dismissed from the team following an emotional outburst on the sideline Saturday.
“There has to be consequences for actions,” Day said, “and certainly for him, his emotions got a little bit out of hand there. I thought he's done a good job of taking accountability, and we'll focus on moving forward.”
Pope appeared to be bothered by limited playing time this season, and the frustration reached a boiling point during a heated exchange with coaches in the second quarter before C.J. Barnett, the team's director of player development, escorted him into the locker room.
Soon after leaving the field, Pope tweeted an expletive at Ohio State before later deleting the message. He wrote an apology on Sunday.
When asked what precipitated the blowup, Day declined to go into detail.
“I'd rather not get into that,” Day said. “I just want to move on.”
Pope, who is remaining on scholarship following his dismissal, entered the NCAA transfer portal on Monday, looking to continue his college career elsewhere.
Defensive line depth
Defensive linemen Javontae Jeanbaptiste, Tyreke Smith and Taron Vincent were on the unavailability list for the Akron game last week, but all could return for Saturday's game at Rutgers.
“At the end of the day, that's not my decision to make,” Day said. “That's the medical staff. But I'm optimistic that we'll get these guys back for this game.”
Smith and Vincent had been starters in the first three weeks. Against Akron, freshman J.T. Tuimoloau started at defensive end in place of Smith and Antwuan Jackson came in for Vincent.
Despite their absences, the Buckeyes still brought plenty of pressure, finishing with nine sacks, which were the most since a win over Wisconsin in 2007.