Al Washington addresses LB transfers as Ohio State prepares for Indiana

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Al Washington has seen a lot of change in his linebacker room over the course of 2021.

In the span of a week, the Ohio State linebackers coach lost two of his most senior members of the room to the transfer portal: senior Dallas Gant and senior K’Vaughan Pope, who left the field at halftime of the Akron game after a sideline altercation.

The perception of Ohio State’s linebacker room was one of disarray, one of youth and inexperience, one filled with questions. But to Washington, the reality was that the players in his unit stuck together, united on the same purpose.

“We held it together by staying focused on what was the objective,” Washington said Tuesday. “We were all supportive. It is what it is, so to speak, we had to be supportive and keep moving forward.

“That’s been the narrative. It’s never gone negative. We’ve always been positive. We’ve got to take advantage of the talent we have.”

Washington doesn’t look at Gant or Pope in disdain for leaving. He said he has nothing but love for them, even though he could see the frustration in their decision.

And it’s something he felt he had to look back on in the wide scheme of leading the entire room.

“K’Vaughan was frustrated, and I get that. I don’t judge him off that. He’s a great kid,” Washington said. “Yes, you absolutely look in and say, ‘What led up to this?’ Ultimately, man, you look at those things, you apply what you learned from the situation and keep doing the best you can with the decisions you have to make.”

Washington now has a room with six scholarship linebackers, basically playing for two starting spots, with the bullet position solely in the defensive back room.

Tommy Eichenberg, Cody Simon, Teradja Mitchell — a captain who Washington said has stepped up as the room’s vocal leader — and Steele Chambers, who’s continuing to make “leaps and bounds” progress after moving from the running back room over the summer, are guys that the linebacker coach is excited about

Even without the numbers, Washington knows the talent in his room. And that’s where his objective lies.

“You have six, but you feel really good about those six,” he said. “You feel really good about where they are and where they are trending.

“You obviously would like to bolster yourself as much as you can, but to say that I’m concerned, worried, I can’t say that. I feel like who we have I feel strong about and it’s a daily deal where we have to continue to grind away and improve. That’s where my mentality is.”

Heading into the second half of the season, head coach Ryan Day knows Ohio State is in a much better place than it was at the beginning. But he also knows what’s ahead.

“We got some rest, so now it’s going to be a big run,” Day said. “All we can do, I know it’s cliche, but just take it one game at a time, one day at a time. That’s what we have to do.”

Of Ohio State’s next six games, four are against teams in the AP Top 25 heading into Week 8, including three — Penn State, Michigan State and Michigan — in the Top 10.

But that’s not what Day’s focused on. It’s a week-to-week mentality, first focusing on Indiana a team that he feels is a lot better than its record indicates.

“We’re going to get their best shot,” Day said. “They have good players and good scheme. That’s all we can do: take it one week at a time and keep building, which is what we have done to this point.”

He expects to have a much more healthy team ahead of its trip to Bloomington, saying he expects both cornerback Cameron Brown and defensive tackle Haskell Garrett to be back against the Hoosiers, along with saying during the bye week that redshirt freshman running back Miyan Williams should be back as well.

Along with a healthier roster, Day sees a group that continues to believe in itself and to show progress, seeing a group that’s playing better.

But after a week off, Day wants to make sure his team keeps the momentum, keeping the practice routine over the off week, while starting preparation Monday in helmets with a normal practice scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

“We have to pick up where we left off a couple weeks ago and it starts with a great week of practice,” he said.

At the halfway point in the 2021 season, Day said freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers is still learning what it takes to be successful at the college level.

“No, he’s not quite ready yet. It’s going to be a little while,” Day said. “He’s really doing a good job of really starting to be a college football player. There’s a lot that comes with that. I think he’s starting to get more accustomed to the day-to-day grind and what it’s like, starting to get some buddies. We’ll continue to work with him, you never know, but it’s probably going to happen more once we get into bowl practice in the winter and into spring practice next year.”

With the development of the defense over the past few weeks, Day said he continues to check in with the unit periodically, but said he has much more of a hands off approach than he did earlier in the season.

To Washington, there hasn’t been a lot of change in the defense overall over the course of the season, saying it’s not “dramatically different” from what it was, despite additions of two high safeties and different looks in pressure and in the secondary.

Ohio State offensive line coach Greg Studrawa said the preseason battle for the starting center job between Harry Miller and Luke Wypler went up until 10 days before the season started.

While he initially picked Miller to start, Studrawa said he was comfortable playing either one.

In terms of the development of Miller since his return to injury, Studrawa said the junior has been “frustrated” by not being able to practice consistently, not allowing him to play a significant role on the offensive line.