COLUMBUS, Ohio — Cody Simon made it clear that Dallas Gant was still a brother to the Ohio State linebackers room.
“We always treat him the same,” the sophomore middle linebacker stated. “Nothing really changes here.”
But without Gant, who entered the transfer portal Sept. 22, and without senior K’Vaughan Pope, who was dismissed from the team Sunday and also entered the transfer portal Monday, the Ohio State linebacker room hasn’t changed its focus.
The goal is still a trip to Indianapolis for a chance at a Big Ten championship. It just may be a more condensed cast of characters that will have to get them there.
And in Ohio State’s first game without Gant, a game in which Pope didn’t take a snap, leading to an outburst on the sideline, the Buckeyes linebackers actually stepped up.
Linebackers Teradja Mitchell, who had two tackles for loss for four lost yards, and Steele Chambers, who added one tackle for loss and a pass break up while also posting a 85.8 defensive grade rating by Pro Football Focus, were graded as champions.
As a unit, the linebackers helped contain the Akron running game, allowing 76 yards rushing and Zips backs to average 1.9 yards per carry.
It was the second-straight week that the defense had allowed less than 80 yards rushing to an opposing offense, giving up 73 yards and no touchdowns on 26 carries by Tulsa in Week 3.
“I think we are just building momentum,” Chambers said. “We have a bunch of great guys in spots, but we just don’t have the experience in some spots. Now we are starting to gain it and we’re just moving forward.
“We just have a really tight knit group. We’re really going to have to feed off each other. We’re just going to do what we set out to do at the beginning of the season.”
Ohio State’s linebacker room may be tight knit because it was all on the same page after last season.
Each of the Buckeyes’ top four linebackers from 2020 — Pete Werner, Tuf Borland, Baron Browning and Justin Hilliard — left after the season. Heading into Week 5 of the 2021 season, Ohio State’s five returners from last season combined for 17 tackles in 2020, matching Gant’s overall total from a year ago.
It’s basically a blank slate for linebackers coach Al Washington to do whatever he wants with. Adding Palaie Gaoteote IV, who recorded 105 tackles and two sacks in three seasons with USC, Ohio State had some experience. But the linebackers basically had to start from scratch.
“We got a lot of young guys out there, a lot of guys with little experience. We are all working every day,” Simon said. “This is the grind. It’s not easy. In no fashion is it easy, but we’re all grinding on every day. And that’s what we’re working on: just to get that consistency to keep going and keep playing.
“Eventually, we’ll get it.”
That process to consistency has been a rough road for Washington’s group.
From a defense that looked lost against Oregon’s and Tulsa’s passing games, watching quarterbacks Anthony Brown and Davis Brin beat it to the ground with wide open looks into holes in the Ohio State zone, the Buckeyes improved dramatically in the middle of the defense, showing a little pressure against Akron quarterback D.J. Irons, while also disrupting the pass game, adding an interception by Simon.
Simon said over the first part of the season, he’s been able to calm down, slow the game and take in what he’s getting from an opposing offense, becoming more comfortable at leading the defense at the Mike linebacker spot and conducting the defense Ohio State needs to be successful.
It’s overall a work in progress for a group with close to no experience heading into 2021. But it’s a group Chambers, a converted running back, remains confident in.
“I feel like I’m definitely home right now,” the sophomore said. “We got a great group in the Silver Bullets. It’s a group where everybody does their job and that’s what I’m doing. I’m just doing my job and if I end up making plays, I end up making plays. I can’t do it without the rest of the guys.”
