COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Lathan Ransom made the move to free safety, he was home.

It was the position he played in high school, the position that Ohio State recruited him to play in the 2020 class. Moving to cover safety in his first season with the Buckeyes when asked to, Ransom jumped at the chance to move back deep.

It was nothing new to him.

“You see the whole field, you’re the last line of defense,” Ransom said. “The defense is looking for you to make the calls and all the checks. The safety got to know everything out there.”

Ransom’s switch represents an Ohio State defense that’s been in constant movement over its first four games of the 2021 season: 11 spots filled by 46 players, trying to fill in the hole left by losing safety Josh Proctor to a season-ending leg injury or holes left by two senior linebackers who entered the transfer portal before the Buckeyes returned to Big Ten play.

There’s been constant movement on the sideline too. Ohio State secondary coach Matt Barnes took over play-calling duties from defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs, who was moved up to the coaching box after the Oregon game.

“I think it was a humbling time and still is for all of us,” Barnes said. “Very high expectations here at Ohio State and rightfully so. It was a change and it continues to be a change for all of us.

“At the end of the day, we are in a relentless pursuit of how to get it right and how to improve.”

For Barnes and his secondary, this same pursuit applies.

Through the first four games of the season, Ohio State holds the No. 101 pass defense in the country, allowing an average of 255.5 yards per game and 12.78 yards per completion.

And Ohio State is trying everything, from personnel to scheme, switching up the safety look from one high to two at different times depending on what the opposing offense is giving them.

To Barnes, it’s all fluid, especially at safety, moving around guys like Ransom, Ronnie Hickman, Bryson Shaw and Cameron Martinez to different spots, from cover to free to cornerback to the bullet position where Hickman has found a home, leading the team with 33 tackles and two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.

It’s constant evaluation, doing what needs to be done. It’s that relentless pursuit of getting things right.

“You’ve got to be fluid and it’s a constant effort to get the best players on the field and be aware of your overall depth,” Barnes said. “We kind of had… a logjam at cover safety there between three really good players. When we lost Josh, we felt like we needed to provide some depth at that position.

“If you’re just ranking and looking, overall, how do we get our best players on the field, we felt like that gave us a chance to move some guys around and try not to have one guy play 90 snaps in a game.”

And it’s not always with one look either, disguising coverages, forcing opposing offensive coordinators and quarterbacks to think on their feet.

It’s all things that Ransom has soaked in, learning more football in four games, he said, than he has at any other time period. Learning from coaches, from teammates, from mistakes. Learning and growing.

This is where Ohio State head coach Ryan Day wants to see his defense in its return to conference day, continuing to make strides despite test after test.

"I think we just overall changed some things up, played with great aggression,” Day said of the defense’s performance against Akron. “ But, again, we'll know that more in a couple of weeks, figure out where we are at. Again, we have a great challenge this week and as it continues to grow, I don't think the answer is here yet. We have to see where we are at."

It doesn’t matter where Ransom is at: whether it’s cover safety or out deep as the cap of the defense. He wants to make plays.

It’s what he’s expected to do. Not mimicking anybody in particular, but making stops like only he can.

“I want to play like Lathan Ransom,” Ransom said. “Just making plays.”