Free safety remains a question for Ohio State ahead of matchup with Hilltoppers

COLUMBUS — True freshman Malik Hartford started for Ohio State at free safety, or “adjuster,” last weekend against Youngstown State in the place of an injured Josh Proctor. It was the next stage of the Lakota West product’s meteoric ascent, following an offseason in which he put on close to 25 pounds and vigorously climbed the depth chart.

But Hartford was pulled for Syracuse transfer Ja’Had Carter after the first series. Carter wound up playing the final 48 defensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.

“Malik just looked like he struggled a little bit on the first series, and that’s natural for a true freshman,” second-year Buckeyes defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said Tuesday. “He still will have the opportunity to play. Just thought it was best to get Ja’Had in there, a guy who had a little more experience.”

Ohio State allowed its only touchdown of the 35-7 victory during Hartford’s series. YSU marched 75 yards in 11 plays to tie the game at 7-7. From that point forward, though, the Penguins mustered 159 total yards of offense and, more specifically, 3.3 yards per play.

Carter — a three-year starter at Syracuse before joining the Buckeyes this winter — logged the third-most defensive snaps of any Ohio State player against YSU. He was targeted twice and gave up two receptions for 23 yards, including one that went for 18 yards. Carter notched two total tackles but missed another, according to PFF, and was called for a late hit in the third quarter that was initially reviewed for targeting.

It was an imperfect performance for Carter, who was coming off the best season of his career in 2022, during which he allowed just 169 receiving yards on 33 targets while picking off three passes and giving up only one touchdown.

Carter played more than 1,700 defensive snaps with the Orange, but he didn’t see the field in the Buckeyes’ 23-3, season-opening win at Indiana.

Proctor, in his sixth season at Ohio State, got the nod after beating out both Carter and Hartford for the starting free safety spot. Hartford ended up having a better chance at the role than Carter, despite the vast difference in experience.

That was reflected in the Indiana game participation report. Proctor was in for 30 defensive snaps, but Hartford wasn’t far behind with 25 defensive snaps, per PFF.

But, while Hartford was promising in his debut — even nearly coming down with an interception — Proctor starred. The triple option approach Indiana took Week 1 was right up the hard-hitting veteran’s alley.

He recorded four total tackles, including two solos, and a pass breakup on a fourth down late in the second quarter. One of those solo stops occurred midway through the first frame and saw Proctor lay a boom stick hit that blew up an option pitch for shifty Hoosiers running back Jaylin Lucas behind the line of scrimmage.

Proctor graded out as a “champion,” according to head coach Ryan Day, who said last week that Proctor had “earned the right on the field to be the starter.”

“He’s been consistent,” Day said. “And that’s something that’s always been a focus for Josh, is his consistency. No one ever really questioned his effort. And so he needs to be a major contributor for us, he needs to be consistent. Somebody who’s been in the program as long as he has, that’s what he needs to bring. He’s played a lot of football games, you think back on, even when he was young. So we need that.”

In order to be consistent, you have to be on the field, of course.

Proctor was held out against YSU after being listed as questionable on the Buckeyes’ pregame availability list.

But his injury, the exact nature of which is undisclosed at this point, doesn’t appear to be long term.

“If Josh is healthy, depending on what kind of practice time he gets — it really depends on practice and how well you practice — I could see [him] moving back in there,” Knowles said Tuesday, when asked who Ohio State’s top free safety is entering Week 3.

If Proctor can’t go, Ohio State will likely roll with either Carter or Hartford up top. Whoever’s in that spot will have a tall task.

Western Kentucky is coming to town. The Hilltoppers are tied for 14th in scoring offense this season. They were 15th in that department last year, and they returned both quarterback Austin Reed — the FBS passing leader in 2022 — and wide receiver Malachi Corley, a Biletnikoff Award candidate who piled up nearly 1,300 receiving yards in 2022.

“I think it’s a big test,” Knowles said of the WKU passing offense. “I really do. This is an offense that will attack on the perimeter and down the field. We had some issues with that last year. We’ve gotten better in our first couple games in terms of explosive plays and minimizing that, but we haven’t really been tested yet. So this will be important.”

The spotlight will be on the Buckeyes’ secondary, which gave up 42 passes of 20-plus yards last year, the third most of any Big Ten team.

And extra attention will be on whoever is playing free safety for Ohio State Saturday.

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