Denzel Burke will be available for Buckeyes in title game after missing second half of win over Texas

COLUMBUS — Ohio State coach Ryan Day said he expects Denzel Burke to be ready to go in the national title game against Notre Dame next Monday night.

Burke did not play in the second half of the Buckeyes’ semifinal win over Texas in the Cotton Bowl. Day said Burke was dealing with an ‘upper-extremity issue’ that held him out for the second half.

Burke missing in the second half, Jermaine Mathews played 47 snaps at cornerback and performed well. That’s the career high for snaps from Mathews — and it came in the biggest game of his life so far.

Day was impressed with the way the second-year cornerback Mathews played for the Buckeyes in the win over Texas. Mathews logged a 64.9 overall ProFootball Focus grade from the win. Mathews was credited with giving up two catches for 7 yards on two targets.

Burke was targeted just one time, a 24-yard Texas reception on the final play Burke played, which came at the tail-end of the second quarter.

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