Jim Knowles’ adherence to a tight rotation on defense, particularly on the back end, is well-documented at this point. And that’s exactly what we saw in the season opener.
Only three safeties (Ronnie Hickman, Tanner McCalister and Lathan Ransom) played more than five snaps against Notre Dame. At linebacker, Tommy Eichenberg, Steele Chambers and Cody Simon were the only Buckeyes to see the field at all. Starting cornerbacks Denzel Burke and Cameron brown were the lone players at their position to take a defensive snap. Even the defensive line didn’t quite reach the 12-man rotation Larry Johnson said we might see this season, with 10 linemen seeing time and just seven playing double-digit snaps.