Even though all of the players who have typically started games this season were available for Saturday’s game against Purdue, two Ohio State players made their first career starts versus the Boilermakers.
One of those had already been foreshadowed last week when Steele Chambers played every defensive snap but one in the second half against Nebraska. Ryan Day said Thursday that Chambers had been “playing at a starter level, for sure,” and the Buckeyes actually made him a starter for the first time on Saturday, when he replaced Teradja Mitchell in the starting lineup alongside Cody Simon.