Ohio State-Indiana could come down to Denzel Burke’s ability to cover in space

The Buckeye cornerback was exposed against Oregon and can’t have a repeat performance is OSU wants to win on Saturday.

Obviously, Seth McLaughlin’s injury throws a lot of things into question across Ohio State’s offensive line. The unit had been the Buckeyes’ weak spot coming into the season, but had performed better than many pundits — myself included — had expected; even following the season-ending loss of starting left tackle Josh Simmons. However, now that OSU has to replace another starter upfront, it is reasonable to be concerned about how that will impact the team’s ability to function on offense.

With all of that being typed, I tend to think that one of Ohio State’s defenders might be the key to the No. 2 Buckeyes getting out of Saturday’s matchup against No. 5 Indiana with their second top-five win of the month.

The undefeated Hoosiers come to Columbus this weekend led on offense by the most efficient quarterback in the Big Ten Kurtis Rourke. He enters Saturday’s contest with 21 touchdowns and four interceptions, despite missing a game this season. His 10.1 yards per attempt are the best in the league and second nationally behind only Ole Miss’ Jaxon Dart. Rourke, a transfer from Ohio University, is averaging 267.8 yards per game and has a QB rating of 182.67, which is second nationally — Will Howard is third at 181.90.

Despite Rourke’s impressive passing numbers, IU doesn’t have a dominant receiver — at least from a raw numbers perspective. The team’s leading pass-catcher is junior James Madison transfer Elijah Sarratt with 685 yards over 10 games this season. While his yards-per-game average is good for just eighth in the Big Ten, the fact that he has put up those totals on just 38 receptions changes the outlook on the wide receiver. At 18.03 yards per catch, Sarratt leads Big Ten receivers who have 25 receptions or more; for comparison, OSU’s Jeremiah Smith is fourth at 17.65 ypc.

Ohio State is fourth nationally in rushing defense, allowing only 90.70 yards per game, so while they are equally adept against the pass (sixth nationally at 160.1 ypg), the more skilled opponents on the Buckeyes’ schedule this season have appeared to focus on one specific aspect of OSU’s defense with increasing regularity: cornerback Denzel Burke.

Against the now-No. 1 Oregon Ducks, OSU’s CB1 had inarguably the worst day of his career. His receivers were targeted eight times, leading to completions on every pass. Those eight catches resulted in 179 of Dillon Gabriel’s 341 passing yards and both of the quarterback’s touchdowns.

According to Pro Football Focus, Burke is allowing 84.4% of passes targeting the man he is covering to be completed this season. Against Northwestern in Wrigley Field last weekend, all four attempts in Burke’s direction were completed. Fortunately, the OSU corner has allowed only three total yards after the catch on those completions, perhaps the strongest part of his game this season. On the 27 completions that he has allowed on 32 targets, he is giving up under four yards per catch.

This stands in stark contrast to what the defensive back was able to do last year. In single coverage during the 2023 campaign, Burke was targeted just 19 allowing only three receptions. If Ohio State wants to maintain its inside track to a Big Ten Title Game berth — and a shot at a bye in the College Football Playoff — Burke will need to be much closer to 2023 form than he has been in recent weeks.

Sarratt will lineup in multiple sports across the field, so he likely won’t be covered exclusively by Burke — unless the OSU coaching staff designs it that way — but at 6-foot-2, 209 pounds, the IU WR is roughly the same size as the 6-foot-1, 193-pound Burke (at least to OSU’s seemingly generous official listings), so the Buckeye corner will not be out-physicaled when he is in coverage. Therefore, if Burke can stay tight with his man, he should have the opportunity to disrupt passes his way.

However, Indiana’s passing attack is more than just Sarratt. Five Hoosiers have gone for more than 285 yards this season including Omar Cooper Jr. (527), Myles Price (377), Ke’Shawn Williams (341), and Miles Cross (289) to go with Sarratt’s 685. This means that Davison Igbinosun, Jordan Hancock, and the entire Ohio State secondary will have to be on its game on Saturday, but Burke will be the one in the spotlight.

Following his disappointing performance against the Ducks, the Buckeyes need a much more productive and efficient Denzel Burke as the competition increases heading into the postseason, and that starts on Saturday in the Horseshoe.