Ohio State cornerback challenging Maryland, everyone else to ‘Come at him’

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Denzel Burke is not impressed with the way Ohio State’s defense has performed through four games this season and he’s not trying to hide it.

The Buckeyes are giving up just 4.1 yards per play (fourth nationally) and 8.5 points per game (second nationally). They’ve only allowed four touchdowns this year and none of them have been longer than two yards. One would think that sharing that information with one of the players most responsible for that quality start would get a reaction filled with a level of pride.

Nope.

“Two yards? Wow,” Burke said as he rolled his eyes with a tone of sarcasm. “That’s awesome.”

He’s also not that ecstatic about his own impressive numbers. He only has two tackles, with one being for loss, but the more important stats as a cornerback are the five pass breakups, the interception and the forced fumble that led to a defensive touchdown.

His numbers as a cover corner are even more impressive. His Pro Football Focus coverage grade of 83.6 ranks 10th nationally as he’s allowed just six catches on 18 targets (33.3%) for 73 yards. Only one of those targets came against Notre Dame as he spent the rest of the night shutting down his side of the field.

“It gives everybody confidence,” defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said. “Denzel is really playing at a high level. When you scheme up the coverages and you know you can just count on him and take that out of the equation it allows you to do some other things with the other guys. It’s a great thing for the defense and the team when you’ve got a guy playing like that.”

Burke knows what value that has for a defense trying to establish itself as elite. It also presents a new challenge for him. It’s easy to get bored out there when you aren’t getting any action because you are doing your job at a high level, which can often test your mental toughness.

“Especially when you’re playing corner you’ve gotta stay locked in every drive because you never know when that ball’s gonna come your way. You’ve got to be on your P’s and Q’s. Even though I didn’t get targeted it was still fun to be at Notre Dame playing in that environment and being with my bros.”

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He did his job so well against Notre Dame that even quarterback Sam Hartman had to tell him after the game how phenomenal he played. Praise from the media wouldn’t bring him joy but maybe getting it from a quality opponent would.

Nope.

“I don’t even care about that.”

OK, fine. What is piquing Burke’s interests these days?

“I’m really not impressed with anything we’ve done so far,” Burke said. “We’re trying to win championships, man. It’s gonna take a lot. It’s wide open this year. If we just do what we need to do week in and week out the sky’s the limit.”

All of Burke’s energy is focused on the long-term goal. He’s a three-year starter that’s never beaten Michigan, never won a Big Ten Championship and fell short in what’s been his only College Football Playoff game so far. Anything outside of that is just par for the course for a player who spent the offseason taking a more NFL-like approach to his work habits and preparation.

That is what matters most, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to enjoy the process along the way. The only way that can happen is if the one-target Notre Dame game is an outlier and not a sign of things to come. It’s cool being able to say you can shut down an entire side of the field. It’s even better to get a chance to make plays.

The latter is more Burke’s speed.

“At the end of the day, I want them to come at me,” Burke said. “I want production. I want to have fun at the same time. Be able to make plays on the ball. Make the crowd go crazy.”

Notre Dame played a style of offense that limited the number of times it challenged the Buckeyes downfield instead of relying on the run game to work the ball up the field. So did Indiana and Youngstown State, though doing so in a much less productive way.

Western Kentucky has been the only team to routinely try this secondary as the Hilltoppers are responsible for seven of Burke’s targets this season and three of the catches for 42 yards. There’s an expectation that Maryland will be more willing to throw it around and give Burke some action. And he’s hoping that the Terrapins won’t be the only team over the next eight weeks to do so.

He worked hard to become the player he has turned into this season. Now he just needs teams to give him the chance to show off all of the growth his game has seen.

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Burke said. “They’ve gotta a good team this weekend. I’m really expecting some play out of this weekend. Hopefully, they throw my way.”