The sophomore safety roams the field leading the stingiest unit in FBS into the College Football Playoff semifinal matchup against Texas.
When Ohio State Buckeyes coach Ryan Day walks into the Cotton Bowl for the second consecutive season, he will do so under vastly different circumstances.
More importantly for the coaching staff as they prepare to knock out the final SEC team left standing in the Texas Longhorns, Ohio State can count on havingEven better, the Buckeyes have the second-best player in the game—and perhaps the country at the moment—in safety Caleb Downs. He’s batting down balls, he’s shutting down passing lanes and he’s become a bit of a roaming wrecking ball against the run.
In holding Oregon to negative rushing yards during their regular-season rematch in Pasadena to ring in the new year, Downs was almost off of the hip of linebacker Sonny Styles in a bit more of a hybrid role that saw him stack the box while still being plenty capable of dropping deep into coverage against the Ducks’ passing attack.
“Really smart quarterback. Knows how to operate their offense. Puts the ball in the right places. And then Coach Sarkisian does a great job in putting him in positions to win,” Downs said. “They do a really good job with eye candy, and it creates a lot of challenges for defense in order to see if it’s run or pass, because that’s when they’re going to take their shots as well.”