The question could not even be finished at Tuesday’s press conference before Kerry Coombs delivered his answer.
Ohio State’s defensive coordinator fired out a two-letter word when asked if he ever imagined he’d start a true freshman at cornerback, let alone in a season-opening road game against a conference opponent, and he repeated it a second time to underscore the irregularity of the circumstance.
“No,” Coombs said. “No.”
He did exactly that on Thursday though, as Denzel Burke – the 19th-most highly-rated recruit in Ohio State’s class of 2021 – took the field in Minneapolis on the very first possession of the Buckeyes’ season opener.