Fifth-year backup safety Aaron Gant may not have a reputation among Ohio State fans, but among his teammates, the Michigan native is known as the Buckeyes' hardest hitter.
View full sizeOhio State players are in unison on who the hardest hitter on the team is this season.COLUMBUS -- From Tyler Moeller to Jermale Hines to Brian Rolle to Ross Homan, the back of Ohio State's defense features multiple players who carry reputations as hitters, safeties and linebackers that offer reasons for opponents to hesitate in the open field.
"There's a lot of hitters on this team," Moeller said. "I think the coaches look for that. If you don't have that toughness, you can't play."
There's one player, though, whom Hines said sets the standard for the Buckeyes defense in this area, a fifth-year senior consistently known among his teammates, even if diehard fans might have a tough time remembering his name.
"Aaron Gant has been holding the crown around here for the last few years," Hines said of the Buckeyes' biggest hitter competition. "So you've got guys around him trying to take it."
Today's jersey scrimmage at Ohio Stadium may be the most critical day of preseason camp, and not because it determines whether the offense or defense wears gets to wear scarlet jerseys during practice. The scrimmage is a chance for any players fighting for starting jobs or for backup minutes to impress coaches in an extended game simulation.
Gant, however -- battling among the second-team safeties after first earning a role on the two-deep as a true freshman in 2006 -- doesn't have much left to prove in practice.
"He doesn't even surprise us now," senior cornerback Chimdi Chekwa said. "When we see Aaron get a big hit, at first you're like, 'Ooohhhh.' And then you're like, 'Oh, that's just Aaron.' Other guys when you see them get a big hit, you jump up. But when Aaron hits somebody, you just think that's Aaron doing what he does."
So why has Gant, at 6-foot and 206 pounds, played just 71 minutes in his Ohio State career, when former safety Anderson Russell, for example, graduated last season after taking the field for more than 1,000 minutes?
Maybe Gant hits too hard, though he says there's no such thing, and his body can't handle it.
Gant was forced into action as a freshman after Russell injured his knee, and he was on the field as much as nearly any freshman defender four years ago. Teammates later told a story of Gant delivering a blow that knocked truck-like running back Beanie Wells on his back in practice, but left Gant dizzy and stumbling around the secondary before the next snap.
Over the next several seasons, Gant said he dealt with a foot injury and multiple concussions, and they prevented him from getting any consistent playing time. As a sophomore, he was running with the first team during spring football, for example, before a concussion sent him to the sidelines.
"It's a physical sport." Gant said. "Injuries will happen. A university like this, there's always going to be somebody that can come in and take your position. That's the kind of depth Ohio State has."
Last season, Gant missed the entire year after knee surgery, so he's back now for a fifth season, hoping he can stay healthy enough to provide depth on the defense and lead the way on special teams.
Of course, as he talked after practice this week, he did so with a cast on his left hand that Chekwa said was covering a broken finger. Gant just smiled and called it bumps and bruises.
"His hand's a little banged up, but he's not letting that hold him back," Hines said. "He's handled it all very well. He comes to work with no complaints."
Even if Gant, a Michigan native, ends his career with fewer than 50 tackles -- he has 23 in 32 career games so far -- he has obviously helped set a tone for this defense.
"I don't ask for hits, they just come my way," Gant said. "I don't really look for one big hit. When I'm on the field, [Chekwa] told me today, there's nothing else you can show them [to prove] that you can hit. You already established that. So every time I'm on the field, they kind of expect that out of me."