'Activated' Caleb Downs Ready For More

Ohio State sophomore safety Caleb Downs had a season-high six tackles in last week’s win over Michigan State. It was far from a career-high, however, as he only had fewer than six tackles four times last year as a true freshman at Alabama.

Still, he was frequently around the football — including at or behind the line of scrimmage. It wasn’t the first time he’s done so this season, but it looked like his most complete game as a Buckeye so far.

Downs himself would agree.

“I would say that’s my most well put together game,” he said following practice on Wednesday. “I’ve made plays in other games too, but I would say that’s the most well put together game I’ve played so far.”

What does “well put together” mean for him?

“Making the plays that I need to make that come to me,” he said. “Playing fast when I can trigger. When I can see the play and go downhill. I would say those are the big things that I can see. And then when I’m in pass coverage or when the ball’s in the air, making the play when it comes to me.”

It’s not that Caleb Downs was playing poorly over the first three games of the season, it’s just that there weren’t as many plays for him to make. Part of that was the offenses the Buckeyes were facing, and part of that involved what defensive coordinator Jim Knowles was asking him to do.

Rest assured, however, that Knowles will continue to ask him to do more.

“You take a guy like Caleb Downs, who we activated Saturday, and we’re going to continue to activate him as we get into big time, Big Ten competition. You see what he looks like when he’s activated,” Knowles said. “What you don’t see a lot is when he’s not activated, how many times they just don’t throw the ball deep, you know what I mean? Because he’s in the right place and on top of the routes, and they don’t even take those shots.”

What does it mean being “activated?”

“I feel like it’s just the team that we played against gave me the opportunity to make plays and the Lord put me in positions to make plays to glorify him, so I would say the defense that he called was a good game and then I made the plays when they came to me,” Downs said.

As the teams on Ohio State’s schedule get more and more talented, Downs will continue to make more plays. But none of it is by chance or luck. Some of it is natural ability, but don’t overlook the amount of preparation that goes into every game.

“His preparation is remarkable,” said head coach Ryan Day. “And just the amount of work he puts in and his ability to play really fast certainly is part of his makeup. But when you put preparation in and you know what you’re looking at and you can react faster because you put that much preparation in, that’s a sign of a veteran player. He plays that way.”