Aaron Scott Ready To Start Flying Around The Field

As far as true freshman seasons go, cornerback Aaron Scott’s was fairly typical. Scott played in seven games last year for the Buckeyes, but only saw action in two of Ohio State’s last 11 games. An injury was partly responsible for that lack of playing time, but so was the depth chart ahead of him.

Senior Denzel Burke, junior Davison Igbinosun, and sophomore Jermaine Mathews had the cornerback position locked down last year, which made snaps for anybody else scarce. Still, Scott saw time on defense in each of Ohio State’s first five games, even passing now-departed redshirt freshman Calvin Simpson-Hunt on the depth chart.

As the schedule got more difficult, however, the playing time dried up. An injury against Purdue then cost Aaron Scott even more time. But through it all, he made the best of it.

“It’s been fun,” Scott told Buckeye Huddle in the days before the national championship game against Notre Dame. “I’ve been able to learn a lot from the older guys and obviously compete for a natty. I feel like I’m in a great position. I was able to come in, learn, and be able to play for a natty. And be able to do the same thing again next year.”

Understanding the position that he was in, however, wasn’t all that easy. Scott is a very confident corner and he expected to play more than he did. It’s a tough balancing act between having the patience that every player needs and the expectation to play that drives the kind of results that leads to playing time.

Ohio State showed everybody how talented they were last year, but Scott didn’t necessarily get to show the same. It was a wakeup call to be sure.

“I would say it was hard at first,” Scott admitted. “Just having to realize I wasn’t going to be playing as soon as I wanted to. I feel like that was my plan going into college, but like I said, I feel like I’ve been learning a lot to where it’s not that bad. Next year I’ll be able to step in the row to take over for the older guys that are leaving.”

There are worse things for a true freshman than learning from talented teammates and coaches like Ryan Day and Tim Walton. It wasn’t a lesson that Scott was planning on learning, but it’s the biggest lesson he will be taking forward into his sophomore season.

“You got to just keep going,” he said. “You’re going to have your days or whatever, but Coach Day tells us we’re at Ohio State, we can’t afford to have a bad day. So you’ve got to just keep going while also realizing you’re competing against the best in the nation.”

Aaron Scott didn’t play as many snaps as he expected, but he got to practice against the likes of receiver teammates Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka, and Carnell Tate. For an Ohio State cornerback, there is an argument to be made that the practices are more difficult than the games.

Now a sophomore, Scott is closer than ever to making an impact on Saturdays, which is only driving him more.

So what will Buckeye fans see this year when Aaron Scott does finally see regular playing time?

“A physical player that loves the game, has got a lot of energy, and will be flying around the field,” he said. “You’re going to see that I’ve been ready to get on the field.”

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