One summer ago, his fourth year in the Scarlet and Gray, Demetrius Knox lost the battle for right guard with Branden Bowen.
Bowen started the first six games for the Buckeyes before a leg injury ended his season. Knox stepped in for his teammate down the stretch run and finally began living up to the expectations he arrived with.
Knox redshirted as a true freshman, and was then a reserve for his next two seasons. Every year, there were expectations that this would his year. The same thing happened in 2017, but Bowen won the job and once again Knox was left to fill in the dept chart.
Once he was called upon in the middle of the season, however, he was energized, and it showed in his play on the field.
Now in his fifth-and-final season as a Buckeye, Knox’s role goes beyond just being a starter.
“This year I’m having to take over a stronger leadership role,” he said this spring. “I’ve got to be a little more vocal in the room.”
It was a long time coming for Knox, who had opportunities to establish himself in previous seasons. He was beaten out by a freshman Michael Jordan for the left guard job in 2016. He then lost out to a younger player again last year in Branden Bowen. With youth being served on the offensive line, it is never unusual to see an older player leave in order to find some playing time somewhere else.
Knox never did that, however. And because he persevered, the Buckeyes are the better for it.
“I wouldn’t say persevere. We’re all one big family. This whole team,” he said. “So it’s not just someone went down or Bowen went down, it’s my brother went down. So what can I do to the best of my ability to help the rest of the guys? It’s not necessarily, ‘I won the spot, he won the spot.’ It’s ‘what can I do for the team?'”
What Knox did was solidify an offensive line that is always crucial to Ohio State’s power running game.
In his first start, the Buckeyes rushed for 279 yards on the road at Nebraska. The Huskers never stood a chance.
Knox proved that he was capable of doing what so many had been waiting for him to do.
He wasn’t doing it for himself, however.
“For me, I’d have to say the light coming on, it wasn’t ‘I want to win this spot’ or ‘I hope I don’t mess up.’ It’s the guys next to me,” he said. “They’ve got a plan, they’ve got a vision for what they want the team to be like, and I don’t want to let them down. So that was my only mindset.”