COLUMBUS — Brendon White came into Saturday’s game against Nebraska knowing that he was going to play more than his usual assignments on special teams, but he had no idea he would end up playing as large of a role as he did.
Due to injuries to cornerback Jeff Okudah and safety Isaiah Pryor, White was planning to be involved in nickel downs for the Buckeyes. He would come into the game at safety and Shaun Wade would slide down to nickel.
Early in the second quarter, however, that plan went out the window when starting safety Jordan Fuller was ejected for targeting.
This put White in the game on first, second, and third downs.
Before Fuller left the field, he gave White some words of encouragement.
“He said your opportunity is coming and that he had faith in me, he knows I’m ready, and he’d be there for me at halftime,” White recounted.
White stepped in and all he did was look like he had been starting all along. He led the Buckeyes with 13 tackles (8 solo) and two tackles for loss. He was under control on every snap and never looked out of place. Fuller is Ohio State’s captain on the back end and the Buckeyes didn’t miss a step when White was forced into action.
“Young guys have to step up and I knew I had to step up. I couldn’t let somebody else take that position,” White said. “I have prepared for this. You never know what’s going to happen in any game. You’re going to face adversity and we faced it the right way, in a positive manner. No one got worried and we just did our jobs and the rest took care of itself.”
Nebraska had their moments on offense to be sure, but the Buckeyes were once again down multiple starters on defense. Unlike the trip to West Lafayette, however, this time they found some answers. Those answers didn’t come immediately, but once the nerves started dying down, then so did a few of those Husker yards.
“The first series was kind of nerve wracking,” White said. “First time being out there with the first team. Middle of the game. It’s kind of early because usually I’m going in in the fourth quarter. So when that happened, after the first series went on and the second series happened, I got more comfortable with myself. Guys started believing in me, saying ‘You got this,’ and we got the W.”
The first series was a three-and-out for the Huskers, but the next two drives resulted in touchdowns that gave Nebraska a 21-16 lead at the half. With an opportunity to settle down at the half, the Ohio State defense held the Huskers scoreless in the third quarter, allowing around 50 yards of total offense.
White had four tackles on Nebraska’s first drive of the third quarter and played a large role in stifling the Huskers, which allowed Ohio State to build a 9-point lead in the third quarter and eventually distance themselves enough for the win.
Brendon White is the son of former Buckeye and Detroit Lions great William White. The advice he received from his father suited him well as he finally saw significant action on defense in his 23rd game as a Buckeye.
“Be patient. Trust in the Lord. Your time will come, don’t give up,” White said of his father’s advice. “Because when you give up, when you get the opportunity like this, you’ll not be ready for this. So I just stayed focused and stayed ready to go.”
Being prepared and staying focused is nothing new for the White family, and it is ongoing now with William having been diagnosed with ALS. During the game Saturday, a video played on the Ohio Stadium scoreboard asking Buckeye Nation to come together to help put a stop to ALS.
#BuckeyeNation we need your help! This video will play in the Shoe today during #OSUvsNeb Share & donate please to #KickALS!! @KirkHerbstreit @EddieGeorge2727 @chris_spielman @JimTressel5 @OSUCoachMeyer @spinnershells @OSUWexMed @Joey_Galloway @OfficialAJHawk pic.twitter.com/lxR7bWs8YT
— Matt Finkes (@MattFinkes) November 3, 2018
While on the sideline, Brendon White saw the video, but used his father’s advice to stay focused.
“My dad is one of my idols,” he said. “Hopefully I made him proud today and hopefully we can go up from here. I didn’t want to tear up, but I got emotional about it. It was pretty cool to see that.”
You will likely never hear a former teammate of William White say a bad thing about him as a defensive back and a teammate, which is another example that Brendon White has tried to emulate. That is also why he never got frustrated by a lack of playing time.
“Not at all,” he said. “I’m here for the team and if my role is not to play last year and this year, then I’m going to support the people in front of me. I came here to win games, and so when my opportunity came I took advantage of it and all I did was try to help this team win.”
The manner in which White went about helping this team toward a win wasn’t Herculean. It was just a safety doing his one-eleventh.
“My goal out there was not to try to make a play. My goal was to do my job and not do too much,” he said. “I didn’t want to do too much and try to be a superhero and then I make a mistake. So my job, I had a specific role and that was to do the safety role and trust my players that they had my back.”
After the game, White spent more time than any other player speaking with reporters. As the story of the game, however, it goes with the territory. And territorially speaking, there is no where he would rather be than at Ohio State right now.
“It’s a dream come true, actually,” he said. “After the game I started tearing up because I just couldn’t believe it. Growing up from Ohio, went to Olentangy Liberty, 15 minutes from here, and always going to the games as a high school kid, and then being able to play at your dream school is pretty cool.”
And it’s not just cool for him, it’s also cool for his dad.
“He’ll be happy,” White said after the game. “I’m excited to go see him right now.”
[If you would like to help “Kick ALS”, you can donate by texting KickALS to 41444 or you can check out the website as well.]