The Wisconsin jet sweep was strafing the Ohio State defense. In the first half of their game at Madison three weeks ago, Jazz Peavy was coming across, cutting up and making some yards.Then an interesting thing happened. Instead of having a cornerback try to run the width of the field to keep up with Peavy, the Buckeyes decided to have safety Malik Hooker — until then a blossoming, pass-intercepting safety — roll up and ground the jet. The first time the Badgers tried the play in the second half, Hooker finished it with a physical tackle. “And that was that,” as coach Urban Meyer later described it. And with that, Hooker stepped into another realm as a first-year starting safety. Adept at running down deep pass attempts from one sideline to the other, he showed he also can charge when called on. “I think it’s just some alteration of schemes and some different things we’ve been asking him to do,” defensive backs coach Kerry Coombs said of Hooker’s increased involvement in the run defense at Penn State and during a home win over Northwestern in which he led the Buckeyes with 14 tackles. But Hooker’s ability to step up to…
Continue Reading: Ohio State football | Malik Hooker takes on bigger role in stopping run
