INDIANAPOLIS — Damon Arnette might have taken the credo “no pain, no gain” a little too serious.
Ohio State’s senior cornerback broke his wrist during preseason camp — and played in 12 games. Entering Saturday's Big Ten championship game, he had 27 tackles, an interception, five pass breakups, and a forced fumble.
Ryan Day made toughness the word of the year in his first season as OSU’s head coach, with Arnette a living, breathing example every day.
“I’m just trying to keep my head down until we run through the finish line,” Arnette said. “Then I’ll be able to look up and see what I’ve played through and what we’ve accomplished after we’ve accomplished what we need to accomplish.”
The injury occurred when Arnette attempted to pry the football out of J.K. Dobbins’ grasp during an August practice. Even then, however, Dobbins didn’t know the severity of his injured right wrist until after the third game at Indiana, a day he returned an interception 96 yards for a touchdown.
“I finished that practice, by the way,” Arnette told reporters with emphasis. “When I found out it was broken, I didn’t even think twice about it. I was just like ‘Oh, OK,’ because I was already playing with it.”
Arnette had surgery in early October and wore a large cast the second half of the season. The only game he missed this season was a walk-through against Rutgers in November. The second-team All-Big Ten defender is one of the most improved players on the nation’s No. 1-ranked defense.
Consider him a benefactor of Jeff Hafley’s hire, the Buckeyes’ co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach who’s had a meteoric rise in one year, becoming one of the most talked-about assistant coaches in the country.
“I became a better player technically because of coach Hafley and the technique that he’s brought to the program,” Arnette said. “When he got here, he went through each snap and basically was saying what was good about it, what was bad about it.
“Naturally, the technique that he was teaching, I kind of naturally was trying to do it last year because I felt like the other technique wasn’t fitting my style of play.”
Hafley, a finalist for the Broyles Award, said he’s noticed a level of confidence in Arnette that allows the cornerback to play more freely and with the belief that he’ll make whatever play is necessary.
“A guy like Damon, you just appreciate him so much,” Hafley said. “I mean, he’s playing with one hand. And he’s getting off blocks with one hand. He saved a touchdown on the right sideline [against Michigan] where he got off a block with one hand and made the tackle.
“So, you want to talk about toughness? I mean, that’s what this place is all about. Guys like Damon.”
There’s occasional pain in Arnette’s surgically repaired wrist. Managing the pain has become a game-day ritual, similar to fending off wide receivers and flipping the narrative of Ohio State’s defense.
“We do have to go out there and be tough,” Arnette said. “Maybe for some people, they have to really think about it. But for me, I just go out there and grind. I know I’m tough, and I know the guys I’m going to war with are tough. We just take the message and run with it.”
First Published December 8, 2019, 1:28 a.m.
