COLUMBUS, Ohio — Washington’s Adam Mohammed had an impressive 41-yard kick return in the first half of Saturday’s game against Ohio State football.
The play, with UW trailing 7-3, ended with a tackle from OSU kicker Jayden Fielding — who, as coach Ryan Day adequately described it, “got run over slow, but he got him (Mohammed) down.”
The next two returns for Mohammed weren’t as successful.
With the Buckeyes leading 17-6 in the fourth quarter, Mohammed’s second return of the game only went for 18 yards before he was tripped up by defensive back Aaron Scott.
His next return only went 12 yards with Scott, this time with more power, laying Mohammed out.
“That’s the second time that guy’s made that play,” CBS play-by-play announcer Brad Nessler said. “It’s Aaron Scott on special teams.”
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The plays garnered attention as the sophomore has held a minimal role for Ohio State defensively, but for those inside the program, it wasn’t surprising to see Scott come up big in the third phase.
“He made the play that he made in the game through the last couple weeks,” Day said. “The last 13 times that we’ve run down on kickoff, he was the first guy to the 30-yard line. Then he gets there in the game, and he makes that hit inside the 20-yard line.”
As a result, that guy is going to have opportunities to make plays moving forward.
“Aaron Scott’s going to start playing more football around here,” Day said. “That’s how you cut your teeth on special teams. That’s the culture that we have, and the guys buy into it.”
Scott came to Ohio State as a five-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, but unlike others in his class such as Jeremiah Smith and Eddrick Houston, he struggled to earn playing time behind starting cornerbacks Denzel Burke and Davison Igbinosun.
With Igbinosun and Jermaine Mathews holding starting roles this year — and five-star freshman Devin Sanchez jumping into the mix — Scott has had to work for playing time.
He capitalized on his special teams opportunities rather than pouting about a lack of defensive snaps through four games.
“Whatever role they give me, I was going to try to do it to the [best] of my capability,” Scott said.
Cornerbacks coach Tim Walton has helped transform the talent in his room since arriving at Ohio State in 2022.
A position group once anchored by Burke, who was forced to start as a true freshman, is now among OSU’s deepest.
The Buckeyes don’t have to thrust young corners into important roles. Instead, they can develop behind the scenes and earn playing time in other areas.
Scott has become the poster child of that.
“We say our best players play,” Day said. “If we decide to pull somebody out, it’s because we decide to. We try to find young guys to get in there.”