Malik Hartford started at free safety in place of Josh Proctor as Ohio State hosted Youngstown State on Saturday.

It was the first career start for Hartford, a freshman from West Chester who had backed up Proctor in the Buckeyes’ season-opening win at Indiana last week.

The status of Proctor was uncertain after he was listed as questionable on the pregame availability report released in the morning.

No injury was specified on the report, but Proctor’s left ankle was wrapped in tape as he went through warmups. He was in uniform against the Penguins, but without a helmet.

Proctor had four tackles and a pass break-up a week ago against the Hoosiers before Hartford rotated in for him in the second half.

In warmups, sophomore Kye Stokes lined up as the free safety with the second-team defense. Ja’Had Carter, a Syracuse transfer who had been competing with Proctor and Hartford for the starting free safety spot in preseason practices, was positioned as a nickel safety with the second-team.

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Follow him on Facebook and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. He can also be contacted at jkaufman@dispatch.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football's Malik Hartford starts against Youngstown State