Ohio State football's new safety driven defense under Jim Knowles should have a key contributor available to start the season. Ryan Day said Wednesday that Lathan Ransom should have a mostly full preseason and is expected to be available to start the season. Day said Ransom, who broke his left leg in the Rose Bowl, may not participate in early team drills but is on schedule to play for the Sept. 3 season opener against Notre Dame.Ransom suffered a broken left leg while covering a kickoff return in the second quarter of the Rose Bowl against Utah last Jan. 1. He underwent surgery two days later and missed all of spring practice. At the time of the injury. Day compared it to the broken leg suffered by safety Josh Proctor during the Sept. 11 loss to Oregon. Proctor was able to return for part of spring practice, but was a limited participant. Ransom totaled 38 tackles with five pass breakups and one sack as a redshirt freshman. He was the first cover safety into the Rose Bowl with usual starter Marcus Williamson unavailable. - Columbus Dispatch