The Ohio State Buckeyes finished the regular season 12-0 and wound up suffering their first loss of the season to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship. With a few weeks off for Ohio State, I thought I’d provide some recent news and updates surrounding the program in general. Here are 5 things to know about Ohio State football before its next game on Dec. 31.
1. Brian Hartline gets a promotion
Coach Hartline played wide receiver for Ohio State from 2005-2008. After about 6 years in the NFL, Hartline then began his coaching career back at Ohio State as a quality control assistant. In 2018, Hartline was promoted to wide receiver coach. In that position, Hartline went on one of the greatest runs at a single position that college football has ever seen. Guys like Chris Olave, Garret Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr., and the list could go on. Hartline got promoted to offensive coordinator last season and ultimately sole offensive coordinator this season.
With how effective he had been in recruiting and developing talent, Hartline’s departure felt like a question of when, not if. The “when” came last week when Hartline was announced as the next head coach at the University of South Florida. Hartline expects to continue coaching for Ohio State through the playoffs.
2. National Signing Day
The early national signing day period was also last week. According to both On3 and 247Sports, Ohio State finished with the sixth-ranked recruiting class in the country. This year’s class is highlighted by 6-foot-6, five-star wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. Another notable name is Cincere Johnson, a consensus top 10-rated linebacker recruit out of Glenville High School (the same High School as Ariel Reese, Bryce West, etc.). Ohio State’s sixth-ranked class is good for third in the Big Ten, with both Oregon and USC finishing above.
3. Award Winners and Snubs
Caleb Downs was selected as the winner of the Thorpe Award on Friday. The Thorpe Award each year goes to the best defensive back in the country. Jeremiah Smith finished second for the Biletnikoff award, which goes to the best wide receiver in the country. Makai Lemon of USC won the award.
Julian Sayin, in his first year as a starter, was one of the four Heisman Trophy finalists invited to New York City. Sayin wound up finishing fourth, and Jeremiah Smith finished sixth in votes. The Heisman ward would ultimately go to Fernando Mendoza of Indiana.
4. All Big Ten Selections
With the regular season over, all the Big Ten teams have been released, and there is plenty of Buckeye representation. On the first team, Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate represented the offense. Kayden McDonald, Ariel Reese, Sonny Styles, and Caleb Downs were all selected to the first team Big Ten defense.
Bo Jackson, Luke Montgomery, and Austin Sierveld were all selected to the second-team offense. Caden Curry and Davison Igbinosun were both second-team defenders. Jermaine Matthews was selected as a third-team defender to round out Ohio State’s selections.
5. Wait and See
Ohio State sits idle until Dec. 31. The Buckeyes will play the winner of Miami vs. Texas A&M. That game will be played on Dec. 20 at 12 noon ET in College Station, Texas. Currently, Texas A&M is favored by 3.5 points. Regardless of the result between Texas A&M and Miami, Ohio State will play the winner in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m. ET. If Ohio State were to win the Cotton Bowl, it’d advance to the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8.
