Category: Buckeyes Wire

Justin Fields VERY early Heisman favorite for 2020

According to the online betting website SportsLine ,Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields is the early favorite to win the 2020 Heisman.

Not that these things always pan out (Trevor Lawrence anyone), but we’ve got the very, very early odds on the favorites for the Heisman Trophy in 2020. Of course it didn’t take long. These online betting sites like to roll thes things out there as soon as they can to get the buzz going.

But hey, Buckeye fans will love who’s on top.

According to SportsLine, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields is the early favorite to win the Heisman Trophy at this time next year. Behind him is Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, Alabama quarterback Mac Jones, and Auburn quarterback Bo Nix.

If your interested beyond that, below includes the top nine according to the online betting site.

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Justin Fields as the favorite definitely makes sense. He’ll have had another year of seasoning in an offensive system tailored to his skill-set, and with key departures, the coaching staff might need to rely on him a bit more with both his arm and running ability.

We’ll check in on these odds routinely, but for now, it’s all just fun to talk about. I mean, who had Joe Burrow winning the thing at the beginning of this year?

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Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields releases video congratulating Joe Burrow on winning Heisman

Former Ohio State quarterback Joe Burrow has won the Heisman. Current OSU quarterback Justin Fields took time to publicly congratulate him.

It only took a Big Ten player transferring to an SEC school, and an SEC player transferring to a Big Ten school to bring the North and South together again. Well, maybe just the SEC and Big Ten, but you catch my drift.

Perhaps no conferences like to fight for football supremacy more than the Big Ten and SEC. There are barbs in the media, stereotypes that have gone wild, and my SEC dad can beat up your Big Ten dad type of hot takes almost yearly that are a little over the top. Some might even say uneducated and a bit ridiculous.

But don’t tell that to Joe Burrow and Justin Fields. Both have been very gracious to each other through this whole Heisman parade, and just last night, after Burrow won the Heisman as expected, Fields took the time to congratulate him publicly.

You can watch the below shared to the official Twitter feed of Ohio State Football.

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Maybe there’s hope for the country yet. Maybe these two can now work on the Democrats and Republicans. Now go win that Heisman in 2020.

Ohio State ends up with three of the top six in Heisman voting

When all the votes were tallied, Ohio State football had three of the top six players in the official Heisman voting.

By now you know that Joe Burrow won the 2019 Heisman Trophy in a landslide. You also know that Justin Fields and Chase Young were also somewhere in the top four because they were a part of the four invited to New York for the ceremony as finalists.

What we didn’t know is how close the votes were, and just where running back J.K. Dobbins landed in all the brouhaha across the country when the votes were tabulated.

Until now.

Many have shared the vote tallys and we can now see that the Buckeyes had three of the top six vote getters when it came to the official Heisman ballot counting for 2019. Thanks to Austin Ward of Lettermen Row for sharing the official results below.

Burrow won easily, and clustered together fairly closely were Jalen Hurts of Oklahoma in 2nd place, Justin Fields in 3rd place, then Chase Young in 4th overall. But scroll down two more and you see Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor, followed by Dobbins in 6th place.

That makes three of the top six in Heisman voting when all is said and done that are Ohio State players. And yeah, if you want to add in Joe Burrow who got his baseline development from Ryan Day at OSU and is technically a gradate of The Ohio State University, that’s not a bad day at all for the program.

Now, let’s focus on this whole College Playoff thing shall we?

Ranking all 39 2019-2020 college football bowl games

There are 39 FBS bowl games this year. Which ones should Ohio State fans be the most interested in?

Bowl season comes at you fast–it starts in less than a week. There are 39 FBS bowl games this year. My advice, always, is to watch every single one of them. The more college football, the better, and I always really enjoy learning about the cool stories that some of these smaller programs have. Whether it’s a first bowl appearance in decades (or ever), a coaching turnaround, a crazy walk-on story, or something else, even the smallest of bowls always have compelling backstories.

I get it, though. Time is precious. Sometimes we can’t watch all the college football that we want. So I’m going to rank all 39 bowls games, from the “will be fun to watch” to the “can’t-miss.” And, of course, since this is a Buckeyes site, extra priority will be given to games that matter more to Ohio State. There’s no particular science to these rankings. Sometimes a game’s backstory will matter more; other times I’ll focus more on how competitive or high-quality the game is likely to be.

39. FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl: Liberty vs Georgia Southern

Saturday, December 21st, 2:30 PM

We get a first-time bowl team, as the Liberty Flames began their football program very recently. And the entire purpose of this bowl is to raise money to cure cancer, so that’s pretty cool too. Once we get to the game, though, Georgia Southern is pretty clearly the better team. The Eagles beat Appalachian State this year, and Liberty lost to Rutgers. It’s college football and anything can happen, but if you have to miss a bowl game, it should probably be this one. (Especially considering the fact that the Cure Bowl is on at the same time as two much better bowl games.)

38. Quick Lane Bowl: Pittsburgh vs Eastern Michigan

Thursday, December 26th, 8:00 PM

This is, by far, the least-compelling bowl game involving a Power 5 team. Pitt has talent and played Penn State close, but it’s never really a fun team to watch. Chris Creighton has done an insanely good job getting Eastern Michigan to a bowl game in three out of four years now, and it’s honestly shocking that a bigger school looking to rebuild hasn’t snatched him up yet. Still, there is a talent disparity, and neither team is that compelling to watch. If Pitt is flat once again, especially on offense, we could get a close game. If that doesn’t happen, though, there’s no real reason to stay on this game.

37. Camellia Bowl: FIU vs Arkansas State

Saturday, December 21st, 5:30 PM

There is nothing too compelling about this bowl game. The teams are probably evenly-matched, and FIU did pull off an incredible upset of the Miami Hurricanes a few weeks ago. Other than that, though, I’m not sure what about this game inspires fans to tune in.

36. Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl: Buffalo vs Charlotte

Friday, December 20th, 2:00 PM

Aside from having a hilarious backstory for its sponsor and being the opening game of bowl season this year, it’s a little hard to be too excited about the Bahamas Bowl. The location is awesome for the students and a ton of fun, but the matchup leaves much to be desired. This is also Charlotte’s first-ever bowl game (the program only began in 2013), which is always cool to see, but Buffalo is much more talented. Make sure not to miss Buffalo’s defensive lineman LeDarius Mack (yes, Khalil Mack’s brother). And maybe we get a good game if Charlotte is inspired by its first bowl appearance and plays perfect football.

35. Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl: Utah State vs Kent State

Friday, December 20th, 7:30 PM

First of all, extra points to this game for having a hilarious sponsor. (Yes, that absolutely matters in bowl rankings. If you’re watching a game that’s not so compelling, it’s much more fun if you get to laugh every time ESPN’s commentators say the sponsor’s name.) Also, extra points for having an Ohio team. After that, though, it’s tough to look forward to this game. Utah State’s Jordan Love is going to want to end his college career on a high note, and the Aggies are a much better team than the Golden Flashes. Kent State is looking for its first-ever bowl win, which is always cool to see. Hopefully it gets it, but I wouldn’t hold out hope on it being a great game.

34. Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl: Georgia State vs Wyoming

Tuesday, December 31st, 4:30 PM

Fun fact: both of these teams beat SEC teams this year. Georgia State took down Tennessee and Wyoming beat Missouri back in Week 1. Other than that, though, there’s not much compelling about this game. Wyoming is the better team, and the Cowboys have the defense to stifle Georgia State and make this game near-unwatchable. Watch the Liberty Bowl on New Years’ Eve, and maybe check in on the end of this one if it’s close.

33. Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: Tulane vs Southern Miss

Firday, January 4th, 3:00 PM

Not enough people have watched Tulane this season, which is a shame. The Green Wave are a good team and the program is heading in the right direction. Southern Miss, though, is limping into a bowl on a two-game losing streak, and it wasn’t very competitive in either game. Let’s hope it doesn’t make it three in a row.

32. Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Ohio vs Nevada

Friday, January 3rd, 3:30 PM

I’m a huge fan of Frank Solich. He always has a competitive MAC team and often finds some really good players. It’s very unfortunate that not enough of the country pays more attention to the Bobcats. But, other than this game being played on the blue turf (and often in snow), there’s not too much else to look forward to in this one.

31. New Era Pinstripe Bowl: Michigan State vs Wake Forest

Friday, December 27th, 3:20 PM

If you had the misfortune of watching Michigan State’s bowl game last year, you might be wondering why this game is ranked so high. Well, Michigan State is in the Big Ten, and the Pinstripe Bowl always had the added element of being played in an outdoor stadium in New York City in the winter. Combine that with Michigan State’s great defense and dysfunctional offense, and who knows what can happen.

Next… 30-21

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Ohio State assistant Jeff Hafley confirmed as next head coach at Boston College

Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has been officially announced as the next head coach at Boston College.

Up until now, it was pure speculation and sourced rumor, but we now have confirmation from Boston College itself. Ohio State co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Jeff Hafley will be the next head coach at Boston College.

Pretty credible sources began to come forward earlier this week that a deal was in the works and that things were a mere formality, but nothing concrete had been released. Then yesterday, we got even more credible reports that a deal was done, but we didn’t hear officially from Ohio State or Boston College.

Until today when Boston College announced the hiring of Hafley on its official Twitter account.

Hafley came to Ohio State when Ryan Day lured him from the San Francisco 49ers. He was brought in to help improve an Ohio State defense and secondary that struggled giving up the big play in 2019.

It has been a resounding success.

Ohio State is 2nd in the country in passing yards allowed, 8th in rushing defense, 3rd in scoring defense, and 2nd in scoring defense heading into the College Football Playoff.

Now, it appears Hafley will be moving on to Boston College after just one very successful season in Columbus. He’ll finish out the year and be along for whatever ride Ohio State goes on in the postseason.

Former Ohio Sate and current LSU quarterback Joe Burrow wins Heisman Trophy

He’s done it. Former Ohio State and current LSU quarterback Joe Burrow has won the 2019 Heisman Trophy. Well done.

Former Ohio State quarterback Joe Burrow has won the Heisman Trophy all while surrounded by two current Buckeyes who also went to New York as finalists.

The story of Burrow is quite amazing. He came out of small-town America in Athens, Ohio as a four-star recruit in 2015. He committed and enrolled at Ohio State, and was expected to eventually compete for the starting quarterback position in Columbus once J.T. Barrett moved on. He did indeed do that in the spring of 2018, but eventually graduated early and transferred to LSU after not being named the starter.

At LSU, he won the starting job last year and had modest success before developing into what we all witnessed in 2019. All Burrow did this year was set all sorts of SEC passing records, including throwing 48 total touchdown passes and eclipsing the single-season passing yardage mark.

Now, amazingly he is a Heisman winner, and a graduate of The Ohio State University. Other programs can say what they will about Buckeye fans rooting and calling him a Buckeye, but he is an Ohio State alum. He is also a full-fledged LSU Tiger.

Even Burrow himself paid homage to both programs and his roots.

There’s nothing but good things to say about a kid that has handled himself with class and made his dreams come true — even if it has been with another program in the SEC.

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Chase Young says the plan is for him to return to Ohio State for his senior season. Umm, okay.

Ohio State defensive end Chase Young was quoted by TMZ Sports about returning to Ohio State next year. That ain’t happening folks.

In case you missed what amounted to a perceived bombshell earlier today, Ohio State defensive end Chase Young was quoted by TMZ Sports as saying he’s not thinking about the NFL Draft right now, and that his “plan” is to return to Ohio State.

Okay, forgive me if I don’t hold my breath.

I know Young loves being at Ohio State and all of that, and he’s clearly speaking out of the emotion of the moment. But do we really believe when it’s all said and done that what might be the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft is going to forego millions of dollars for “the love of being a college student.”

No way, no how.

There is absolutely nothing to prove for the 6-5, 265 lb. game-wrecker if he were to come back for another fantastic run. Sure, maybe he picks up more steam on his Heisman campaign, or perhaps he wants to set the NCAA record for single-season sacks, or sacks in a career. Either way, that pales in comparison to what he’d be risking if he were to stay a so-called amateur.

There’s about as much of a chance of that happening as Jim Harbaugh becoming a spokesman for Levis jeans.

Young would be able to get insurance to cover himself in his graduation year should he sustain an unfortunate injury, but that won’t cover everything that goes with any signing bonus and long-term type deal he can get as a high, high draft pick.

So while it would be fun and a bit unfair to watch one of the greatest defensive ends in the history of the college game to come back and mess with the game plans of college defensive coordinators again, I wouldn’t put any stock in these comments.

But hey, maybe he meant the plan was to come back to Ohio with the Cincinnati Bengals? That is something many Buckeye fans could get behind as a consolation prize.

Do we really appreciate what Ohio State defensive end Chase Young has done this year?

Ohio State defensive end Chase Young has had a year for the ages. But do we really appreciate what he’s done in 2019?

By now everyone has heard about the dominance of Ohio State defensive end Chase Young. I’m sure other teams have gotten tired of hearing just how great he is, but in reality, the guy is truly a phenom that we are watching.

We might know it, but do we really know and embrace it. There may not ever be another guy like him at the defensive end position on the Banks of the Olentangy. Or at least, not for a very, very, long time.

While his accolades speak for themselves, the amount of awards he’s picked up during the college football awards circuit is astounding. In case you haven’t already been made aware, Chase Young added five trophies alone in the last week. Here’s a quick run down of all that’s happened for the junior defensive end.

Ready for this? Young averages more sacks per game than 37 teams in the country. That’s equal to about a quarter of all the teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Let that sink in for a minute. Especially seeing how he had to sit for two games because of accepting and paying back a loan from a family friend.

Let’s not mention the fact that the games he did play in he didn’t even play in all four quarters. Ohio State was so dominant in 2019 that he wasn’t needed often at the end of blowout wins. The point here is that the stats could have been even greater, like single-season NCAA record-setting greater.

While Buckeye fans love to compare the junior gamed-wrecker with the Bosa brothers, but their productivity didn’t even touch what Young has put on tape. Young has statistically had a better season than either brother ever had at Ohio State, and the games aren’t even over yet. All he did set the single-season sack record in Columbus with 16.5 sacks in just eleven games.

Then there’s tackles for loss. Young is tied Joey Bosa with 21.5 tackles for loss in just one season at Ohio State, but lets us not forget big brother Joey played 15 games, to again — just eleven for Young. There’s a good bet that record will fall as well on December 28.

While we will always look back at the Bosas with fond memories of their dominance, we’d be remiss not to mention the fact that we are watching arguably the best defensive lineman in OSU history.

Now all Young needs to do is score a touchdown. He’s done everything else after all.

The X Factor player for Ohio State Against Clemson is …

If Ohio State hopes to dethrone Clemson and get into the national championship game, it’ll need this player to come up big.

While it seems that everyone is picking Clemson to win the titanic struggle in the desert, maybe there is one specific player that can make all the difference in the world for Ohio State.

In the Big Ten Championship game, KJ Hill was crucial to the success of Ohio State with his ability to catch the underneath routes to balance the deep threat ability of Chris Olave. Everyone has raved about Olave since he emerged last year against That Team Up North, but KJ Hill is as reliable as it gets and is often overshadowed and underappreciated.

In the Wisconsin game, Hill had a game-high seven receptions for 83 yards and two touchdowns. His performance in the second half is what allowed Ohio State to open up the deep passing game to Olave.

The tandem of Olave and Hill is crucial to the success of Ohio State, but without the underneath routes, the safeties can stay high and limit the deep threat. Hill is second on the team in touchdowns, but he often gets the tough and dirty underneath yardage that isn’t nearly as glorious.

In order to reach the pinnacle of where this Ohio State team hopes to end up in 2019, it’ll need to rely on the experience of Hill to keep the defense guessing in the passing game. The fact that Hill is Ohio State’s all-time leader in receptions says he’s up to the task.

Here’s where Ohio State can cause issues for Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl

The Ohio State football team has its work cut out for it against Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl. There’s one area that could be the difference.

While Vegas odds have Clemson as the favorite over a higher seeded and higher ranked Ohio State squad, it may just play to the advantage of the Buckeyes to play the underdog role in a game where virtually everyone is picking the Tigers.

It’s interesting how the narrative has changed from just one half of football even though everyone was on the OSU train during the regular season as the most complete and dominant team. Now, it must embrace the role of being slighted and find those advantages to pull one off against the defending national champions.

But here’s the deal. This will be a game in which the talent is equal. That means winning will come down to execution of advantages you have over other teams, and for Ohio State, the one thing that could cause issues for the  Clemson attack, is its ability to get to the quarterback.

It is clear that both teams have electric offenses and stout defenses, but with what we’ve seen, there’s a good chance we see some decent scoring in the desert night. So, a play here and a game changing play there could mean the difference between moving on to New Orleans vs. turning the page to the early signing period in recruiting.

If you’re looking for that one area that can change the game, it’s on the defensive line for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State is leading the country in sacks with an impressive 51 sacks in thirteen games. While everyone knows that Chase Young has racked up a plethora of awards and leads the country in sacks with a total of 16.5, you can bet Clemson will look to limit him by double and triple teaming him. That’s okay. His dominance should allow for the emergence of other players up front.

That’s where Zach Harrison, BB Landers, Davon Hamilton, Jashon Cornell and gang come in. If you look at the film in the games against The Team Up North and Wisconsin you could say that teams were able to limit Chase Young, but that didn’t stop others from getting in on the act.

While it is easy to forget about the rest of the defensive line with such a big name as Chase Young, it is certainly important to recognize the others who have been such a big factor in the trenches. It may seem like everyone else’s stats seem quite small compared to Chase Young, but let’s realize that they all feed off each other.

Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence is a difference-making talent at quarterback. In order to win this one, Ohio State has to disrupt the flow of the passing game. The Buckeyes are more equipped to do that than any other team in the College Football Playoff.