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Master Teague, Marcus Crowley, Harry Miller, Gee Scott Jr. Among 14 Buckeyes Unavailable For Indiana Game

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Ohio State will be down two of its top four running backs on Saturday.

OHIO STATE STATUS REPORT FOR INDIANA
UNAVAILABLE
WR KAMRYN BABB
RB MARCUS CROWLEY
SAF JANTZEN DUNN
DE TYLER FRIDAY
CB JAKAILIN JOHNSON
BUL JAYLEN JOHNSON
LB MITCHELL MELTON
DL JADEN MCKENZIE
OL HARRY MILLER
DL NOAH POTTER
SAF JOSH PROCTOR
TE GEE SCOTT JR.
RB MASTER TEAGUE
OL ENOKK VIMAHI

Master Teague and Marcus Crowley are both among the 14 Buckeyes listed as unavailable against Indiana, which likely means TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams – who is expected to play after missing the Rutgers and Maryland games – will take most of the carries out of the backfield.

Head coach Ryan Day also said this week that freshman running back Evan Pryor has been making plays in practice as of late, and the absence of Teague and Crowley could allow him an increase in opportunities against the Hoosiers.

Harry Miller is also back on the unavailable list this week after seeing his first action of the season with 26 snaps across the past two games. Miller, a third-year offensive lineman that was expected to start at center to enter the season, was unavailable for each of the first four games for Ohio State.

At tight end, Gee Scott Jr. will be unavailable for the first time this season. Scott has logged double-digit snaps in each of the past three games for the Buckeyes, and the sophomore has hauled in four catches for 43 yards through the first half of the regular season.

RELATED Eleven Warriors Roundtable: Ohio State Heads to Bloomington For a Primetime Clash With Indiana

Another new addition to Ohio State’s list of unavailable players is Enokk Vimahi, a third-year offensive lineman that has played 49 snaps in the past three contests as the second-team left tackle.

Second-year wide receiver Julian Fleming, who has not played since the Tulsa game on Sept. 18 due to an undisclosed injury, appears to be available for Ohio State against Indiana.

On defense, the Buckeyes will have back senior defensive end Tyreke Smith, who has not seen game action since Week 3. Smith was a game-time decision against Maryland but did not play.

Cameron Brown, who left the Maryland game in the second quarter after sustaining a blow to the head and did not return, was not listed on Ohio State’s injury report, indicating he should be available to play. The fourth-year cornerback missed two of the first four games of the season with an apparent knee injury and played limited snaps in each of the past two games prior to the aforementioned collision against the Terrapins.

Haskell Garrett is also expected to play Saturday night despite re-aggravating a leg injury in the second half against Maryland. The fifth-year senior defensive tackle was not listed on the Buckeyes’ status report.



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Chris Olave Says Oregon Was “Dream School” Growing Up, Remembers Rooting Against Buckeyes in 2015 Title Game

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Chris Olave will have a starring role in Saturday’s Ohio State-Oregon matchup, but it won’t be the first time the star wideout has had a vested interest in a contest between the two programs.

It’ll just be the first time he wants the Buckeyes to win that game.

The California native vividly recalls tuning into the 2015 College Football Playoff national championship game, the most recent meeting between the Buckeyes and Ducks, and Olave couldn’t help but pause, grin and laugh when asked Tuesday which team he was rooting for at the time.

“I was young, I remember watching it at home with my family. I was definitely an Oregon fan,” Olave said. “I remember they beat Florida State before that, so I was going for Oregon, but Ohio State came in and kind of put the bang on them. They were hitting hard, and kind of messed up Oregon’s game. That’s what I remember about it. Ohio State came to play that game, they had a real good team.”

Olave’s Oregon fandom might not make immediate sense, given that he grew up just a couple hours from USC in his own home state. However, between the 2010 and 2014 seasons – at which point Olave went from fifth grade to his freshman year at Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, California – the Ducks finished in the AP Poll top 10 every year, with four top-five finishes.

USC, on the other hand, finished two of those seasons unranked while juggling four different head coaches in that five-year window.

“Oregon was really like a powerhouse growing up,” Olave said. “Chip Kelly, I remember just watching Oregon growing up with my family. We were all Oregon fans, me and my brother, so just to be able to play against them. All the different jerseys, they were a powerhouse, top five in the country every year, so just to be able to play against them and have the opportunity to step on the field with them is gonna be huge.”

RELATED Five Things to Know About Oregon Before Saturday’s Top-15 Matchup with Ohio State

It was Kelly’s successor, Mark Helfrich, that was running the show at Oregon by the time Olave transferred to Mission Hills High School in San Marcos, California, as a junior, and Willie Taggart took over the program while Olave began climbing the recruiting ranks as a senior.

While Ohio State caught onto Olave’s talents earlier than most by happenstance when then-quarterbacks coach Ryan Day went to California to watch Mission Hills quarterback Jack Tuttle work out in 2017, Oregon was late to the party.

Olave said he had some contact with the Ducks, who wanted him to visit the program in late January of 2018, but Olave’s “mind was already set on Ohio State” by then, and he committed to the Buckeyes on Jan. 28 of that year.

Few could argue that things have not worked out for the best for Olave, a three-star recruit that has a real chance to set the Buckeyes’ all-time career receiving touchdowns record this season en route to a potential first-round NFL draft selection, but things could have gone differently had Oregon shown interest early in his recruitment.

“It was my dream school, but I don’t know. We’ll never know,” Olave said. “They never came, so I guess we’ll never know.”

If Olave is still harboring any resentment, he’ll have a shot to show the Ducks what they missed out on this weekend. Even without Justin Fields at quarterback, Olave didn’t skip a beat in the season opener to his senior season, racking up 117 yards on just four catches, with touchdown receptions of 38 and 61 yards in the second half against Minnesota.

In fact, Olave actually sees quite a few similarities between the prolific Ohio State offense of which he has long been a featured star and the one operated by Kelly at Oregon back when he watched the Ducks religiously.

“Coach Day and Chip Kelly, I think they’re real close,” Olave said. “They both worked together. I think Coach Day gets a lot of concepts from him and that tempo. We definitely have a similar offense to that, and that’s huge.”

Kelly’s mentorship of Day has been well-documented, and the latter does not deny the influence that the current UCLA Bruin head coach has had on both him and college football as a whole throughout the years.

“When that spread offense was making its run and the no-huddle was making its run, he was really on the forefront of that,” Day said. “And then to see what he did at Oregon, and then from there, I think he was one of the guys who I guess you could say could be responsible for the spread offense, for the no-huddle offense – one of the pioneers in that area.”

Kelly isn’t at Oregon anymore, and the Ducks have only made the final AP Poll in one of the last five seasons. However, Mario Cristobal’s team is top-15 competition for Ohio State this weekend, and it’s a matchup that many have been anticipating for quite some time.

Olave not least of which.

“It’s a childhood dream to play in a game like this, Ohio State vs. Oregon Week 2,” Olave said. “I grew up an Oregon fan, I always wanted to go to Oregon. But just to play against them, one of the best teams in the Pac-12, excited. So I can’t wait to be able to play against them.”



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Illinois vs. Ohio State score: Illini secure first Big Ten Tournament title since 2005 with win over Buckeyes

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The Big Ten delivered all season while cementing its place as the top conference in college basketball, and Sunday’s conference tournament final served as a fitting cap. No. 2 seed Illinois outlasted No. 5 seed Ohio State 91-88 in an overtime battle of heavyweights destined for great seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

Ohio State battled back from an early 27-10 deficit to take their first lead of the game with 5:35 left. But the Illini found their footing from there to lock up their first conference tournament title since 2005. That 2005 team went on to appear in the national title game, and this team has similar aspirations as it heads to the Big Dance with a 23-6 record.

Despite the final loss, the Big Ten Tournament represented a return to form for Ohio State (21-9), which had dropped four straight to close the regular season. The Buckeyes won three close games — including an overtime victory against Purdue in the quarterfinals and a dramatic victory over rival Michigan in Saturday’s semifinals — to reach the final. Duane Washington Jr. led the Buckeyes with 32 points on Sunday.

But in the end, an Illinois team led by star guard Ayo Dosunmu and center Kofi Cockburn proved too much to handle as the Illini captured a 2-1 lead in the season series with Ohio State. The duo also had plenty of help Sunday as Illinois saw six players reach double figures.

Start a bracket pool to compete against friends or fill out your bracket for a chance to win a brand new Nissan Rogue and a college basketball dream trip. Get in the action today!

Below is the complete schedule and results from the tournament. For a look at the updated Big Ten Tournament bracket, click here. 

2021 Big Ten Tournament schedule, scores

Location: Lucas Oil Stadium — Indianapolis
Live stream: fuboTV (Try for free) | Follow live: CBS Sports App  

All times Eastern; some start times approximated

First round — Wednesday, March 10
Game 1: No. 13 Minnesota 51, No. 12 Northwestern 46 | Recap
Game 2: No. 11 Penn State 72, No. 14 Nebraska 66 | Recap

Second round — Thursday, March 11
Game 3: No. 8 Maryland 68, No. 9 Michigan State 57 | Recap 
Game 4: No. 5 Ohio State 79,  No. 13 Minnesota 75 | Recap
Game 5: No. 7 Rutgers 61, No. 10 Indiana 50 | Recap
Game 6: No. 6 Wisconsin 75, No. 11 Penn State 74 | Recap

Quarterfinals — Friday, March 12
Game 7: No. 1 Michigan 79, No. 8 Maryland 66 | Recap
Game 8: No. 5 Ohio State 87, No. 4 Purdue 78 (OT) | Recap
Game 9: No. 2 Illinois 90, No. 7 Rutgers 68 | Recap
Game 10: No. 3 Iowa 62, No. 6 Wisconsin 57 | Recap

Semifinals — Saturday, March 13
Game 11: No. 5 Ohio State 68, No. 1 Michigan 67 | Recap
Game 12: No. 2 Illinois 82, No. 3 Iowa 71 | Recap

Big Ten Tournament Championship Game — Sunday, March 14
Game 13: No. 2 Illinois 91, No. 5 Ohio State 88 | Recap

Follow below for updates, analysis and highlights throughout the event.

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Ohio State Linebackers Coach Al Washington Turns Down Defensive Coordinator Offer from Tennessee to Stay with Buckeyes

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Al Washington is staying with the Buckeyes.

According to multiple reports, Washington has turned down an offer to become Tennessee’s defensive coordinator and will stay at Ohio State for a third season as the Buckeyes’ linebackers coach.

Washington’s decision was first reported by 247Sports. Lettermen Row’s Austin Ward reported Thursday that “a raise and new responsibility as the run-game coordinator was already in the works” for Washington, though Ohio State has not yet announced a new title for Washington.

Following the retirement of former co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, Washington is now set to coach Ohio State’s entire linebacker unit in 2021. If he is promoted to run game coordinator, he’ll be second in command on Ohio State’s defensive coaching staff behind defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs, though defensive line coach Larry Johnson and recently promoted secondary coach Matt Barnes will also be integrally involved in the Buckeyes’ defensive game planning.

Washington, now 36, has never previously been a coordinator in his coaching career, but was reportedly offered $1.5 million – nearly three times the $515,000 he made at Ohio State in 2020 – to become the defensive coordinator at Tennessee. Ultimately, however, Washington decided he should stay at Ohio State rather than joining a Tennessee program that is going through a coaching staff transition after Jeremy Pruitt was fired for committing NCAA recruiting violations.

While Ryan Day previously said on Feb. 3 that Ohio State would not have a co-defensive coordinator this year, he did say Washington would take on a bigger role this year following Mattison’s departure.

“Al’s going to take on an added responsibility,” Day said. “I think Al Washington’s done a really good job with those linebackers.”

Washington’s decision to stay at Ohio State is crucial not only to maintain continuity in the linebacker room, but also for the Buckeyes’ recruiting efforts, as he has been one of their aces on the trail. 

In addition to Washington’s status as Ohio State’s only returning linebackers coach from last season, he has always been one of the Buckeyes’ aces on the recruiting trail, making it increasingly important for them to keep him in the fold. Washington is currently ranked by 247Sports as the No. 1 recruiter among all assistant coaches for the class of 2022, having led the way in landing commitments from linebackers Gabe Powers, C.J. Hicks and Dasan McCullough as well as offensive tackle Tegra Tshabola.

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Skull Session: Buckeyes’ National Title Odds Somehow Fall, College Football’s Roster Size Problem, and Ohio State’s Graphics Team Wastes No Time

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One day, I’m going to tell my kids about when players actually signed their LOIs on national signing day.

Word of the Day: Haptic.

 TOUGH CROWD. Here’s a head-scratcher – last week, Ohio State beat Penn State and smacked Michigan State to extend its hot streak to six wins in seven games, earning the Buckeye a No. 7 ranking in the AP Poll.

… and their national title odds somehow went down.

Yes, last week the sportsbook BetOnline.ag gave Ohio State 33/1 odds to win the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. As of yesterday, that number is 40/1.

Now, to be fair, pretty much everyone else’s odds dropped too. Only the top-four teams and Alabama (which lost its last game by five?) saw their odds increase. So basically, bettors are just increasingly convinced that one of those teams will win the natty.

That’s fine. Keep doubting Zed Key and the Buckeyes. Before you know it, they’ll be cutting down the nets.

 GOTTA DO SOMETHING. You could pretty easily make a solid top-10 list of the wildest and most completely unprecedented things to happen in college football in 2020.

But my personal favorite is when the NCAA gave every single player an extra season of eligibility without seeming to even remotely consider the long-term roster, recruiting and financial ramifications.

But now, almost six months later, they’re realizing there are going to be some problems in the coming years.

The transfer surge is expected to continue well into next year’s cycle, not only because of the one-time transfer exception but as a result of a COVID-19-inspired rule granting each athlete an extra year of eligibility. While the seniors who return for next season do not count against a team’s 85 scholarship limit, players from all future classes do.

…

For instance, players who were juniors in the fall of 2020 and would normally have graduated by the 2022 season will now have the option to return as fifth- or even sixth-year seniors. They’d count against the 85. Meanwhile, some freshman classes in 2021 will be giant: 25 incoming freshmen will be coupled with roughly 25 “COVID-shirted” freshmen (true sophomores who were freshmen during 2020) for a 50-person rookie class. That leaves 35 scholarship spots for three classes.

While teams can have 85 players on scholarship each year, they can sign only 25 new players a year. The 100 signees over four years leaves a 15-player wiggle room for natural attrition. New transfer legislation and the impending COVID-shirter wave is causing unnatural attrition.

In the 2022 and 2023 recruiting cycles, coaches have one of two choices: retain their scholarship players and add fewer signees, or push out scholarship players and sign a normal class.

“The biggest challenge are these juniors who are going to be seniors [in 2022],” says Coastal Carolina coach Jamey Chadwell. “Those are going to be hard discussions.”

The entire piece does a great job of highlighting how there already aren’t anywhere near enough roster spots available for kids thinking they’re going to transfers, and that’s before you give every player for at least four classes an extra season of eligibility and allow a free one-time transfer for all players.

Unless the NCAA does something about the 85 scholarship limit, this is going to be a complete disaster in a couple of years and is almost certainly going to cost some kids college degrees they otherwise would have received.

I’m all for giving players extra eligibility – that’s fine. But doing it without adjusting roster size limits at all is going to leave countless kids hung out to dry.

 OBEY YOUR ELDERS. Aaron Craft hasn’t put on a Buckeye uniform in almost seven years and didn’t even play under Chris Holtmann, but you’d be mistaken if you thought he didn’t still have some clout in that locker room.

 Aaron Craft needs to return to the program as a team manager. I’m sure medical school and being a father is hard and stuff, but priorities are priorities.

 THAT WAS QUICK. Yesterday, EA Sports announced it will once again be making a college football video game. And Ohio State’s graphics team wasted absolutely no time turning that into a recruiting opportunity.

The ABCs of Ohio State football – Always Be ‘Crootin.

 SONG OF THE DAY. “Honeysuckle Rose” by Fats Waller.

 NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. A trip down Afghanistan’s deadliest road… The case of the serial sperm donor… Why you should never ‘unsubscribe’ from illicit spam emails and texts… Psychological tricks for coping with a midlife crisis… Philadelphia’s “building ghosts” have a lot to say…



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The Hurry-Up: Quiet Period Could Be Implemented in April, Caleb Burton Still Locked In With Ohio State, Buckeyes Pick Up PWO

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The Hurry-Up is your nightly dose of updates from the Ohio State football recruiting trail, keeping tabs on the latest from commits and targets from around the country.

Quiet period coming?

We are coming up on a whole calendar year since recruits were able to make official or unofficial visits to schools. (Not including the self-guided tours, or however you’d like to phrase it, that players such as Raesjon Davis, Zen Michalski and other recruits have made to see Ohio State.)

The NCAA’s current dead period runs through April 15, but there could be some important news on the way regarding the recruiting calendar.

Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel reported this week via Twitter that it has been recommended to NCAA administrators to implement a quiet period beginning after the April 15 date. This quiet period would run from April 16 to June 30, which would be a crucial game-changer to get things back on track in the recruiting world.

As Thamel notes, during a quiet period on-campus visits – and face-to-face interactions with college coaches while on campus – are allowed.

With how well Ohio State performs in recruiting when allowed in-person interactions, this could be a time – once the news is official – for the Buckeyes to gain some momentum on the recruiting trail this spring and summer.

This is also welcome news for five-star Washington defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau and his camp. Tuimoloau’s father told 247Sports this week that he would be waiting until “at least April” to make a college commitment because he wants to have the opportunity to make visits.

It’s possible Tuimoloau waits even longer in order to take visits and get those on-campus interactions with the coaches at Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon, Washington and USC, his final five schools. That could give each of those programs (most notably Ohio State and Alabama, the two presumed favorites) some time to make their final push for the nation’s No. 3 overall player in the 2021 class.

Buckeyes pick up PWO

Ohio State landed a #BOOM on Thursday night, though of the smaller-stage variety.

Cayden Saunders, a 5-foot-10 running back/cornerback out of Northville (Michigan) High School, announced that he has accepted an academic scholarship at Ohio State and that he will be joining the Buckeyes’ football program as a preferred walk-on.

As Dan pointed out, Saunders’ father previously played for Ohio State and is an agent for one of Ryan Day’s former quarterbacks:

Pretty certain the Buckeyes had a success story with a previous walk-on with the last name Saunders.

Dunn’s fourth star

Safety signee Jantzen Dunn finally got a much-deserved boost in his rankings this week.

Dunn, who is probably the most underrated recruit in the Buckeyes’ 2021 cycle and one of the most underrated in the entire country, was finally given his fourth star by Rivals.

It was a long time coming for Dunn. He is ranked No. 146 overall and No. 7 at safety via 247Sports’ rankings, but Rivals has him all the way down at No. 26 among safeties.

There had been some frustration for a while from Dunn’s camp that he was not rated as highly by Rivals, but he finally got his due. And that led to his nice response on Twitter when he heard the news.

Burton still solid

We already touched on this a couple weeks ago, but there has been a triple-down from one of the Buckeyes’ best recruits in the 2022 class.

Five-star receiver Caleb Burton, who has been committed to Ohio State since Nov. 23, made it clear in mid-January that he “ain’t going nowhere.”

This week, Burton told recruiting analyst CJ Vogel that he is still locked in with the Buckeyes despite Steve Sarkisian becoming Texas’ head coach and that his relationship with Brian Hartline remains as impactful as ever.

Stockton picks Bulldogs

One of Ohio State’s former top quarterback targets in the 2022 class is off the market. Again.

Five-star Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton, who committed to South Carolina in August before decommitting two weeks ago, has announced his commitment to his home-state Bulldogs.

Stockton is the No. 27 overall player and No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the country out of the Peach State’s Rabun County High School.

OSU commits named All-Americans

Five Ohio State commits in the 2022 class were named All-Americans this week, as Quinn Ewers, Jaheim Singletary, C.J. Hicks, Gabe Powers and Dasan McCullough were each named Junior All-Americans by MaxPreps.

Singletary was named a first-team defensive All-American while Ewers, Hicks, Powers and McCullough were all second-team selections.

Other Buckeye targets who made the list, among others, include cornerbacks Denver Harris and Will Johnson and defensive lineman Caden Curry.



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