"We Feed Off Each Other": Aaron Scott and Bryce West Still Relishing Playing Alongside Each Other As Both Prepare for Crucial Year Two
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Garrick Hodge on February 18, 2025 at 11:35 am
@garrick_hodge
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Cornerbacks Bryce West and Aaron Scott Jr. made no secret about their desire to play alongside each other at the collegiate level.
Throughout their recruiting process, both of them continuously publicly praised the other. The pair became close friends as both ascended to top-ranked recruits in the state of Ohio for the 2024 recruiting class. Both committed to Ohio State in the same summer, though Scott’s commitment had a little more flair attached considering he used a smoke machine to trick Michigan fans.
Aaron Scott had one of the more entertaining Ohio State commitment announcements I can remember, complete with smoke effects and faking out the room he was going to Michigan.
pic.twitter.com/Xdg4jRKRnd
— Garrick Hodge (@Garrick_Hodge)
July 30, 2023
Year One for both players has come and gone, though the excitement of playing with the other hasn’t waned.
“It’s always good because in practice, he’s on the opposite side of me, so every time we make a play, we huddle up together and celebrate the other’s success,” West told
Eleven Warriors before the Rose Bowl. “We watch film together. We do everything together. That’s my guy. It’s good to compete with him, we don’t let the other slack and help each other out when we make a mistake, it’s no issue for us.”
Scott and West are sometimes practically attached to the hip together at practice, with each reminding the other of the goals they set for themselves.
“We just tell each other we have to keep going,” Scott said. “We both know we’re trying to be the two players from Ohio and keep standing on everything we were saying we were going to do. We feed off each other, we’re both trying to compete but we both know we’re in it together.”
West and Scott spent their freshman seasons primarily in reserve roles for the Buckeyes at cornerback, but both occasionally saw the field when Ohio State built large leads over opponents. Scott played in seven games and recorded two tackles and one pass breakup, while West appeared in seven contests for OSU, making one tackle and one pass breakup.
“I’ve improved a lot on my off-man coverage,” Scott said of the biggest takeaway for him in Year One. “I feel like I got more patient. I didn’t play a lot of off-man in high school, but I’m doing that now, so that’s the main thing I feel like I needed to work on.
West also played in seven contests, including on special teams. The highlight of his first year came in Ohio State’s College Football Playoff victory against Tennessee as he made a pass breakup late in the contest, something he said he wasn’t expecting to get a chance to do considering his role on the team and the stakes surrounding the game.
One year into their Ohio State careers, Aaron Scott and Bryce West still relish playing alongside each other as both prepare for a crucial second season.
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