Michael Citro
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Ohio State’s returning draft-eligible players have just one remaining goal among the “unfinished business”
Michael Citro via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Seven players who likely would have been NFL Draft picks (some quite high) returned to OSU citing “unfinished business.” After not achieving two of those goals, the biggest is still out there.
Ohio State fans were delighted last off-season when several players announced they would return for another year in Columbus, despite having excellent NFL Draft outlooks. Those players included some of the team’s brightest stars, including running back TreVeyon Henderson, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, defensive ends Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau, defensive lineman Tyleik Williams, cornerback Denzel Burke, and offensive guard Donovan Jackson.
As each announcement dropped, we all read statements about unfinished business from a members of a group that had fallen short of some of the biggest team goals Ohio State has on its annual list — beating Michigan, winning the Big Ten Championship Game, and winning a national title. The Buckeyes had done none of those things over the past four seasons, meaning all of the above players had not experienced achieving any of those three goals.
They all started in 2021, which was the year Ryan Day’s Buckeyes began their current losing streak against the Wolverines. Collectively, this group of players and their classmates started their careers with a Rose Bowl win over Utah at the end of their first season, saw a late missed Noah Ruggles field goal sail wide against Georgia in 2022 that knocked them out of a shot at the national championship against TCU, and lost a miserable Cotton Bowl against Missouri last year.
The frustration was understandable, and the players did not shy away from expressing it in interviews and on social media. They vowed to work harder. They claimed to be more committed than ever. They would get the next one. They would bring it home for Buckeye Nation. For the brotherhood.
So far, that hasn’t happened.
And things haven’t been better in 2024 than in previous years, despite Ohio State perhaps having the most talent of any team in their collegiate careers. Each of those players coming back was the equivalent of getting a five-star recruit who already knew the system and had multiple years of college football experience.
Additionally, the team brought in an All-American safety, an additional starting-caliber running back to spell Henderson, the eventual Rimington Trophy-winning center, and you can also throw in perhaps the greatest wide receiver prospect in school history.
Ohio State was loaded entering 2024.
That doesn’t mean there weren’t holes. Everyone knew the offensive line was thin and needed to stay healthy to maximize the Buckeyes’ chances of a special season. That didn’t happen either.
Josh Simmons went down for the season. Then his replacement got banged up. Center Seth McLaughlin was the next to go out for the year with an injury. The coaching staff patched up the line as best they could, and it’s mostly worked, but things haven’t been nearly as smooth, especially in the running game.
The lack of a run game was a big factor in this group of players going out without a win against Michigan or a Big Ten title. Ohio State was well positioned to beat the Wolverines, but shockingly entered with a game plan that called for trusting a cobbled-together offensive line and slamming their running backs (and quarterback) into the teeth of Michigan’s strength — its defensive line.
We all saw how that worked out, and it brings no solace to hear the postgame confirmation from Day that he thought the Buckeyes ran the ball too much.
Fans saw it unfolding and knew it couldn’t continue, but the coaching staff didn’t change what it was doing while the team’s three goals could still be achieved. Ohio State lost, and in large part because the OSU coaches failed the players who came back to win that game and to play for a conference title.
It also, however, lost in part because those players didn’t play well enough against Michigan, although there were a few bright spots — Sawyer’s interception leaps to mind.
While the loss to Michigan was strike one, it brought with it strike two — also lost that day was the chance to face the Oregon Ducks in a rematch with a Big Ten championship on the line. The group of returnees is down to its collective last strike, and the odds have never been more difficult to overcome.
Ohio State is in the College Football Playoff. But unlike years (and decades) past, the Buckeyes won’t be champions by beating one or two great teams. Ohio State must run a gauntlet of four tough opponents to lift the crystal football at the end of the season and bring this group the one available prize remaining out of the three they were chasing in their quest to complete their unfinished business.
Their last chance begins Saturday in the Horseshoe against the Tennessee Volunteers out of the Southeastern Conference. Ohio State got a difficult draw, but the Buckeyes will be at home, playing in front of their fans under the lights on the bigggest stage. But even winning would only be the first step of the last chance for Henderson, Egbuka, Sawyer, Tuimoloau, Williams, Burke, and Jackson to accomplish one of the goals for which they returned.
They are by no means alone. Their teammates have the same goals. In fact, many of those teammates probably want to achieve this goal for that group more than they want it for themselves.
But how will this play out? Will we see Sawyer, Tuimoloau, and Williams help shut down the No. 8 offense in the country by stuffing the run and sacking the quarterback? Will Egbuka get back to catching five to seven passes for triple digits in yards, as was once commonplace? Will Jackson help keep Will Howard’s pocket clean and open holes for Henderson to gain not only the tough yards, but also so he can pop a couple of big runs?
Can Henderson break a tackle at a critical time and pick up a key first down to keep a drive alive or blast through the defense for one of those long rushing touchdowns that we’ve seen so many times in his career (but so little of since the line started suffering casualties)? Will Burke play like the lock-down guy we saw last year and up until the Oregon game in 2024?
I’ll be watching on Saturday, just like all of you. But I’ll especially be watching the guys who said they wanted this. The guys who had unfinished business.
They said they wanted to beat Michigan — they didn’t.
They said they wanted to win a conference title — they didn’t.
They said they wanted to win a national championship. Will they?
To do so, they need to win four big games. That has to start Saturday against Tennessee.
Continue reading...
Michael Citro via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Seven players who likely would have been NFL Draft picks (some quite high) returned to OSU citing “unfinished business.” After not achieving two of those goals, the biggest is still out there.
Ohio State fans were delighted last off-season when several players announced they would return for another year in Columbus, despite having excellent NFL Draft outlooks. Those players included some of the team’s brightest stars, including running back TreVeyon Henderson, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, defensive ends Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau, defensive lineman Tyleik Williams, cornerback Denzel Burke, and offensive guard Donovan Jackson.
As each announcement dropped, we all read statements about unfinished business from a members of a group that had fallen short of some of the biggest team goals Ohio State has on its annual list — beating Michigan, winning the Big Ten Championship Game, and winning a national title. The Buckeyes had done none of those things over the past four seasons, meaning all of the above players had not experienced achieving any of those three goals.
They all started in 2021, which was the year Ryan Day’s Buckeyes began their current losing streak against the Wolverines. Collectively, this group of players and their classmates started their careers with a Rose Bowl win over Utah at the end of their first season, saw a late missed Noah Ruggles field goal sail wide against Georgia in 2022 that knocked them out of a shot at the national championship against TCU, and lost a miserable Cotton Bowl against Missouri last year.
The frustration was understandable, and the players did not shy away from expressing it in interviews and on social media. They vowed to work harder. They claimed to be more committed than ever. They would get the next one. They would bring it home for Buckeye Nation. For the brotherhood.
So far, that hasn’t happened.
And things haven’t been better in 2024 than in previous years, despite Ohio State perhaps having the most talent of any team in their collegiate careers. Each of those players coming back was the equivalent of getting a five-star recruit who already knew the system and had multiple years of college football experience.
Additionally, the team brought in an All-American safety, an additional starting-caliber running back to spell Henderson, the eventual Rimington Trophy-winning center, and you can also throw in perhaps the greatest wide receiver prospect in school history.
Ohio State was loaded entering 2024.
That doesn’t mean there weren’t holes. Everyone knew the offensive line was thin and needed to stay healthy to maximize the Buckeyes’ chances of a special season. That didn’t happen either.
Josh Simmons went down for the season. Then his replacement got banged up. Center Seth McLaughlin was the next to go out for the year with an injury. The coaching staff patched up the line as best they could, and it’s mostly worked, but things haven’t been nearly as smooth, especially in the running game.
The lack of a run game was a big factor in this group of players going out without a win against Michigan or a Big Ten title. Ohio State was well positioned to beat the Wolverines, but shockingly entered with a game plan that called for trusting a cobbled-together offensive line and slamming their running backs (and quarterback) into the teeth of Michigan’s strength — its defensive line.
We all saw how that worked out, and it brings no solace to hear the postgame confirmation from Day that he thought the Buckeyes ran the ball too much.
Fans saw it unfolding and knew it couldn’t continue, but the coaching staff didn’t change what it was doing while the team’s three goals could still be achieved. Ohio State lost, and in large part because the OSU coaches failed the players who came back to win that game and to play for a conference title.
It also, however, lost in part because those players didn’t play well enough against Michigan, although there were a few bright spots — Sawyer’s interception leaps to mind.
While the loss to Michigan was strike one, it brought with it strike two — also lost that day was the chance to face the Oregon Ducks in a rematch with a Big Ten championship on the line. The group of returnees is down to its collective last strike, and the odds have never been more difficult to overcome.
Ohio State is in the College Football Playoff. But unlike years (and decades) past, the Buckeyes won’t be champions by beating one or two great teams. Ohio State must run a gauntlet of four tough opponents to lift the crystal football at the end of the season and bring this group the one available prize remaining out of the three they were chasing in their quest to complete their unfinished business.
Their last chance begins Saturday in the Horseshoe against the Tennessee Volunteers out of the Southeastern Conference. Ohio State got a difficult draw, but the Buckeyes will be at home, playing in front of their fans under the lights on the bigggest stage. But even winning would only be the first step of the last chance for Henderson, Egbuka, Sawyer, Tuimoloau, Williams, Burke, and Jackson to accomplish one of the goals for which they returned.
They are by no means alone. Their teammates have the same goals. In fact, many of those teammates probably want to achieve this goal for that group more than they want it for themselves.
But how will this play out? Will we see Sawyer, Tuimoloau, and Williams help shut down the No. 8 offense in the country by stuffing the run and sacking the quarterback? Will Egbuka get back to catching five to seven passes for triple digits in yards, as was once commonplace? Will Jackson help keep Will Howard’s pocket clean and open holes for Henderson to gain not only the tough yards, but also so he can pop a couple of big runs?
Can Henderson break a tackle at a critical time and pick up a key first down to keep a drive alive or blast through the defense for one of those long rushing touchdowns that we’ve seen so many times in his career (but so little of since the line started suffering casualties)? Will Burke play like the lock-down guy we saw last year and up until the Oregon game in 2024?
I’ll be watching on Saturday, just like all of you. But I’ll especially be watching the guys who said they wanted this. The guys who had unfinished business.
They said they wanted to beat Michigan — they didn’t.
They said they wanted to win a conference title — they didn’t.
They said they wanted to win a national championship. Will they?
To do so, they need to win four big games. That has to start Saturday against Tennessee.
Continue reading...