Fields becoming familiar name for OSU
September, 3, 2013
By
Austin Ward | ESPN.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The role of unlikely hero certainly has its perks.
There’s the lasting memory of a play that won’t be forgotten, along with the outpouring of admiration from a fan base that makes sure to show its appreciation and the simple fact that few people will ever know the rush of grabbing a game-winning touchdown.
Jason Mowry/Icon SMI
Chris Fields, who had just 15 catches in his Ohio State career before this season, caught two touchdown passes against Buffalo.
But there is one part of the moniker that ensures it’s a bit of a backhanded compliment, since somebody like Ohio State receiver
Chris Fields can’t come out of nowhere to save the day and a perfect record
against Purdue unless he hasn’t been around to do much before then.
“It’s just a matter of opportunity,” Fields said. “You get an opportunity on the field to make a play, you make a play.
“A lot of people sleep on people sometimes, and it’s OK. You know, they’re going to wake up some day.”
The Buckeyes might still be suffering through nightmares without the late heroics of Fields a year ago against the Boilermakers, with an unbeaten season about to slip away if not for his ability to slide a pair hands just under a throw from
Kenny Guiton for a score that set up a game-tying 2-point conversion in the final seconds.
Fields wound up with 3 catches in the overtime win, and his contributions were perhaps even more unexpected than Guiton’s off the bench since he came into the game without a reception and only made one more for the rest of the season. But after largely fading into the shadows after his bright, shining moment a year ago, the fifth-year senior has now put himself right back in the spotlight with a pair of touchdown catches in Saturday’s opening win over Buffalo.
And given the strong debut and his current place in the starting lineup at H-back, Fields is also in position to shed the element of surprise and instead just become a player No. 2 Ohio State can count on in big moments.
“One of the most improved players on the team,” coach Urban Meyer said. “He’s just playing his tail of and doing a lot of things for us, and he’s doing it all right, too.
“ ... I admire Chris Fields -- he wasn’t in the top 50 [on the roster] for playing a game last year, and he’s really the same talent.”
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