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Only a day remains until the Urban-era officially kicks off at Ohio State. While the rest of the college football world has kicked off its season, this time of year also means that recruiting kicks back into high gear among coaching staffs across the country.
Earlier this week, we took a look at how some 2013 commits fared in their games last week. One of the more uncomfortable questions was the status of defensive end Joey Bosa. Bosa was ruled out last week to an undisclosed injury, which might have had a couple of Buckeye fans a tad nervous. Never fear though as Bosa has been cleared for this week's game against Columbus-Miami.
Staying on the subject of past performances that you might have missed, check out '13 RB commit Ezekiel Elliott from last week's game:
— Mike Farrell (@rivalsmike) August 26, 2012
#Hokies emerging as, in my opinion, strong team to beat for 2014 no. 1 player Da'Shawn Hand after another great visit this weekend
The No. 1 overall recruit in the country for the class of 2014 is defensive end Da'Shawn Hand, whom you might remember has been mentioned many times as being one of the three players Ohio State would love to land. Safety Nick Glass (Georgia commit) and Raekwon McMillan have both expressed interest in playing together as a trio. Honestly given some of the events that have unfolded since they've all made statements to this effect, it seems pretty unlikely at this point.
Speaking of McMillan, the '14 5-star linebacker has recently named Ohio State as his current leader and a top four (in order) consisting of Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, and Alabama. That is a huge move for Ohio State, as they were neck and neck with Georgia the last time we spoke with McMillan.
As the 2014 class progresses under Urban's watchful eye, the Buckeyes have yet to offer a quarterback for that class. They are looking at a couple of different gunslingers, including Drew Barker and Caleb Henderson. Barker will be watching the Buckeyes play Miami (Ohio) this Saturday when he's in Columbus on an unofficial visit.
Another recruit that has everyone buzzing on the message boards is '13 defensive end/linebacker Tyquan Lewis. Lewis was rumored to have committed to a school earlier this month, but then quickly backtracked saying he hadn't made a decision. It's pretty much set in stone that Lewis will have made his commitment to an unnamed school before October.
The champion of "The Opening", linebacker Mike Mitchell, has been very quiet about where he will be attending college. The most recent news is that Mitchell has his top two narrowed down to Ohio State and Oklahoma. I think he's all Buckeye here, but anything could happen at this point. One player that the Ohio State coaching staff is certainly keeping an eye on is '13 linebacker Daniel McMillian. McMillian has been committed to the Florida Gators since Februrary of 2012, but a flip might be possible considering he still wants to visit Ohio State.
If you haven't had enough 2014 news, good, because it gets better. Coach Meyer and his staff target only the best of the best and that phrase describes '14 cornerback Jabrill Peppers. The 6'1" cornerback out of New Jersey received an offer from Ohio State earlier this summer.
Peppers' list of offers includes Ohio State, USC, Florida, Stanford, Notre Dame, Michigan, and Miami. Rated the 3rd overall player in the country and no. 1 cornerback in the country, Peppers is a high priority for the Buckeye recruiting staff. As of now, Ohio State stands in his top six (no order): Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, USC, Stanford, and Florida.
Ohio State has also given out a couple of offers to players from the class of 2014 this week including 3-star WR/TE Austin Roberts and 4-star safety Edwin Freeman.
To cap it all off, Joey Bosa wants you to rest easy at night and to believe what he has told the media of him being healthy: