Elite recruits in attendance impressed by Ohio State’s weekend victory over Penn State

Marquee games like the one Ohio State just played versus Penn State can be season-defining. The Buckeyes' come-from-behind victory over the Nittany Lions set the college football world on notice, and the team is once again being viewed as one of the best in the country.

Ohio State’s victory wasn’t just noticed by the current college football landscape, however. There was a plethora of high school football talent in attendance for the game last weekend, and the excitement of the game combined with the rowdiness of Buckeye Nation created an electric environment in The 'Shoe that gives Urban Meyer and the Ohio State Buckeyes a huge advantage when it comes to recruiting.

Is Kamryn Babb all but a Buckeye?

Ohio State is still looking to add a true wide receiver to this year’s recruiting class. The team has secured commitments from elite Ohio native L’Christian ‘Blue’ Smith, but Smith projects to be more of an H-back than a true WR.

Enter Kamryn Babb (Saint Louis, MO/Christian Brothers College.)

Babb sits atop the Ohio State big board at the WR position and attended last weekend's game. There were some who believed that the four-star wideout could have left Columbus committed to the Buckeyes, and while that didn’t happen, Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes have to like where they sit with him.

The elite WR’s father took to Twitter Monday to thank Meyer and the Ohio State coaching staff and to comment on the amazing game and crowd.

While a parent’s opinion is not always the deciding factor for recruits in choosing the school they will continue their football career at, it is nevertheless important. Babb has been viewed as an Ohio State lean for some time now, and while I believe he will be a Buckeye when it is all said and done, for the time being his recruitment is still wide open.

Babb still has other programs he is considering, including the likes of LSU, Michigan, Alabama, Oklahoma, Miami, Notre Dame, UCLA, and plenty of others. He will likely use more of his official visits on a few of those schools and when he does, we will know more about the direction he is leaning.

For now Ohio State is still the likely leader in his recruitment and Saturday may have been enough to make that gap insurmountable.

Where do things stand with Jones?

Heading into Saturday’s game, one of the biggest names on the Ohio State visitor list was Buckeye QB commit Emory Jones (Franklin, GA/Heard County.) The four-star QB committed to Ohio State in July of 2016, but if you follow Ohio State recruiting, you know the conversation doesn’t stop there.

Jones is one of the best QBs in the 2018 recruiting cycle. 247Sports has him rated as the No. 3 dual-threat QB in the country and the No. 36 overall recruit in the entire class. His talent and potential cannot be argued with, and Ohio State isn’t the only program to take notice. Because of this, multiple elite programs in the country have continued recruiting him despite his commitment to the Buckeyes and the biggest threat to Ohio State is none other than Alabama.

The chaos surrounding Jones’ recruitment is why all eyes were on him heading into the Penn State game. Many were wondering if we would gain some insight into where he is at after learning he would be in attendance for the big game.

Despite the speculation surrounding Jones’ decision, he has continued to say all the right things in regards to his commitment to the Buckeyes and calling Columbus “home” in the above Tweet would only seem like good news.

However, Jones was rather quiet following Saturday’s victory, which has allowed for that speculation to continue growing.

The growing belief is that Jones is not as solid on Ohio State as he once was, and while that may very well be the case, the Buckeyes are still in the driver’s seat. He took an official visit to Alabama last weekend and he seemed to very much enjoy his time there. But what young kid wouldn’t love being pampered by one of the best coaches in the country? If Jones was going to de-commit from Ohio State, I believe it would have come yesterday after having some time to think over both visits. Because Jones is still a Buckeye as of now, I don’t see it changing barring something big.

Do the Buckeyes have their QB of the (distant) future?

We seem to discuss it week after week, but Urban Meyer is one of the best in the country when it comes to recognizing talent early on. This gives him and the Ohio State football program a head start in building relationships with these young prospects, which goes a long way in securing a commitment.

The Buckeyes are hoping to have done just that with 2020 QB Jack Miller (Scottsdale, AZ/Chaparral.)

The high school sophomore is certainly young in age, but he has already shown enough promise and potential to be noticed by the best schools in the country. Miller already holds scholarship offers from Ohio State, Florida State, North Carolina, UCLA, and Texas A&M, plus a handful of others.

Miller was in Columbus for last weekend’s game and many believe that after the visit, the Buckeyes separated themselves even further from the field in securing the blue-chip prospect.

While it is still extremely early in Miller’s recruiting cycle, multiple recruiting analysts have penciled in Ohio State as their 247Sports Crystal Ball prediction. However, there is still plenty of time in the young QB’s recruitment and the only true certainty in college football recruiting is that nothing is certain.

Quick Hits:

• 2019 four-star QB Grant Tisdale will look to make some sort of announcement soon. The Buckeyes have gained some serious momentum in his recruitment as of late. Could a commitment be coming sooner rather than later?