Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell set the school’s all-time scoring record on Wednesday night

“This particular accolade is not something I’ve ever been concerned about, but to be a part of the list, and being in competition with others that have made great strides throughout the course of women’s basketball history, I’m very grateful.”

-Ohio State guard Kelsey Mitchell via Andrew Erickson, The Columbus Dispatch

Ohio State’s women’s basketball team was able to secure an easy 103-77 win over Florida in Gainesville last night, but the biggest news from the game was Kelsey Mitchell breaking Ohio State’s all-time scoring record. Previously, Jantel Lavender set the bar with 2,818 career points, but now the top spot belongs to Mitchell, whose 30 points in the victory gives her 2,840 career points.

Last night’s performance against the Gators was Mitchell’s fifth 30-point performance of the year, and now sees her 253 points behind Rachel Banham’s Big Ten record of 3,093 career points. Banham achieved the mark during her time at Minnesota, and was taken by the Connecticut Sun with the fourth pick in the 2016 WNBA Draft.

The 9-2 Ohio State Buckeyes will have more than a week off before they take the court again, next Friday at home against Dartmouth. The Buckeyes will then travel to Cincinnati two days later before taking a break over Christmas. Ohio State’s Big Ten schedule starts on December 28th in Lincoln against Nebraska.

“When you come to Ohio State to play offensive line, the sky is the limit.”

-Ohio State offensive line coach Greg Studrawa via Austin Ward, Land of 10

Last year, Ohio State’s Pat Elflein took home the Rimington Award as the nation’s best center, and tonight Billy Price has a chance to make the Buckeyes the first program to have back-to-back winners of the award. Even though both Elflein and Price are phenomenal talents, some of the credit also has to go to Ohio State offensive line coach Greg Studrawa, who helped to ease the transition from guard to center for both players.

During his playing days at Bowling Green, Studrawa played at center during his sophomore season before moving to tackle for his final two years at the school. Honestly though, who can blame Studrawa for wanting to coach centers more than actually playing center? Not only did Elflein and Price have to deal with being the most important lineman in Meyer’s power-spread offense, but they had to do so with behemoth defensive linemen lining up just a few feet across from them.

Now, the biggest question is who will be next at center for Ohio State, and the next guy for Studrawa to try and mold into one of the best in the nation? Ohio State was spoiled the last two years by having starters at guard shift to the center position, but the answer doesn’t look so cut and dried for the 2018 season. No matter who ends up lining up at center, they’ll likely be more developed by the end of their time with the Buckeyes because they’ve been able to work with Studrawa.

“I was a little bit sho ... I mean, not a little bit, but I was shocked thinking that, you know, we were going to be in there. But that’s about it.”

-Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett via Michael Casagrande, AL.com

After defeating Wisconsin on Saturday night in the Big Ten Championship Game, there was a lot of hope among the Buckeye faithful that Ohio State would be included in the College Football Playoff. Those hopes were dashed about 12 hours later when it was announced Alabama, and not Ohio State, was awarded the fourth spot in the playoff.

While there are plenty of Ohio State players and fans who are still perplexed as to why the Buckeyes weren’t included in the four-team playoff, the player who might be most shocked by the proceedings is Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett. Last year Ohio State made the playoff despite not winning the Big Ten Championship, but this year they were passed over for a Alabama team who failed to make it to the SEC Championship Game.

Ohio State center Billy Price, who is in Atlanta along with Barrett for tonight’s College Football Awards Show, had a little more diplomatic answer than Barrett, saying he is looking forward to playing USC in then Cotton Bowl. The senior knew the slip up at Iowa cost Ohio State dearly, and while they did everything they could following the loss to the Hawkeyes, it wasn’t enough. Despite not being involved in the playoff, the matchup between Ohio State and USC should be one of the most entertaining games of the bowl season.

“That kind of happened like last year with a few guys. I don’t see any guys on this team doing that. The love for the brother here, the brotherhood, that’s real. And another thing is you’ve got a bunch of guys that love playing football, love the game, just be around the game. To just think about a guy sort of saying, ‘I’m going to take a step from a game’, if he’s not legit hurt, then I really doubt that would happen here.”

-Ohio State senior linebacker Chris Worley via Patrick Murphy, Bucknuts

Last year players like Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette decided to skip their bowl game to prepare for the NFL Draft, and there is likely to be a few players doing the same this year. Senior Ohio State linebacker Chris Worley doesn’t think any current Ohio State Buckeyes will follow the lead of McCaffrey and Fournette, despite players like Sam Hubbard, Denzel Ward, and Billy Price being a few names mentioned as possible early draft picks.

This year presents a little different scenario for Ohio State though, as last year they didn’t have to worry about any players sitting out the bowl game because the Buckeyes were part of the College Football Playoff. While it’d be hard to blame any of the players who could possibly go early on in the 2018 NFL Draft for trying to get a head start on working on their draft stock, the lure of a high-profile game against a talented USC squad is likely to be enough to see those players in the scarlet and gray for one more game.

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