Despite the loss to Oklahoma, a top Ohio State recruit enjoyed his visit

It's always disappointing when Ohio State suffers a loss, but it's even more difficult to swallow when the loss occurs during one of the biggest recruiting weekends of the year. Unfortunately, this is the situation Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes coaching staff have found themselves in after losing to Oklahoma this past Saturday night.

With that being said, Ohio State is not like many other programs and one loss will not completely deter a top prospect from being interested in the school. Also, Meyer has been in this situation before and has come out of it just fine.

In the 2014 season, the Buckeyes lost a home night-game in shocking fashion when Virginia Tech came to Columbus and beat Ohio State 35-21. Despite the loss, the recruiting class for that year finished No. 7 overall and No. 1 in the Big Ten. The following year, Michigan State came to Columbus and stole a close one from the Buckeyes in what was another huge recruiting weekend for the Buckeyes. The recruiting class for that year finished No. 4 overall and again, was the top ranked class in the conference.

With Meyer at the helm of this program, recruiting will never be a problem for Ohio State.

Four-star DE “had a great official (visit)”

It appears that Ohio State is still sitting in good position for one of the country’s top defensive ends, as Jayson Oweh (Blairstown, NJ/Blair Academy) had only good things to say about Ohio State after his official visit last weekend.

Oweh is a four-star DE and is seen as the No. 7 DE in the country and the No. 158 overall prospect, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. The Buckeyes have been recruiting him heavily this year and he is one of the few remaining defensive line prospect the Buckeyes are still targeting in this class.

However, Ohio State is competing with some of the best programs in the country to earn his commitment. Oweh holds a reported 24 scholarship offers from schools like Penn State, Wisconsin, Maryland, Notre Dame, Florida, Georgia, Louisville, UNC, Miami, and Ohio State.

As it stands today, Ohio State and Penn State appear to be the two schools to beat in his recruitment. Oweh has visited these two schools more than any of the others that have expressed interest in him. His trip to Columbus was his first official visit and the only other official he has scheduled is Penn State. Currently, Penn State holds the majority of the 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions with 62 percent of the votes. The remaining 38 percent belongs to Ohio State.

Ohio State will have to continue to increase their efforts in recruiting Oweh if they plan on adding him to this year’s class, but it appears the visit couldn’t have gone better, all things considered.

What’s the deal with Micah Parsons?

Five-star DE Micah Parsons (Harrisburg, PA/Harrisburg) is one of the trickiest prospects in the 2018 class to peg and he is also one of the Buckeyes’ top remaining targets. The one time Penn State commit has been viewed as a heavy Ohio State lean since leaving the Nittany Lions' class, but it is far from being a done deal.

Parsons was in town for the Oklahoma game and many hoped the visit would have resulted in more clarity in his recruitment. However, this was not the case.

The No. 1 DE in the country initially seemed to enjoy his time on campus. He was spotted at ESPN’s College Game Day, where he was able to meet Ohio State legendary RB Eddie George and claimed he was having the time of his life.

However, as the visit went on and Oklahoma cemented the victory over Ohio State, Parson’s attitude made a complete shift. To be fair, the same can be said for every other Ohio State fan.

Following the game, Parsons took an apparent shot at Ohio State’s QB situation, calling for Meyer to bench the Buckeyes' only three-time captain and starting QB J.T. Barrett in favor of redshirt freshman Dwayne Haskins. While this was obviously not a great look for Parsons, it must also be noted that many other Ohio State fans - and recruits - were thinking the same thing. On top of this, Parsons was quick to note that his emotions got the best of him that night.

Just one day later, there was another update in Parsons’ recruitment. Using Twitter, Parsons made it known that he was working on finalizing his top four schools and that he would be announcing the list soon.

Ohio State will likely be included in his list, and now that Parsons has confirmed that he will be in Happy Valley this weekend for his second official visit, Penn State will likely make the cut as well. As for the other two finalists, my personal bet is on Nebraska and Alabama, but Notre Dame is a solid contender to make the cut as well.

So what does all of this mean for his recruitment? Not much. Obviously, the loss was a damper on Parsons’ visit, but it was never expected that Parsons would commit last weekend either. Penn State and Ohio State are pretty much neck and neck at this point but that is about all we know.

Parsons’ recruitment will likely last until National Signing Day and until his name is on a dotted line, nothing is guaranteed.

Quick Hits:

• One-time Ohio State basketball commit Dwayne Cohill (Cleveland, OH/Holy Name) committed to Dayton on Monday. He is the No. 5 recruit in Ohio for the 2018 recruiting class and is No. 98 overall in the country.
• Ohio State three-star SG target Eric Hunter hinted at a change of plans in his recruitment following a visit to Purdue. Hunter is scheduled to visit Ohio State Sept. 20.