Ohio State had the most representatives at the ESPN College Football Awards

Only one Buckeye won an award at the ESPN College Football Awards on Thursday night, but no school had more representatives than the Buckeyes. Among Chase Young, J.K. Dobbins, Justin Fields, Jeff Okudah, Young was the only one who left with some hardware. Young added the 2019 Chuck Bednarik Award—presented annually to the best defensive player— to his already full trophy shelf. He is the first Buckeye to win the award .

As far as the other three’s award categories, LSU’s Joe Burrow won the Davey O’Brien award over Justin Fields, Jonathan Taylor won the Doak Walker award over J.K. Dobbins and Grant Delprit won the Jim Thorpe award over Jeff Okudah. And all other TV networks win over ESPN.

“The College Football Playoff is a huge deal, the press conference held two weeks before the games certainly is not. Day had much more important business to take care of on Thursday as well as on Wednesday and he was doing just that - absolutely just as he should have been. He then wasn’t able to arrive in time for the press conference.”

- Bill Kurelic, Bucknuts

The College Football Playoff press conference preceded the award show Thursday night, where OSU head coach Ryan Day, LSU head coach Ed Orgeron, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, and Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley were expected to sit in some comfy arm chairs and answer questions from the media. However, Day never showed.

Alex Glaze of 11 Alive Sports tweeted a picture of the three present coaches and attributed Day’s absence to “flight issues.”

Except a few hours later, they tweeted this:

Day and his quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Mike Yurcich were in Rancho Cucamonga, California on Thursday to visit Ohio State quarterback target, CJ Stroud. I assume the plan was to make it to Atlanta in time for the press conference later that night, but a flight delay prevented that.

Stroud would be an absolutely huge addition to the class. The 6-foot-2 and 194-pound Stroud is a 4-star prospect in the 247Sports rankings. He is the country’s No. 83 overall prospect, the No. 2 pro-style quarterback, and the No. 10 prospect in California.

Now you tell me. Do you want your head coach on the recruiting trail attempting to land the No. 2 pro-style QB in the country? Or do you want him to sit in a chair, answering questions he will have to answer again next week? That’s what I thought.

The Athletic’s Dane Brugler recently ranked (Davon) Hamilton as the 10th-best defensive tackle in the 2020 draft class, describing him as “one of the biggest senior risers throughout this season.”

— Dan Hope, Eleven Warriors

Defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton announced on Thursday that he accepted his invitation to the Reese’s Senior Bowl. He joins two other Buckeyes —linebacker Malik Harrison and cornerback Damon Arnette.

Hamilton had the best performance of his career this season, starting all 13 games and racking up 25 tackles (9.5 for loss) and five sacks.

The Senior Bowl is held in Mobile, Alabama, on Jan. 25 at 2:30 p.m. and will be broadcasted on the NFL Network.

“That game that we played [three] years ago is over. It’s a whole different team, a whole new scheme, a whole new load of players. We’re just going in to play our ball, Ohio State football. I think Clemson is a great team, and I think we’re a great team. One thing that Coach Day says is when talent equates, there’s no margin for error. That’s one thing that we have to do is focus on the little things.”

- Jashon Cornell, via Spencer Holbrook, Lettermen Row

Ohio State senior defensive tackle Jashon Cornell was on the team during the 2016 Clemson/Ohio State blow out and he’s still on the team for the pending rematch. However unlike the previous matchup, Cornell will actually see playing time against the Tigers this season. In fact, he’ll be a crucial component for the Buckeyes.

The redshirt senior has four sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss this year, including a momentum-shifting sack in the Big Ten title game against Wisconsin.

On a third-down play from deep in his own territory, Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan looked to pass but was met by Cornell just a couple steps into his drop for a huge sack. Multiple Buckeyes applied pressure, but Cornell was the first to corral Coan. On the next play, the Badgers fumbled a punt, and the scarlet-filled Lucas Oil Stadium was loud. Ohio State was in control the rest of the game.

Cornell’s sack helped spark that.

With Cornell’s experience as a fifth-year senior and one of the few guys on the roster left who has played in a college football playoff, I would expect to see a few more game-altering plays out of him on Dec. 28.

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