Ohio State set to make final push for five-star OT

We are finally here. Game week.

What felt like an impossible feat just a month ago has come to fruition as the Buckeyes will be taking the field of Ohio Stadium Saturday to play host to Nebraska in what will hopefully be the first of many Big Noon Kickoffs for the Big Ten.

While ‘The Shoe’ will appear empty on the television sets, Ohio State’s campus will be electric — at least by 2020 standards. Fans will be making the trek to campus to watch football together — albeit only a reasonable amount to ensure everyone’s safety.

However, fans will not be the only people making the trip to Columbus this weekend. Multiple Ohio State recruits will reportedly be visiting Ohio State for what has been deemed the unofficial “Buckeye Bash.”

Ohio State and its football program are still unable to host recruits on visits due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the dead period that is in place because of it. However, recruits are not prohibited from visiting campuses on their own time.

One of the biggest names to look out for this weekend is 2021 five-star offensive tackle Tristan Leigh (Fairfax, VA/Robinson secondary) and if he and his family will be able to make the trip. Leigh recently spoke to Adam Friedman of rivals.com and confirmed he is planning on making the visit this weekend with his family.

Leigh has kept his recruitment rather close to the vest, but there have been tea leaves to read as to who his true contenders are. Early in his recruitment, Ohio State appeared to be the favorite to land him. However, in the last few months, the Buckeyes have lost momentum and LSU and Oklahoma have appeared to jump into the driver’s seat.

Now, it appears the momentum LSU had built is starting to dwindle and Ohio State may still be in the running. When speaking with Friedman, Leigh had the following to say about Ohio State:

“If my mom can get off of work next weekend, I’m pretty confident we’ll go (to Ohio State),” Leigh said. “It’s not 100-percent but I really hope we can go so I can get a feel for what the other commits are like and just be in the Columbus area.

“I went for a game last year so I got sort of a feel for it but with these types of visits it’s kind of hard because there are no games and you can’t see the coaches,” he said. “Honestly, my main things are seeing who I would be playing with, what the vibe is in Columbus, and how people act.

“Most recently they’ve been talking to me constantly about the opportunity at the tackle position because they’re not as solid as they were last year,” said Leigh. “Recently I’ve been watching film with coach Stud a lot. He doesn’t miss. If you go to him he’s going to develop you and get you to where you need to be. Based off his track record, I don’t doubt him.

While Ohio State is still a long shot in the race for Leigh’s services, a strong visit this weekend could propel them to the front of the pack, similar to how Oklahoma began gaining momentum. Columbus is set to have a special atmosphere and Ohio State has a real chance to win in multiple ways Saturday.

Ohio State makes the cut for 2022 OT

Continuing with the theme of shoring up the trenches, Ohio State moved one step closer in earning a commitment from a junior OT, Blake Miller (Strongsville, OH/Strongsville.)

Miller, a four-star OT and an Ohio native, has long been associated with Ohio State. The Buckeyes lead in the 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions, holding 100 percent of all predictions. The momentum for Ohio State continued late Monday afternoon when he posted his top five schools to Twitter.

Alongside Ohio State, Miller included Clemson, Michigan, Auburn and Florida in his top schools. Miller has yet to visit any of the aforementioned schools due to the unprecedented dead period, though being from Ohio, he likely is familiar with the Buckeyes football program.

Miller will likely wait to visit some of these schools before making a decision, but Ohio State has to like where they sit in this one right now.

Quick Hits:

• Ohio State 2022 LB commit Dasan McCullough has impressed so far in his junior season. For a glimpse of what’s to come, be sure to check out his highlights from the first five weeks.