Buckeye Bits: Lots of running back talk, updated Heisman odds, more

Happy Tuesday, everybody. It really is starting to feel like we are now fully in the swing of the college football season. We’ve had Top 10 matchups, massive upsets, the Big 12 continuing to not play a shred of defense, and all the other usual fall happenings. The only thing missing, of course, is Ohio State.

Luckily, we are now less than three weeks away from the Buckeyes’ opening kickoff, and the excitement is palpable.

Let’s hop right into all of today’s headlines.

From around Land-Grant Holy Land...

Polls are stupid, but I'm fine with where Ohio State is currently ranked
(Matt Tamanini, LGHL)

The AP Poll has surpassed its usefulness with the advent of the College Football Playoff, and now just serves to pump up TV ratings. You shouldn’t care where Ohio State is currently ranked, as it will not matter come December as long as they take care of business.

Buckeyes still viewed as leaders for five-star DE
(Dan Hessler, LGHL)

Ohio State’s 2021 class only has a few spots left to fill, but theres a good chance at least one if not two of those spots will be filled with five-star talents from the West Coast. J.T. Tuimoloau is a name those that follow the Buckeyes’ recruiting are well aware of, and there is no reason to believe he isn’t still leaning towards OSU after announcing his top schools.

Buckeye Clips: NFL Week 4 highlights
(Tia Johnston, LGHL)

Terry McLaurin and Denzel Ward both balled out as usual, and one-time Buckeye Joe Burrow recorded his first NFL win in a game in which he threw for over 300 yards. Check out all the highlights by former Ohio State players in the NFL from this past weekend.

From around the gridiron...

We have slowly been hearing from each position group at Ohio State as camp has progressed, and today that group was Tony Alford and the running backs. One of the more intriguing groups on the team with the absence of J.K. Dobbins and guys like Master Teague and Trey Sermon coming off injuries, it was good to get a glimpse into the room.

Alford began by lauding Teague’s efforts in his rehab from his achilles injury, saying that the RB never wavered in his faith and completely immersed himself in his recovery. Ultimately, he is a bit surprised Teague is ahead of Marcus Crowley health-wise. Aflord went on to say that while they are still building up Teague’s workload, if the team had a game tomorrow he would be playing.

When it comes to Sermon, Alford says he is a different kind of back than the Buckeyes are accustomed too as he is a longer, more upright runner good at coming out the backfield as well as blocking. The position coach says they are working on dropping Sermon’s pad level, but that he has deceptive speed. They loved what they saw on film from his time at Oklahoma, and are excited for what he can do in Ohio State’s offense.

Freshman Miyan Williams is being described as the prototypical ‘muscle hamster’ — a shorter guy with tremendous power and strength. Alford joked that Williams is “two-and-a-half feet tall,” and that his smaller size is actually a benefit as he can get lost behind the big offensive linemen and make it harder for defenses to find him.

Alford said that Teague is probably the leader in the RB room right now, but Sermon has started to speak up more having played the most football of any of the guys. As has seemingly every person to speak for Ohio State thus far, he also praised Justin Fields’ leadership during this offseason.

Teague himself spoke to the media next, and he talked about how important it was to stay disciplined during quarantine as he had to do most of his rehab on his own. He thought he would have been ready to go even if the season began in September as originally planned. Teague also talked about playing behind J.K. Dobbins, and how watching an elite back like Dobbins work will make himself a better player this season.

Teague is also working to forget his performance in the Clemson game, and wants to prove he can step up in big games when Ohio State needs him the most.

Sermon spoke next, and he explained that he chose Ohio State because he fell in love with the culture, the coaches and the players. He claims he is back to 100% after rehabbing from his knee injury, and says right now is the best he’s ever felt.

Sermon says the offense at Ohio State is similar to the one they ran at Oklahoma, and the way the Buckeyes use their running backs appealed to him. Like everyone else, he praised Fields, and having played along Heisman winners in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, Sermon says he would compare Fields more to Murray.

Switching up from the running back talk, BetOnline.ag released their updated Heisman Trophy odds on Tuesday, and Justin Fields remains near the top of the list at 7/1. The current favorite is Trevor Lawrence (7/2), followed by Kyle Trask (15/4), Mac Jones (4/1) and then Fields. So far, no one player has really been lights out through the first few weeks of the season, and so Fields will definitely still have a chance in this race despite playing fewer games.

That Terry McLaurin fella is pretty darn good.

From everywhere else...

We may see another college football postponement this weekend, but not for COVID this time. Hurricane Delta is expected to make landfall in the next few days, and it could have an impact on the LSU-Mizzou game. For now, the game will take place as planned.

The Holy Trinity of Ohio State: The RPAC, Morrill Tower and Ohio Stadium. Glory.

OH MY. What a glorious collab.

Rest In Peace to an absolute legend of the rock community, Eddie Van Halen.

You have no excuses. Get out there and VOTE.