Following his performance against Penn State, J.T. Tuimoloau adds his name to list of great Ohio State J.T.s

There have been some great individual defensive performance in Ohio State history. It’s hard to remember any of them matching up to what J.T. Tuimoloau did in State College today. Joey Bosa had a walkoff sack in 2014 against the Nittany Lions where he blew up running back Akeel Lynch, pushing him into Christian Hackenberg on the final play of the game. While what Bosa did was memorable, Tuimoloau terrorized Sean Clifford all day long.

It’s scary to think of what the result of the game would have been had Tuimoloau not been on the field for the Buckeyes in State College. Ohio State did get a test in the game, which could help them later in the season in a close game, as they can call on what they did against the Nittany Lions. Without Tuimoloau, Ohio State definitely isn’t winning today’s game by two scores. Hell, they might even have lost to Penn State.

Coming into today’s game, Tuimoloau had been pretty quiet this season, recording just nine tackles and a sack. Four of Tuimoloau’s stops prior to today had been behind the line of scrimmage. The sophomore defensive end finished today’s game with six tackles, two sacks, and three tackles for loss. Tuimoloau also recorded his first career forced fumble and interceptions of his college career.

Even though he is still only a sophomore, there were probably some wondering how Tuimoloau was one of the top prospects in the country coming out of high school. Over the past decade, Ohio State had been spoiled by guys like the Bosa brothers and Chase Young at defensive end. With a performance like we saw from Tuimoloau today, there is no reason to think he won’t be mentioned with some of those greats when his Ohio State career comes to a close.

One thing that is for sure is Tuimoloau can be now mentioned with some of the great J.T.’s in Ohio State history. While these are mostly former Buckeye football players, we were able to find a few other greats with J.T. as initials.

---

Jim Tressel

James Patrick Tressel might not have attended classes at Ohio State, but there’s no question that he is a huge part of the history of the university. Tressel not only led the Buckeyes to a national title, he was 7-3 against Penn State. Three of Tressel’s wins against Penn State came at Beaver Stadium.

---

J.T. Barrett

If you look at Ohio State’s passing records, most of them are held by J.T. Barrett. While C.J. Stroud has taken many of the single-game records, it will likely be hard for Stroud to pass Barrett for the career record since the quarterback from Texas started for most of the four seasons he was in uniform.

Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Barrett also had a great deal of success against Penn State, going 3-1 against the Nittany Lions. The only blemish on his record against Penn State came in 2016, when a block field goal for a touchdown was what gave the Nittany Lions the win. Barrett atoned for the loss the next year, leading the Buckeyes back from a 28-10 deficit to win 39-38. In four games against Penn State, Barrett completed 77 of 105 passes for 677 yards, eight touchdowns, and just two interceptions. The dual-threat quarterback also ran the football 65 times for 298 yards and two scores in those games.

---

Jack Tatum

One of the most famous defenders in Ohio State history is “the Assassin”. After being recruited as a running back, Tatum was moved to the defensive side of the football at the urging of assistant coach Lou Holtz. The move would turn out to be a smart one, as Tatum was named First-team All-Big Ten three times, and a two-time All-American. During his time in Columbus, Tatum was a part of national title teams in 1968 and 1970.

Tatum didn’t face Penn State during his time at Ohio State since the Nittany Lions weren’t a part of the Big Ten at the time. The safety was taken in the first round of the 1971 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders. Tatum grabbed 37 interceptions during his career, earning Pro Bowl honors three times, and he was part of the Oakland team that won Super Bowl XI.

---

Jon Thoma

We’ll take an excuse we can to talk about some of the punters of Ohio State past. Thoma was the starter in the 2009 season. Thoma was especially busy in the Penn State game, punting eight times for 304 yards in the 24-7 win over the Nittany Lions.

---

Jae’Sean Tate

Now we’ll head over to the hardwood. Jae’Sean Tate was at Ohio State for four years, becoming a fan favorite for the effort he always gave on the court. Tate might not have been the biggest or strongest player, but he certainly made up for it with how hard he played the game. Tate defied a lot of the experts by earning an NBA contract a few years ago, carving out a role with the Houston Rockets.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Tate saw a lot of Penn State during his time in Columbus, as the Buckeyes met Penn State seven times in his four years with the team. Tate’s history against the Nittany Lions started off well, with Ohio State winning the first four meetings before dropping the three games the teams played in Tate’s senior year. In those games, Tate averaged 11.7 points per game and six rebounds per contest.

---

Jack Taylor

For this one we are looking back 70 years. Before becoming a naval aviator, Jack Taylor swam for the Buckeyes. Taylor would go on to win a bronze medal at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki in the 100-meter backstroke. Unfortunately, Taylor wasn’t able to appear in another Olympics, as he died at age 24 practicing aircraft carrier landings near Guantanamo Bay.

---

James Thurber

After being born in Columbus in 1894, James Thurber attended Ohio State from 1913 to 1918. Even though Thurber wasn’t able to graduate from the university because poor eyesight kept him from taking a mandatory ROTC course, he was posthumously awarded a degree in 1995. Thurber is still recognized in Columbus, as the house he rented at 77 Jefferson Avenue just to the west of I-71 between Long Street and Broad Street is named Thurber House. Just across the street from the house he rented is also Thurber Park.

Thurber would go on to become a famous writer and cartoonist. After moving to New York City, he would go on to have many works published in The New Yorker. Also, he wrote a number of works that would go on to be adapted into movies. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was made into a movie in 1947 and 2013, while ‘The Catbird Seat’ was turned into The Battle of the Sexes in 1959.

---

John Tatgenhorst

I’ll be honest, I don’t know very much about composers. John Tatgenhorst will forever have a place in Ohio State history, not only because he went to college here, but also because he is the main reason “Hang on Sloopy” by The McCoys is a staple of TBDBITL. Tatgenhorst hounded band director Charlie Spohn to allow him to arrange a version of the song for the band. While Spohn rejected the idea a number of times, he eventually relented, and the rest is history.