The Ohio State Buckeyes are gearing up for their Cotton Bowl showdown against USC, and their bowl preparations are potentially shedding some light on their future plans. Ohio State is also still working the recruiting trail after a successful Early Signing Day. Here are all the latest Buckeyes news and rumors you need to know:
J.K. Dobbins expected to be featured heavily vs. USC
Fans have been frustrated by Ohio State's tendency to get away from the run this season despite having two elite backs in Mike Weber and J.K. Dobbins, it appears that will be different in the Cotton Bowl. According to Bill Landis of Cleveland.com, the Buckeyes are expected to use a run-heavy attack against the Trojans.
"I do like the game plan. ... What does stand out about USC's defense is they're very athletic, and it will be hard to do great things against them. ... I feel like we match up with them pretty well. We're going to be physical, and hopefully it will be the same as the last few results."
Nothing spectacular in there. But if you saw his wide eyes and smile, you would've thought you were seeing a player getting ready for a major workload against the Trojans. So Dobbins' might have tipped Ohio State's hand, albeit in not such a surprising way.
Dobbins has rushed for 1,364 yards and seven touchdowns on 181 carries this season while Weber has 608 yards and 10 touchdowns on 96 carries.
Tate Martell practicing with the first team
Freshman quarterback Tate Martell is redshirting this year, but he has still been taking some first-team reps in bowl practice as the team prepares him for next season, where he appears to have the inside track on the competition with Dwayne Haskins to replace J.T. Barrett. In fact, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said the Buckeyes even discussed burning his redshirt when Barrett got hurt.
“We talked about it,” Wilson said. “Especially when we got down to the end with the situation we had with J.T.’s injury when we were playing the rival game. I think he would have wanted to play the one game if we needed him, but we’re like, ‘Hey, wait a minute now. That’s a whole year.’
“He would lose a year of eligibility if he plays in that game, and we didn’t have it ready, but it was always kind of in the back of our minds. We were fortunate enough to stay healthy and we didn’t need it.”
Martell was the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback and No. 56 overall prospect in the 2017 class, according to the 247sports Composite.
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Ohio State a finalist for 2019 5-star LB
Five-star linebacker Bru McCoy (Santa Ana, CA) hasn't released his top 10 schools yet, but he told Bill Kurelic of Bucknuts that Ohio State will be on that list.
“I have a good idea of my Top 10,” McCoy said. “I’ll release it in the next two weeks. Ohio State will definitely be in there.
“I’m actually planning my cross-country trip now. I want to hit my top schools. I want to hit as many as I can on the trip. I want to make it in April, May or June. One of two might be official visits. Then I’ll save the other ones for the fall and winter.”
The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder is ranked as the No. 1 athlete and No. 11 overall prospect in the 2019 class, according to the 247sports Composite.
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