The Ohio State Buckeyes went out of the 2019 season in disappointing fashion. It was a horrible ending to what was otherwise a dominant year for the Buckeyes. An opportunity lost if you will.
They cruised through the regular season with little turbulence. While they had a brief scare in the Big Ten Championship Game, the Buckeyes were able to come out on top.
Sadly losing to Clemson, having yet to ever beat the Tigers in program history, the Buckeyes will look towards next season. They’ll have to reload much of their roster though.
Some of the nation’s top draft picks will be coming out of Columbus. Two of the top-five prospects are Buckeyes, a program expecting to have numerous first-round picks.
However, the Buckeyes are No. 2 in Sporting News’ way-too-early top-25 because they retain Heisman finalist Justin Fields and three All Big-Ten performers on the offensive line. The program also has some game-breakers at the skill positions coming back, and others on the way. Once again, the defensive line should be deep and dominant.
“The receiving corps will be the deepest in the country. Expect Garrett Wilson to be a breakout star while five-star receiver Julian Fleming joins the fun. Wyatt Davis and Josh Myers return to a nasty offensive line. Shaun Wade’s decision to return to school helps a defense that will rebuild the line around Tyreke Smith and Zach Harrison. Road trips to Oregon and Penn State are the biggest potholes to another Playoff run. Second-year coach Ryan Day can work with that,” Sporting News’ Bill Bender wrote.
Clemson came in at No. 1 with Alabama, LSU and Georgia rounding out the top five. As for the Big Ten in general, Penn State came in at No. 9, Minnesota at No. 12, Wisconsin at No. 14, and Michigan at No. 15.
Things may have felt like they ended prematurely, but OSU fans can at least take comfort in believing this team will again compete for some pretty special things in 2020.
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