LOOK: Ohio State spotlights their recent graduates
Ohio State fans may have their focus on their College Football Playoff semifinal game against Georgia at the end of the month, but several Buckeyes had to focus on finishing the semester strong in the classroom in order to receive their college degrees and graduate this month.
The Buckeye’s football Twitter account showed some love to some of those players, spotlighting a group of their 2022 fall graduates on Twitter Sunday.
The post included safety Ronnie Hickman, defensive end Zach Harrison, and offensive linemen Paris Johnson and Ryan Smith. The Buckeyes had seven total graduates this fall, as they handled business off the field and on the field ending the year with just one regular season loss and a trip to the College Football Playoffs.
Many of the Buckeyes’ graduating seniors will be concluding their collegiate careers soon, and now that they’ve graduated, they can now shift their entire focus to the top-ranked Bulldog’s who they face on December 31 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Ryan Day evaluates upcoming matchup against Stetson Bennett, Georgia offense
Georgia‘s top-ranked defense has received a lot of attention and praise throughout this season, and rightfully so, as they’ve held opponents to just 12.8 points per game. But their offense is still one of the best in the country as well, ranking in the top 15 and helping propel their team to an undefeated record. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day spoke about the Bulldog’s offense ahead of their College Football Playoff matchup, saying it all starts and ends with Georgia’s quarterback Stetson Bennett.
“Yeah I think they do a great job of playing off the defense, and special teams, all three are put together really well. But specifically on offense, I think Bennett kind of is the one that gets it all going and they certainly have talent across the board,” Day said.
There’s no question that Bennett is surrounded with weapons like Kenny McIntosh out of the backfield, a reliable wide receiver in Ladd McConkey, and arguably the best tight end duo in the country in Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington. But Bennett is the engine of the offense, throwing for 3,425 yards, 20 touchdown passes, and rushing for seven touchdowns as well.
“Their offensive line’s big, both tight ends are very very talented, running backs are very good, receivers are very good,” Day said. “But it’s the quarterback that makes it all go and he’s played unbelievable, deserved certainly an opportunity to be down in New York City on Saturday night, and what an unbelievable story of somebody that came through a lot of adversity along the way in his journey to get where he’s at.”
Bennett was not only one of four finalists for the Heisman Trophy, but also received the Burlsworth Trophy, awarded to the country’s outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on. Bennett walked onto the team in 2017, then transferred out of Georgia to Jones Community College where he played for a year before rejoining the Bulldogs on scholarship.
“So from afar it’s been a joy to watch him compete and I think they do multiple things, they’re creative in how they do them, they’re certainly playing good football here down the stretch,” Day said.