Scarlet Sunrise: Kicker Parker Lewis hits transfer portal again after two seasons at Ohio State
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Kicker Parker Lewis hits transfer portal again after two seasons at Ohio State
Kicker Parker Lewis is back in the transfer portal after two years with the Buckeyes. Lewis transferred to Ohio State from USC ahead of the 2022 season.
At the time, the Buckeyes were led by Noah Ruggles in the place kicking department. Although his infamous 50-yard miss in the College Football Playoff Peach Bowl semifinal in 2022 comes to mind, Ruggles finished his two-season Ohio State career with the highest field goal percentage in the program record book. The North Carolina transfer converted 37-of-41, or 90.2%, of his attempts.
During Lewis’ first season at Ohio State, Jayden Fielding — a true freshman at the time — was handling kickoff duties.
Fielding did that, and some this season. In fact, he beat out Lewis in an offseason competition for starting place kicker.
“We got two guys that can get it done and who are doing a great job this camp,” Ohio State special teams coordinator Parker Fleming said over the summer. “We’re just trying to make sure we finalize it the right way and we have the best guy going to go kick the ball.”
The “best guy” ended up being Fielding, who went 15-of-18 on field goals this season with a long of 47 yards. He did, however, miss a critical 52-yard attempt at the end of the first half of the Buckeyes’ 30-24 regular season finale at Michigan.
Fielding hadn’t attempted a collegiate field goal before this year. Lewis, meanwhile, has two seasons worth of experience.
While at USC, he connected on 26-of-35 field goal attempts. His career long is 52 yards.
Lewis will now look for a new school where he can compete again for the opportunity to kick field goals.
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Buckeyes open as single-digit favorite over Missouri in Cotton Bowl
Ohio State isn’t headed back to the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes didn’t get nearly the help they needed to enter the backdoor to the four-team field.
So No. 7 Ohio State is headed to the Cotton Bowl this year, where it will face upstart and No. 9 Missouri.
The Buckeyes opened bowl season as a 6.5-point favorite over the Tigers, according to Fanduel Sportsbook. The total for the matchup is set at 51.5.
For more the opening line, go here.
Ryan Day says Buckeyes are ‘kind of a long way away’ from naming 2024 starting QB
Ryan Day was asked directly if Kyle McCord is definitely the Buckeyes starting quarterback next season.
Day: “I think that’s kind of a long way away right now.”
McCord started all 12 regular season games after beating out Devin Brown in a longstanding competition this offseason that carried into the fall.
For the full story on Day’s non-committal comments about McCord’s future as Ohio State’s QB1, head on over here.
Counting down
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 362 days
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