History Repeating Itself In Ohio State Buckeyes' Wide Receiver Room
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
The year was 2022, and the Ohio State Buckeyes were fresh off one of the greatest Rose Bowl games of all time. The Buckeyes missed the then 4-team playoff, so many of their starters took the Bowl Game off to prepare for the draft.
Times were different back then.
That paved the way for the budding star Jaxon Smith-Njigba to take center stage. In that Rose Bowl, he hauled in 15 catches for 347 yards and three touchdowns. Even five years later, that still feels like a stat line full of typos.
JSN was quickly labeled as next up in the room as the Buckeyes turned their attention to the 2023 National Championship. In Week 1, the Buckeyes welcomed in the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to the Horseshoe, and on the very first drive, JSN suffered a hamstring injury on his first catch. Little did everyone know that it would become the main storyline for the rest of the year.
The injury was labeled then as a freak accident, but that accident basically costed him the rest of the season.
Times were certainly different, as he had to make sure he didn't mortgage his future for his senior season.
All year long, Buckeyes' head coach Ryan Day was asked about the health of his star receiver and every week, he never budged, saying that he was progressing in his rehab.
However, he hardly ever played again in the Scarlet and Gray. And unfortunately for fans, something similar is happening in Columbus, OH this year.
Star wide receiver Carnell Tate was scratched from the Buckeyes' huge win over the Purdue Boilermakers a few weeks back. Everyone was told, at the time, that it was out of an abundance of caution for the long-term health of the junior standout.
At some point between the time that fellow wideout Jeremiah Smith put up 10 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown against Purdue and the kickoff against UCLA, he sustained a lower-body injury. The injury was significant enough for him to only be able to play a quarter and a half against UCLA.
The bigger concern is that Smith's situation wasn't a "he could have played if it were a close game." No, the reality was that he could hardly walk by the time he tightened up. It was a disturbing sight to see for the young star who has taken College Football by storm.
Those two are arguably in top-five consideration for players in all of college football and are definitely, for my money, the two best receivers in the game.
They are critical for the success of the Buckeyes offense and that was evident last Saturday.
When Day has been asked about the health of those two, he continues to deflect the question, stating that the two are progressing right, but is non commital on their availabilities.
Many are asking, are we seeing a JSN situation unravelling before our very eyes? We will see as the weeks progress.
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos