The Hurry Up: Williams Excels in O-D Game, Mack Blowing Up in San Antonio, No Warrior for Buckeyes and More

By Jeremy Birmingham on January 4, 2016 at 7:45 pm
Antonio Williams at the O-D All-American Game
Antonio Williams
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The Hurry Up is your nightcap of Ohio State recruiting news, catching you up on the day’s events with an ear on the ground for what’s next.

WILLIAMS HAS BIG GAME

When you come from a town of less than 1,000 people, it's almost a certainty that you're going to have people question the level of competition you face as a high school football player. That's been the case for Ohio State commit and early-enrollee Antonio Williams, who participated in the O-D All-American game last weekend.

The 5-foot-11, 220-pound back from New London, North Carolina, the country's sixth-ranked tailback, had a big day in Daytona Beach and he took to Twitter to talk about it.

I caught up with Williams on Sunday about his experience in Florida.

"It was a good experience," Williams told 11W of the O-D game. "It was good to meet some new guys."

For Williams, who moves to Columbus this weekend, he said he was happy to get a chance to prove himself against college-level competition before heading north.

"I'm very capable of running on people in any way that I choose," he said of the chance to play in the All-American game. "I feel that I shut the mouths of people doubting me and saying I don't play elite competition. I did the same thing against the best."

MACK LIGHTING UP SAN ANTONIO

As he did at The Opening in July, Ohio State wide receiver commitment Austin Mack is making a case for a rankings bump if today's reviews from San Antonio are any indication. Day one of the Army All-American game has been filled with rave reviews for the 6-foot-2, 205-pounder from Fort Wayne, Indiana.

247Sports.com director of scouting, Barton Simmons, has Mack as the second-best offensive player on the East squad following the first session.

2. WR, Austin Mack - We almost left Austin Mack off of the Top 5 because he did have several drops on easy passes but wow did he make up for it with some spectacular grabs. He had a one-handed catch on air that was Odell Beckhamish and he had a catch during 7on7 that nearly caused the head coach to shut down practice. He's a huge big-play threat.

Mack's day was highlighted by spectacular catches like this one.

Ohio State felt they landed the country's top-ranked wide receiver when they earned Mack's commitment in June and since then he's done nothing but solidify that opinion.

CORLEY TALKS DECISION WITH RIVALS.COM

Austin Mack has been the lone "true" wide receiver in Ohio State's 2016 class for months but that run could be coming to an end this weekend when Michigan's Donnie Corley makes his college choice.

We've mentioned it repeatedly that Corley's choice is likely to come down to Ohio State and Michigan State and he talked about his upcoming decision with Rivals.com analyst Josh Helmholdt today in San Antonio.

Corley said there will be four finalists this weekend when he makes a decision: Michigan, Tennessee, Ohio State and Michigan State. 

NO WARRIOR COMING OUT TO PLAY

The Buckeyes were the first team to offer Suwanee, Georgia 2016 defensive back Nigel Warrior but, despite an official visit to Columbus in November, today he removed Ohio State from his list and he pulled no punches as to why.

From SECCountry.com:

On Ohio State: “I didn’t really like my official visit. And then it’s cold, anyway. That was one of the worst games to go to. It was raining, windy.”

The weather for Ohio State's game against Michigan State, combined with the outcome, atmosphere and subsequent lack of interaction following the disappointing loss certainly put the Buckeyes in a precarious position.

Georgia, Tennessee, LSU and Alabama remain in the mix for the country's fourth-ranked safety. His father, Dale Carter, played for the Volunteers before an NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs.

MORE ARMY UPDATES

I'll be out in San Antonio on Wednesday evening so until then we're going to be stuck relying on the updates from some of the other recruiting fellas around the country.

Jonathon Cooper got around the edge on this one.

That first step though. 

Kraemer may be the country's best offensive lineman and Cooper held his own today. 

Hausmann says Jordan Fuller and Donnie Corley are two players he hopes to help recruit this week. 

Hausmann just loses this spring against the country's top tight end, Isaac Nauta. He was also selected by Barton Simmons as one of the day's top performers.

Buckeye tight end pledge Jake Hausmann put up a solid performance. The 6-foot-4.5, 230-pound Cincinnati (Ohio) Moeller product was consistent through the two practice sessions. He proved to be a sure handed target that has a knack for getting open.

Demario McCall is back and looking healthy.

McCall, wearing No. 22, didn't seem to really be going full-speed there. 

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