Tressels, Fickells, Urbans, Days, Johnsons and Days,
J.P. Barnett.
Right, J.P. Barnett.
It was August 19, 2014. I told my then-five-year-old son, Jakey, the news about Braxton Miller. He was devastated. I think he actually took the news worse than his father. Just devastated. He asked important questions like, "What happened to him?" "Will he play again?"...and "Can I still wear my #5 jersey?"
But, kids are extremely resilient. I think that is universally true about children. They bounce back quickly from all the big setbacks - a best friend not coming to Sunday school, the wrong socks set out to wear with Crocs, apple juice poured in the blue cup instead of the green one, Heisman-candidate quarterbacks dislocating their shoulders, etc, etc. All of it...
By the next morning, Jakey-Jake had bounced back from Braxton's loss and put his full support behind "J.P. Barnett."
He had a cheer about "J.P. Barnett." He conjectured about the quick rise of our next star, "J.P. Barnett." Suddenly, "J.P. Barnett" was a topic of conversation...and "J.P. Barnett" was able to perform heroic feats on the football field. Yup, you could say Jake was an immediate fan of "J.P. Barnett."
I was about to jump in and correct him, but...the more I thought about it, I decided Jake was right.
"J.P. Barnett" was a superhero simply because he plays for the Buckeyes and we are die-hard Buckeye fans. He was a part of the team and we root for the team; he just happens to be the most visible part of a bigger whole.
Without Braxton, the 2014 Buckeyes only had 8 returning starters. The two-deep was full of inexperienced, young players. For the season opener against Navy, I kept a roster with player names/numbers handy because most of the Ohio State players were new to me. This was our first introduction. I was interested to see how the young Buckeyes would respond to the pressure of game action; we had no idea yet. But, Urban's recruits were starting to populate the 2014 roster. There was more depth than past seasons; the roster was loaded with top-ranked recruits...big-time potential talent.
Everything turned out fine for the 2014 Ohio State team. We remember Zeke's 85 yards through the heart of the South, and four touchdowns in the Championship Game. We know many of their names today, and fans will know them for generations to come.
I feel the same way about the 2025 Buckeyes. We may not know their name yet, but we will soon.
The 2025 Buckeyes might be a young, talented, hungry team. This is a completely new team. Most of these guys did not contribute to the most impressive 4-game run in College Football history to take the title. About 2/3rds of the two-deep this year do not have meaningful game experience or more than 2 years of college football under their belt. But, they were blue-chip recruits who just happened to be stuck behind 14 NFL draft picks plus the Remington award winner and a captain at tight end.
A few of these guys we do not know today should rise up and be outstanding...we're just not sure which players will become household names yet. We'll know soon enough.
...and I did eventually correct Jake on "J.P. Barnett's" name because J.T. Barrett was becoming one of our new heroes...and we'll always want to get to know the names of all our new stars.
Touchdowns: James Peoples, Max Klare, Jeremiah Smith
OSU 24 Texas 14
Go Bucks! Beat Texas! Harry Miller and Eddrick Houston for Heisman!
Stout Pops
