Ohio State Football: What’d we learn about Buckeyes in spring 2019?

There was doubt about Ohio State football’s transition post-Urban Meyer but spring has calmed some of the nerves Buckeye fans have had.

In the wake of Urban Meyer’s retirement, one may have assumed the Buckeyes would have lost a step, but after watching the Ohio State spring game, nothing could be further from the truth.

Their healthy mix of returning starters and incoming five-stars, like quarterback Justin Fields and wide receiver Garrett Wilson, put the Buckeyes on a short list of schools that have a high likelihood of making the playoff this upcoming season.

In typical Ohio State fashion, their fans came out in full force the get an early glimpse of the 2019 squad at the spring game. And even though we’re still several months away from autumn, the 61,102 fans that piled into the Horseshoe made it feel as though it was already September as the Scarlet and Gray teams battled it out.

The scrimmage kicked off with a series of big plays by the wide receivers, with the biggest play of all being the 98-yard bomb from Fields to wideout Binjimen Victor in the longest scoring play of the afternoon. Unfortunately, the Georgia transfer was only able to complete 4-of-13 passes on the day while the best quarterback performance was ironically from Matthew Baldwin who entered the transfer portal just days after the game.

It should be pointed out, however, that the quarterbacks had their hands full going up against the tenacious Buckeye defenders. With the exception of a few long touchdown passes, the coverage was smothering and led to several interceptions. The most dominating performance came from the Gray team’s defensive backs, Jahsen Wint who managed to come up with two interceptions before halftime and Amir Riep who also had an interception as well as leading his team in tackles.

Another point of strength for the Buckeyes is Wilson, who’s certainly one of the best wide receivers in this incoming 2019 class as he was quick to demonstrate how he was well deserving of his five-star rating by reeling in the most impressive touchdown catch of the day.

Needless to say, Fields and Wilson will almost certainly prove to be a deadly combination for the Buckeyes for the next few seasons.

That combined with Ohio State’s heavy hitting, sticky-fingered defensive backs indicates OSU is well on its way to another season of dominance in the Big Ten and possibly beyond.