Eli Apple’s roots are firmly planted in New Jersey, but his heart belongs to Ohio. It’s been that way for a while.
“I’ve been here going to camps since I was in seventh grade and I just really created a bond with the coaches here … everything they were standing for, I wanted to be a part of,” he said.
His Instagram tells that story: the first picture he ever posted to the account is his letter of acceptance to Ohio State.
Scroll a bit further and there’s an old snapshot of him posing with former head coach Jim Tressel in 2007. When Urban Meyer was reminded of the photo's existence Wednesday evening, he broke into a wide smile: "I can't remember how that happened."
But Apple's infatuation with Ohio State? Meyer remembers that well.
“He had his hand up,” Meyer said. “He wanted to be a Buckeye way back I guess."
It was at Eastern High School in Voorhees, N.J., less than 20 miles from Philadelphia, where Apple became a sought-after blue chip cornerback. Premier programs like the Buckeyes, Alabama and Notre Dame wanted him. So did Rutgers, which sits an hour up the New Jersey Turnpike in Piscataway.
"They’re probably one of the biggest teams that recruited me back in high school," Apple said.
In the end, Apple's affinity for Ohio State couldn't be served elsewhere. He redshirted the 2013 season and after dueling with Gareon Conley in the offseason, he's now the team's starting cornerback opposite of senior Doran Grant. On the upswing after three-straight lopsides wins, Apple and the 13th-ranked Buckeyes play Rutgers Saturday.
While he leads the team with two interceptions, he's been subject to growing pains on a long-maligned pass defense that had to work to find footing in the first five games of the season.
In a loss to Virginia Tech, Apple picked off quarterback Michael Brewer in the first half, but his late pass interference penalty on third down kept the Hokies' game-winning drive alive. Two weeks later, Cincinnati successfully exploited his inexperience.
With time, Meyer said, Apple has grown. He was integral in an defensive effort that stifled Maryland the last time Ohio State played.
"You don’t see the wide eyes that you saw the first game. He was a very immature player a year ago, he’s a mature guy . He still has to play a lot better than he is," he said. "But he’s acting like a guy that’s played a lot of football."
Added co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Chris Ash: "I think his growth and development and maturity as a corner has been good and he's only got unlimited potential to see where we can go throughout the rest of the season."
On Saturday, Apple is charged with shutting down Rutgers senior quarterback Gary Nova — a turnover-prone gunslinger who might be playing the best football of his career after passing for 404 yards and three touchdowns in a win Michigan two weekends ago.
"That quarterback had a hell of a day against our rivals, so we’ve got our hands full," Meyer said. "We feel they have very quality receivers … we’re gonna be very aggressive, we’ve got to get this quarterback down because he’s playing the best he’s ever played right now."
Apple, of course, is critical in accomplishing that mission.
"They’ve got great players, they’ve got guys who are NFL-caliber players," he said.
That fact might get overlooked, he said.
"Rutgers, they always have great talent. Something that people probably don’t know is that they probably produce a lot more NFL talent than other teams. Like, they produce probably more talent than most teams. They have a great roster and we just got to make sure we are focused so we don’t just take a game off or something like that. They’ve got great players."
And so do the Buckeyes, of course. That's likely part of what drew Apple's interest in the first place. Rutgers hasn't been a doormat in the last decade, but it's no Ohio State.
Which is why it's probably easy to turn Saturday into a story of how he's bracing to face his home state's flagship university — the place he ultimately turned away before signing with one of college football's blue bloods. Be careful.
Because if home is indeed where the heart is, then this weekend is like any other. Apple's just a kid playing another game for the school he grew to love, and that's long been the Buckeyes, not Rutgers. Understand?
Sure, New Jersey's home. But Ohio State's long been the hometown team for a kid that didn't need much convincing to pack his bags for Columbus.
