Ohio State's 2015 senior class has a chance to win its 50th game over a four-year period New Year's Day in the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame. Before kickoff in their final collegiate game, Eleven Warriors will take a brief look back at each player's time in Columbus.
WHERE HE'S FROM
Chase Farris signed with Ohio State in 2011 as four-star offensive tackle/defensive end hybrid out of Elyria, Ohio. When Farris signed his name to the dotted line, he did so thinking he would play for Jim Tressel, the man to which he committed in March 2010.
Much like Farris' Buckeye career, it didn't go to plan.
Farris entered Ohio State as a defensive tackle, a position he played during his redshirt season in 2011. He moved to the offensive line in 2012, a position he held until 2013 when he lost the right tackle battle to sophomore Taylor Decker and an injury to defensive tackle Tommy Schutt forced him back into the defensive trenches. Farris made three tackles that season before a pre-Orange Bowl knee injury sidelined him.
Farris switched back to the offensive line in 2014 and played 270 snaps through all 15 games of Ohio State's championship run—the most snaps for any non-starter on the offensive line.
Farris then slid into the starting right tackle spot vacated by Daryl Baldwin in 2015, a spot he held for the entire year.
TOP MOMENTS
Farris, a man without a position, almost walked away from football after his 2013 knee surgery.
"I think everybody gets discouraged, but at the end of the day as long as you got someone in your corner that helped pick you up you can get through anything," Farris said in June. "We have a coaching staff around here that would do anything for our players. If you need someone to talk to, there's plenty of people to talk to confidentially just to make sure you keep your mind in the right place."
Farris got his chance in 2015 at right tackle, a position Ed Warinner said he earned in 2014.
"He was ready to be a starter toward the middle, end of last year," Warinner said in March. "If he keeps doing what he's doing he'll be able to take that position over. Jamarco Jones isn't going to let him have it, but it's just a difference in age there, a fifth-year guy vs. a second-year guy."
Jamarco Jones and Isaiah Prince came to Ohio State with greater recruiting pedigree, and neither guy supplanted Farris in his final year in Columbus, a testament to his hard work.
OVERARCHING CONTRIBUTION TO THE PROGRAM
Loyalty.
Farris could've walked away. The lights don't shine on offensive linemen like they do skill players, but he kept his axe on the grindstone.
The former four-star prospect weathered three head coaches, three position changes, and a knee surgery to play a key backup role in Ohio State's 2014 championship run and as a 13-game starter in 2015 for the nation's No. 8 offensive line.
WHERE HE'S HEADED
Farris was better in pass protection than his critics would allow (that's why he remained the starter throughout 2015), but that's not to say he was without struggle in pass protection.
Farris has NFL size and will get an undrafted camp invite if he wants it, though a move to guard is his destiny at the next level.
If this is the end for Farris' football career, he covered his bases academically; the big fella graduated with a Sports Industry degree in May.
MORE FARRIS
- Farris talks his long, winding road to Ohio State starter.
- Farris on his excitement at earning his "Slob Card."
- Chase Farris and Joshua Perry represent the Buckeyes on a charity trip to Costa Rica.
