The Hurry Up is your nightly dose of updates from the Ohio State football recruiting trail, keeping tabs on the latest from commits and targets from around the country.
VICTORY MARCH
Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, four-star defensive tackle Donovan Jeter was originally scheduled to announced his college decision on Halloween, but decided to commit to Notre Dame on Monday following an official visit over the weekend.
Want to thank everyone that helped with the decision.. but here it is pic.twitter.com/yR3VYkEzM8
— 5God (@JeteNificent34) September 19, 2016
Jeter's choice comes as a surprise to some, as he named Alabama, Ohio State, Penn State, Pitt and Tennessee finalists for his services in July. The 6-foot-5, 250-pounder added Michigan and Notre Dame back into the mix shortly thereafter, and the Fighting Irish clearly made up ground fast.
“This was not an easy decision, but I'm doing what's best for me,” he wrote.
Jeter visited Ohio State twice last summer, but hadn't been back on campus since he earned a scholarship in July 2015. It was clear that Jeter was never going to end up in the Scarlet and Gray, as the Buckeyes had shifted their focus to four-star Jay Tufele of South Jordan, Utah.
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
The distance between Ann Arbor Pioneer High School and Michigan Stadium has been discussed at length. So how was it that Ohio State commit Antjuan Simmons, the sixth-best linebacker in the state in the Class of 2017, flew under the Wolverines' radar?
“They wanted their guys early on and it just went from there,” Simmons told USA TODAY Sports following Pioneer's 44-0 win over Huron on Friday night. “I don't have anything bad to say about their coaches. I have the utmost respect for those guys, and we'll just go from there.”
There has been plenty of speculation about Simmons' commitment status, as Ohio State continues to recruit five-star Baron Browning and four-star Anthony Hines. The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder said there's nothing to the rumors, however.
“Everything's real good with them,” Simmons said. “I'm looking to get down there and visit [officially] in the next few weeks.”
BLOWN AWAY
Grand Prairie, Texas, five-star safety Jeffrey Okudah may have been a guest of Oklahoma's this weekend, but it was Ohio State with whom he came away most impressed.
“The visit was great,” Okudah told Landof10. “It was something crazy to see Ohio State live in action.”
The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder has more than 30 scholarship offers, but narrowed down his top choices to Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma and USC in early July.
To see that he came away from his visit heaping praise upon the Buckeyes should make the staff feel good about its chances, especially considering Oklahoma is considered by many as the No. 1 threat to Ohio State.
BACKUP PLAN
While Franklin, Georgia, Heard County's Emory Jones may be the only quarterback taken in the 2018 recruiting cycle, I've been told that Ohio State has shown a lot of interest in Denton, Texas', Spencer Sanders.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder is considered the eighth-best dual-threat quarterback in his class, and has been offered by schools like Colorado, Kansas State, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Penn State, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.
As a sophomore at Ryan High School, Sanders threw for 3,600 yards and 24 touchdowns. He's a mobile quarterback but isn't asked to run much in the Raiders' air raid offense.
There's no indication that an offer is coming down the pipe for Sanders, but offensive coordinator Tim Beck did visit him earlier this summer. He's definitely someone to pay attention to when Ohio State shifts its focus to the Class of 2018.
WATCH THE OFFERS FLY IN
I mentioned a few weeks back an underrated prospect by the name of Tre'von Charles.
The New Castle, Pennsylvania, Union Area running back and free safety does not have any offers, but should start to get some attention after rushing for 217 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries in a 30-0 win over Jefferson-Morgan on Friday night.
The 5-foot-10, 170-pound junior was named the New Castle News' offensive player of the week following his record-setting performance.
“I'm really trying to get my name out there this year,” he told Eleven Warriors.
