The Hurry Up: Five-Star Cornerback Expected to Attend Oklahoma Game While Ohio State Offers Georgia Safety

TIME TO ROLL OUT THE SCARLET CARPET

Just a few days after he set an announcement date for Oct. 30, Houston Lamar five-star cornerback Anthony Cook told 247Sports' E.J. Holland he's working toward taking his official visit to Ohio State for this weekend's game against Oklahoma.

This would mark the second visit to Columbus for the 6-foot-1, 168-pound Cook, who is considered the second-best cornerback and No. 14 prospect overall in the Class of 2018, as he also attended the Spring Game back in mid-April with his parents. As Holland pointed out, the two sides are working out the details and the visit should be finalized in the coming days.

Cook — who is down to LSU, Ohio State and Texas — unofficially attended the Longhorns' season-opening loss to Maryland on Saturday, as he tagged along with teammates Al'vonte Woodard and D'shawn Jamison. Woodard is a Texas commit, while Jamison is considered a heavy Longhorn lean.

The fact that Austin is a short two-hour drive from Houston gives Texas a luxury the other two programs don't have, and he'll take his official visit later in the season. But, then again, neither LSU nor Ohio State was embarassed by Maryland on Saturday afternoon, either. 

With all the hype that surrounded Texas this summer, the loss to the Terrapins showed how far the Longhorns still have to go before being considered among the nation's elite.

Now, I suggested it may be better for the Buckeyes to get Cook on campus for the Penn State game on Oct. 28, as it's just two days prior to his announcement. But it'll also be difficult to replicate the excitement surrounding a Top 10 matchup and the fact that the game against the Sooners will be at night — as opposed to 3:30 p.m. for the Nittany Lions. He'd surely have his mind made up by the time that rolled around anyway.

I continue to feel as if Ohio State is in a great place for Cook, who is great friends with cornerback and fellow Texan Jeffrey Okudah. It'll simply be a matter of playing close to home or for the program that sends defensive backs to the National Football League at an unprecedented level. And if Texas continues to struggle this season, a decision might not be all that difficult to make.

Note: We'll have a complete list of prospects expect to attend the game on Friday afternoon.

PEACH STATE OF MIND

Georgia continues to be a focal point for Ohio State on the recruiting trail, as the staff has offered more scholarships to prospects hailing from the Peach State than any other state besides Florida. The latest of which went out on Sunday evening to Alpharetta Milton four-star safety Joseph Charleston.

I am extremely honored and blessed to receive an offer from THE Ohio State University!! #gobucks pic.twitter.com/Mc3QmkTyYg

— Joseph Charleston (@jcharleston28) September 4, 2017

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Charleston is considered the 10th-best safety and No. 148 prospect overall in the Class of 2019, as he recorded 19 tackles, three pass break ups, one interception and one fumble for the Eagles last season. He saw his stock begin to take off following Rivals' Three-Stripe Camp in Atlanta this spring and has since landed offers from Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and West Virginia.

Charleston will certainly be a tough kid to pull from the south, and his offers reflect that. One team to pay attention to, though, is Miami. Charleston lived in South Florida through the eighth grade and grew up a fan of the Hurricanes.

KEEPING THEM HOME OR LETTING THEM GO

With Oklahoma on tap this weekend, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer was asked specifically about the Sooners landing commitments from in-state prospects such as Dayton Dunbar three-star running back Tavion Thomas and whether or not he keeps tabs on which programs are raiding the state for talent.

“Oh yeah,” Meyer said. “We actually follow guys through their journey when they go somewhere else, too, because I want to know if we made a mistake. That's tough. To be honest, I can't stand it. Early recruiting has hurt us with that because everybody wants to know if they're offered. So, yeah, we are very leery of it.”

Meyer has spoken at length about his desire to watch most in-state prospects play their senior year of high school before offering them a scholarship. Of course, the combination of an early signing period and Ohio State's national approach to recruiting doesn't give him the luxury of playing the waiting game anymore.

In the past, the staff could circle back to a player like St. Francis De Sales three-star linebacker Brian Asamoah, who most anticipate will also choose Oklahoma sooner rather than later.

“I'd like to take all our players from Ohio, but you also got to take the best players,” Meyer said. “We do our best to evaluate and project, as well, because we've had incredible players here that were projections.”

There are dozens of programs ahead of Oklahoma when it comes to landing Top 100 recruits from Ohio over the last five years, with Kentucky and Michigan State leading the charge.

“We monitor who comes in the state," Meyer said. “We monitor how well the players do. We track their whole careers. For example, whatever happened to this guy? I need to know where and why if we did make mistakes. We have made some mistakes.”

CAST A WIDE NET

On the other side of the spectrum, Ohio State has to get in early when it comes to out-of-state prospects, specifically in states like California, Florida, Georgia and Texas. The Lone Star State, as you see with Cook, will remain a high priority for the Buckeyes, too, especially when compounded with the Longhorns' on-field struggles.

Just look at last year, when Ohio State signed three of the state's top six prospects...

“I love Texas players, always have. I don't know if we've had many misses in my entire career from Texas. I mean, they're usually so well-coached, tough guys,” Meyer said. “Texas last year is one of those things where we throw out the net early in recruiting, like in spring recruiting. You're going to gauge people's interest. There might be a great player, but he just has zero interest of leaving home. We just happened to throw the net out, 'Whoa!'”

Sometimes, the staff stumbles upon a prospect with more interest in playing for the Buckeyes than initally expected, such as former St. John Bosco five-star offensive tackle Wyatt Davis.

“We didn't pinpoint him,” Meyer said. “I always ask the question, 'What's your interest in Ohio State?' I can usually tell in 16 seconds. Wyatt Davis [said], 'That's my dream school. [I'm] interested.” There you go. Same with [Jeffrey] Okudah, Baron Browning and J.K. [Dobbins. They were interested right from the jump.”