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.
HAS ITS ADVANTAGES
Last year, Ohio State signed three of the top six players in the state of Texas. And while most would contribute that kind of success to the Longhorns' struggles under former head coach Charlie Strong, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson believes the Buckeyes' national championship win in Dallas in January 2015 played just as much of a role.
“I wonder what impact that had on Mr. [J.K] Dobbins sitting over there,” Wilson said during his Cotton Bowl media availability on Tuesday afternoon. “Or [linebacker] Baron Browning, who's from Kennedale. Or [cornerback] Jeffrey Okudah. They were high school 10th graders at that time. The game was played here, and a couple of those kids are [Dallas-Fort Worth] metroplex kids.”
Ohio State didn't have that same kind of success in the Lone Star State this cycle, as new Texas head coach Tom Herman seemingly put up a fence and landed 10 of the state's top 15 prospects. But maybe playing in Dallas on Friday night will help the Buckeyes have a similar effect on recruiting in year's to come?
The Cotton Bowl is, after all, the only game on television Friday night and the opponent — USC — makes it feel like a playoff matchup.
“Hopefully that will pay dividends in the years to come,” Wilson said.
A SHORT TRIP SOUTH
While Ohio State did, in fact, miss out on the playoff this year, Wilson — whose recruiting territory as the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma included the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex — has certainly taken this week in stride.
"I've had a chance to reach out and say, 'Howdy,' to a few guys," he said.
Co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ryan Day has followed his colleague's lead, too, and invited Allen four-star quarterback Grant Tisdale to attend one of the Buckeyes' practices this week.
“I'm trying to make it out tomorrow,” Tisdale, who lives about 45 minutes away from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, told Eleven Warriors.
The 6-foot-1, 204-pound Tisdale is considered the sixth-best dual-threat quarterback and No. 213 prospect overall in the Class of 2019, as he threw for more than 2,000 yards and rushed for over 1,000 more to lead Allen to its fifth state title in school history this season — and that was despite usually playing roughly two and a half quarters per game as the Eagles blew out most opponents.
Tisdale holds more than a dozen offers from programs such as Baylor, Houston, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas Tech, but I placed my 247Sports Crystal Ball prediction in favor of Ohio State shortly after the staff offered him a scholarship in May. He made his first trip to campus for a one-day camp in June, and he hopes this week offers a bit of clarity in terms of where he sits on the Buckeyes' list of priorities.
TOO EARLY TO TELL
It's certainly too early to predict where Suwanee, Georgia, Peachtree Ridge running back Miles “Juice” Friday sits on that list, since he's only a sophomore in high school and it's unclear how many backs Ohio State will have in the stable by the time he would potentially arrive on campus.
After all, J.K. Dobbins would be entering his senior season in 2020 — if he doesn't leave early for the NFL Draft — and incoming freshmen Brian Snead, Master Teague III and Jaelen Gill will all be pushing for playing time.
However, that didn't stop him Friday including the Buckeyes in his Top 11 on Monday night alongside Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Miami, Nebraska, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, UCLA and USC.
Merry Xmas #7szn pic.twitter.com/qwkJR5fBPM
— Juice Friday (@sevenszn) December 25, 2017
“They've produced a lot of running backs and have a very good history of winning,” Friday told Eleven Warriors when asked what stands out about Ohio State.
The 5-foot-11, 172-pound Friday is not yet ranked by any major recruiting sites, but jumped onto the recruiting scene as a freshman after rushing for 970 yards and 15 touchdowns to lead the Lions to the second round of the state playoffs. He briefly transferred to IMG Academy in Florida this summer, but returned home after the Ascenders' first game — his stats this season were not reported.
Friday, who committed to Tennessee in June but backed off that pledge one month later, speaks with head coach Urban Meyer and wide receivers coach Zach Smith regularly.
“[I think they're impressed] with my ability to do multiple things,” he said.
Friday's also never been to campus, but plans to make his first visit in the summer.
