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.
QUARTERBACK OF THE FUTURE, EITHER WAY
As the investigation into head coach Urban Meyer’s knowledge of and actions regarding the domestic abuse allegations against former wide receivers coach Zach Smith continues, Ohio State commits continue to voice their support for their future head coach.
Scottsdale, Arizona, Chaparral four-star quarterback Jack Miller III has not publicly voiced his feelings on the matter, but reaffirmed his commitment to the Buckeyes through his father on Thursday afternoon.
“He is committed as ever,” Jack Miller II told the Arizona Republic. “We believe it will all work out.”
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Miller — who is considered the fifth-best pro-style quarterback and No. 61 prospect overall in the Class of 2020 — committed to Ohio State on July 1, a little over a week after his visit for Friday Night Lights. Meyer obviously played a key role in his decision, but so did offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ryan Day, who is serving as acting head coach in Meyer’s absence.
Day is the one who offered Miller a scholarship early in the recruiting process, and their relationship would certainly help the Buckeyes withstand any turnover on the staff moving forward.
“He’s awesome. I love him so much,” Miller told Eleven Warriors back in June. “He’s such a great coach. He knows a lot about football, too. We were up on the board today with him explaining defenses and concepts. You’re always going to have a place to throw the ball no matter what the defense does. I love that.”
Miller and teammate his teammate, four-star running back Darvon Hubbard, open their junior seasons this evening when the Firebirds travel to Chandler, Arizona, to take on Hamilton.
NO ROOM AT THE INN
Though he visited Ohio State this spring and subsequently listed the Buckeyes in his Top 5, Georgia four-star athlete Zion Puckett committed to Auburn on Friday afternoon — an outcome that was widely expected by prognosticators.
My college decision is made! Everyone please watch my commitment video, which I shot with @Keith247sports today. pic.twitter.com/SCK2qUG8Ve
— Zion Puckett (@ZionPuckett) August 17, 2018
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Puckett — who was also considering Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee — is listed as the seventh-best athlete and No. 104 prospect overall in the Class of 2019. Ohio State was recruiting him as both a wide receiver and defensive back, but he sat behind a number of priority targets on both sides of the ball.
The Buckeyes remain in pursuit of at least three more wide receivers this cycle to complement five-star Garrett Wilson, with Indiana four-star David Bell; Kentucky four-star Wandale Robinson; Missouri four-stars Marcus Washington and Jameson Williams; and Texas four-star Elijah Higgins all seemingly vying for those sports.
At safety, the staff appears content with commitments from New Jersey four-star “Rocket” Ronnie Hickman and Maryland three-star Bryson Shaw, while they hold just one pledge at corner from Florida four-star Jordan Battle. Once expected to land Texas four-star Peyton Powell to fill the other spot, Florida four-star Kaiir Elam is now their top target at the position moving forward with Powell trending heavily toward Oklahoma in the wake of a recent offer from the Sooners and uncertainty surrounding Meyer's future.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
It's Friday night, which means high school football is back, folks.
After several weeks of camp and two-a-days, a number of Ohio State commits are in action this evening as the 2018 football season kicks off.
Of course, the season begins on a different date depending on the state in which you play, so these six will be joined next weekend by their fellow commits in Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia. New Jersey and Texas open their respective seasons on the final weekend of the month, meanwhile.
That said, here's a schedule of this weekend's events:
| NAME | POS | HIGH SCHOOL | OPPONENT |
|---|---|---|---|
| STEELE CHAMBERS | RB | ROSWELL (GA) BLESSED TRINITY CATHOLIC | @ ATLANTA (GA) ST. PIUS X |
| SAMPSON JAMES | RB | AVON (IN) | @ PLAINFIELD (IN) |
| CORMONTAE HAMILTON* | TE | MEMPHIS (TN) WHITEHAVEN | MEMPHIS (TN) FAIRLEY |
| HARRY MILLER | C | BUFORD (GA) | TUCKER (GA) - CORKY KELL CLASSIC AT GEORGIA STATE IN ATLANTA |
| KANE PATTERSON | LB | NASHVILLE (TN) CHRIST PRESBYTERIAN ACADEMY | @ NASHVILLE (TN) STRATFORD |
| CRAIG YOUNG | ATH | FORT WAYNE (IN) WAYNE | FORT WAYNE (IN) BISHOP DWENGER |
| NAME | POS | HIGH SCHOOL | OPPONENT |
|---|---|---|---|
| JACK MILLER | QB | SCOTTSDALE (AZ) CHAPARRAL | CHANDLER (AZ) HAMILTON |
| DARVON HUBBARD | RB | SCOTTSDALE (AZ) CHAPARRAL | CHANDLER (AZ) HAMILTON |
| JAKE WRAY | OT | MARIETTA (GA) | @ ROME (GA) - THURSDAY: L, 51-41 |
*Saturday Game
As always, make sure to come back to Eleven Warriors on Sunday morning for the Dynasty '19 Tracker, which gives an in-depth recap and statistics from this weekend's games.
