After a few months of writing these Hurry-Ups, one common gripe fans have among college football scheduling is sticking out: noon kickoffs.
Besides the obvious fan gameday experience reasons (less time to tailgate, etc.), there is a very real impact early gametimes have on recruiting. Ohio State’s recruiting footprint has expanded tremendously over the years, as the Buckeyes now recruit nationwide from the west to east coasts and into Texas, Florida and the Deep South.
But noon starts have made it difficult for non Midwest recruits to make it to Columbus to experience a gameday atmosphere. Various recruits and their families have told Eleven Warriors as much firsthand, and it certainly led to postponed visits from prospects that were supposed to attend the Oregon game. Nevertheless, they aren’t going away any time soon, considering noon is a primetime window for Fox and other networks.
Ryan Day was asked Thursday if he’s had any frustrations about what noon kickoffs do to recruiting chances. Frankly, if he does, he’s not saying it.
“I think we’re going to have some night games moving forward here, too,” Day said. “So, I think there will be opportunities for guys to come visit when they want to. It is harder for the West Coast guys to get here for a noon game, but there still are some guys within driving distance that should be able to make it. There more guys we can get on campus for a gameday atmosphere, we think it’s the best gameday atmosphere there is in the country. Hopefully there will be more opportunities as we head into October and November. But the noon kickoff is also exciting. It’s fun, and for the guys that can get here, it’s obviously prime time for Fox and some of the other guys, so that’s part of the equation as well. When guys can make it, it’s obviously a huge selling point so we want to get them here when we can.”
More night games moving forward. Hm. Does he know something we don’t about the Penn State game at the end of the month?
Young surpasses 1,000 yards
At midseason, Ohio State priority 2023 five-star running back target Richard Young has surpassed the 1,000 rushing yard mark. The 6-foot, 190-pound running back rated the 21st-best prospect nationally and the top running back in the cycle per 247Sports’ composite rankings reached that milestone in Lehigh High School’s (Lehigh Acres, Florida) 14-7 win over Charlotte on Thursday.
After the win, Young credited his offensive line for helping him get there.
— Richard Young (@richardyoung239) October 8, 2021
The contest wasn’t without highlight plays from the talented tailback, of course. In this clip, he somehow jumped over a defender then trucked another one a few seconds later.
Dont worry, I did get him going airborne, then trucking a defender with authority.
— Alex Martin (@NP_AlexMartin) October 8, 2021
One of his best non-TD runs of the year. https://t.co/Ka1xaaFvWe pic.twitter.com/CyV0jOVZOB
Young visited Columbus twice this summer and hopes to attend the Penn State game on Oct. 30.
Abor possibly visiting OSU
The latest update on five-star defensive end Omari Abor was that he was warming up to Ohio State, and the Buckeyes are near the top of his list.
This week, Abor told 247Sports he plans on visiting OSU for the Penn State game on Oct. 30 and is “80 percent” sure he’ll be able to make the visit work.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound Abor is the 18th-best prospect in the 2022 class and the second-best defensive end. The five-star prospect hopes to decide on a school in January.
