Billy Price knows how Isaiah Prince feels.
Often criticized either by the media or on the Internet by fans, the now redshirt junior had his fair share of growing pains during his first year as a starter on Ohio State's offensive line. That came two years ago, Price as the young blood alongside veterans Taylor Decker, Pat Elflein and Jacoby Boren.
Remember when Virginia Tech sacked J.T. Barrett seven times en route to a 35-21 victory at Ohio Stadium in September? The now team captain and All-American isn't shy about saying he was responsible for more than half of them.
The Buckeyes won the College Football Playoff that season, tearing through Alabama and Oregon to bring the program its eighth national title. Urban Meyer's team is back in the Playoff again and this time Price is one of two old heads on the offensive line, joining center and another All-American, Pat Elflein.
This time, Isaiah Prince serves as fodder for fans. This time, the ghastly performance of that player and the unit as a whole came at Penn State. Ohio State lost to the Nittany Lions just like they did to the Hokies two years ago. They haven't lost since this season.
Prince will be tested against a vaunted Clemson defensive front, of which is partly responsible for the teams 112 tackles for loss and 46 sacks this season—both good for third in the country. Fans are concerned about Prince. Price is not.
“He's a sophomore. He's a 20-year-old young man. To be able to be in a College Football Playoff, I was 19 years old doing the same thing 2 years ago in New Orleans,” Price said. “He's going to be fine.”
Price, Elflein and offensive coordinator Ed Warinner came to Prince's defense on more than one occasion Tuesday. The guy that lines up right next to the true sophomore on Ohio State's offensive line even repeated the phrase, "He'll be ready" at least five times during his interview session when talking about him.
“You're running out in front of 110,000 people. You can go find someone at the Polaris Mall and they're going to do the same thing [fail] because they're mentally just not ready for that.”– Billy Price
Why? Because Price saw the way Prince grew up the last month.
“There's an accountability factor, especially when you're the one who's messing up,” Price said. “Case for myself, if I give up a sack it's my accountability, it is me failing to not do well. He's kind of changed his perspective behind things and instead of pointing the finger and saying, 'Hey, it was your fault.' He's saying, 'it's my fault, let's get better.' Not pointing the finger, I think that's something he's made a huge growth with and something that is part of the maturation process. Especially because you have all this amount of time in bowl season, make sure you have that accountability onto yourself to say, 'I need to get better.' He's done that.”
For the Buckeyes to be able to move the ball against the Tigers, Barrett must find some success through the air. Prince's shortcomings in pass protection are well documented. Things spiraled out of control at Penn State late in the game and the Buckeyes lost, just like they did against Virginia Tech in 2014 when the offense was forced to throw the ball.
“There's a lot of mentality I see,” Price said. “You have the physical capabilities. I mean, he's 6-7, 6-8, 310—he's a big, big dude. So you get to see those same characteristics as far as you need to mentally be able to handle these things.”
Confidence plays a significant role for any offensive lineman, especially one on the outside and particularly against fast, long and powerful defensive ends. Clemson has multiple such players, led by Carlos Watkins and Christian Wilkins.
“I think there's matchups out there that are tough. They have a great defensive line and however they play that out, that will be very interesting to watch,” Warinner said. “How well we do there will be critical.”
The weak link on Ohio State's offensive line must put the pieces together and fast. It all comes back to what is between the ears.
“Player confidence sometimes is the last piece,” Warinner said. “I've coached some young players that were growing and if that confidence level rose to that point where they could fight through adversity that's when they played at their high level.”
Price did that in Ohio State's run at the national title. Urban Meyer picked him out as one of the players that rose up and performed at an extremely high level when it mattered most, which helped the Buckeyes life the College Football Playoff trophy when it was all said and done. Is Prince next?
Isaiah Prince did a ton of standing around in Ohio State's loss at Penn State, easily his worst game as a Buckeye.
“His mentality has just gotten so much better and he’s really been trying to get his play up,” Elflein said. “His approach to practice has been great.”
Added Price: “He's worked his butt off. He's worked his butt off this bowl season. I know everybody wants to point a finger and say, 'this guy is going to destroy you.' No. He's going to be ready. I can tell you that right now.”
When Meyer last met the media in Columbus on Dec. 15, he said he's never seen a player work harder than Prince in the prior weeks during practice.
“I mean, ridiculous,” he said. “Even on days off, he’s coming here and getting extra work.”
Whether that translates to actual improvement between the lines for Prince won't be realized until New Year's Eve.
But Meyer's players attribute the positivity to Prince becoming more accountable, more confident and more responsible.
In short, he grew up. Just like Price did.
“You're running out in front of 110,000 people. You can go find someone at the Polaris Mall and they're going to do the same thing [fail] because they're mentally just not ready for that,” Price said. “As we've watched him grow, he's had his good games, he's had his great games. We all have our rough spots. He's given up sacks. I've given up sacks. It is what it is. But to be able to watch him grow and watch him in the bowl season to give up a sack and say, 'Let's go get the next play.' We'll be in good shape.”
