Jonathon Cooper walks off the field, with a smile on his face as it always is, takes his helmet off, cranes his head into the Ann Arbor sky and bellows out a forceful scream.
“I can’t wait to come back NEXT YEARRRR!”
He proceeds to get mobbed by teammates dapping him up as the Buckeyes put the finishing touches on a 62-39 win over Michigan, his fourth and final game of his senior season before he takes an injury-induced redshirt and misses Ohio State’s final two games.
Fast forward to Halloween night 2020.
In what is likely going to wind up being the biggest game of the regular season for the Buckeyes, against the best team they will face until either the Big Ten Championship Game or more likely the College Football Playoff, Cooper was a force off the edge all night.
Cooper was only credited with five tackles and a half-sack, to which he responded, “That’s all? That’s all they gave me? Dang. I need more.”
Stats aside, Cooper was in Penn State's backfield all night, flushing Clifford into other Buckeyes' arms and being a major disruption all night. His Week 2 play in a 38-25 win was the exact type of performance the fifth-year defensive end envisioned for himself when he made the return for what is likely his final season in Columbus. It’s exactly why he was so emotional on that late November night against the Wolverines. And it’s exactly why he gave that impassioned speech in August where he talked about the “easy sacrifices” he’s made to have a fall season and pleaded for his teammates to do the same.
“I would say this one feels special, just being out there with my brothers, honestly,” Cooper said. “I feel like I’ve always had that in me. You guys haven’t really seen me play football in a year so it’s kind of hard for me to say that. I feel like just the environment, Penn State, the way our coaches had us prepared and ready took my game to the level that it was supposed to be.”
When he wasn’t harassing Sean Clifford and helping Ohio State hold him to a total of five yards rushing on 18 attempts, including five total sacks (including three by nose tackle Tommy Togiai), Cooper thought it was his presence on the sidelines and his voice that served most valuable. As a captain is wont to do.
“I really don’t think it was a play, per se,” Cooper said when asked what he thought was his best individual play of the game. “I feel like my leadership showed a lot tonight, just speaking for my defense and getting them ready to go. I feel like my leadership throughout the whole entire game was my best performance, honestly, regardless of what I did on the field. I feel like getting my guys going and making sure that they’re still in the game and still into it is what I do best.”
Was it his best game ever? Cooper laughed and shook off that question a bit. But it was certainly one of them.
“I don’t know. I don’t even know the stats. I don’t know what happened,” Cooper said. “I feel like it was all a blur. I was just into the game. I feel like my Team Up North games have been pretty good throughout the years. I don’t know. This one feels up there, for sure.”
Tonight, however, was the type of game that showed what Cooper can do when he’s at his best. And without anyone close to being the dominant presence that Chase Young was last year, Cooper might need to have similar performances down the line when the competition gets stiffer in the postseason, especially if the Buckeyes’ other unproven talent at defensive end in Zach Harrison, Tyler Friday, Tyreke Smith and Javontae Jean-Baptiste don’t continue to grow as they gain experience.
Cooper probably wouldn’t tell you that, though. He’s confident that the Buckeyes’ quintet of former five- and four-star talents might hold the crown of America’s best.
“I feel like our defensive end group is one of the best in the country, if not the best,” Cooper said. “So I’m really proud of those guys today.”
