Ryan Day must break in a new starting quarterback this fall with the departure of Justin Fields but the new signal-caller will be surrounded by weapons galore, most notably returning receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson.
Olave led the Buckeyes with 50 catches for 729 yards and seven touchdowns despite missing a game due to Covid-19 protocols. The San Marcos, California product was largely unstoppable, posting over 100 yards receiving in five of his seven games including 132 and two touchdowns in Ohio State's 49-28 win over Clemson in a College Football Playoff semifinal.
With Olave doing the heavy lifting on the outside, then-sophomore Garrett Wilson shifted inside to the slot and enjoyed his own impressive season. As a first-year starter, Wilson caught 43 balls for 723 yards and six touchdowns. HIs 16.8 yards per catch was the highest of any Buckeye with at least 10 grabs.
Unlike Olave's consistent production, Wilson was absolutely unstoppable over his first four games before his production dropped off sharply over the final four contests.
| SPAN | RECEPTIONS | RECEIVING YARDS | YARDS PER CATCH | REC YARDS PER GAME | TOUCHDOWNS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GAMES 1-4 | 31 | 513 | 16.5 | 128.3 | 4 |
| GAMES 5-8 | 12 | 210 | 17.5 | 52.5 | 2 |
Wilson got off to a roaring start, torching Nebraska for seven catches and 129 yards, including a 42-yard touchdown catch, during a 42-17 blowout win in the season opener. The next week at Penn State, he took a sweep 62 yards on the game's first play, paving the way for a 7-0 OSU lead just 1:17 into the game. He'd add 11 receptions, six going for first downs, for 111 yards in Ohio State's 38-25 victory.
Another 100-yard game followed versus Rutgers (6-for-104, TD) before he went bonkers against Indiana. In the Buckeyes' 42-25 win over the Hoosiers, Wilson had seven grabs for a career-high 169 yards and two scores. He opened the game's scoring with a 10-yard snag on Ohio State's second play from scrimmage, immediately following a 65-yard catch and run. Other big plays included catches of 27 and 38 yards before his 9-yard reception gave the Buckeyes a 35-7 lead early in the third quarter.
The four-game stretch saw Wilson average 128.3 receiving yards per contest as he accumulated 31 catches for 513 yards, good for over 71% of his full season's output in both stats.
The final four games played out differently for Wilson however, as he failed to to record more than 59 yards receiving and four catches with the competition mostly picking up against Michigan State, Northwestern, Clemson and Alabama.
Wilson was still a factor, make no mistake, just not on the scale of the first four games. He hit the Spartans for a 28-yard touchdown for a 14-0 lead in what became a 52-12 demolition. In the Big Ten championship game, with Olave out, Wilson had just four catches for 49 yards in a 22-10 win. He had only two receptions against Clemson but one was a sick 47-yard catch to the Tigers' 8-yard line setting up a Luke Farrell touchdown tying the game at 14 apiece. Against Alabama in the CFP title game, he caught three balls for 50 yards including a 20-yard touchdown pulling the Buckeyes to within 14 points, 38-24, before the Tide scored the game's final two touchdowns in a 52-24 loss.
Overall, the final four games saw Wilson rack up 12 catches for 210 yards (52.5 ypg) and two touchdowns.
Some of Wilson's second half slide is simply the realness that it wasn't plausible for him to average 128 yards per game over a full season especially with Olave joining him to do damage and the running game picking up steam as the season wore on.
With the running game humming, the last four games also saw Fields struggle in spots as he failed to record at least 200 passing yards three times. Conversely, he tossed for over 300 yards in three of the first four games and 276 in the other.
The bottom line is a host of factors played in Wilson's front and back half of the season producing such disparate numbers and there's no question he's an elite receiver capable of even greater production this fall.
Yes, one of C.J. Stroud, Jack Miller and Kyle McCord will need to seize the job and be a legit passing threat but Olave opting to return to school instead of entering the NFL Draft is just one of many signs the Buckeyes will be fine at quarterback.
With the likely opportunity of having a full spring camp, summer workouts and a typical fall camp for Wilson to polish his own game while building chemistry with a new passer, there's reason to believe he can make a run at a 1,000 yard season even with Olave threatening to do the same. Should Wilson stay mostly lined up in the slot, he could be a devastating security blanket for his new quarterback, in addition to the big play ability he's shown dating back to his freshman season.
Though many of the noted factors contributing to 2020's decline in production were out of his hands, you can bet Wilson is motivated to take his game to the next level this fall.
