Carnell Tate has only been at Ohio State for 10 months, but he has impressed the Buckeyes much longer than that.
From the time Ohio State started to recruit the four-star wide receiver from IMG Academy to him becoming a Buckeye and donning the scarlet and gray, Tate has demonstrated time and time again that he could be the next great receiver at Ohio State.
That became even more apparent in the best game of his young career last Saturday when Tate totaled three catches for 79 yards in Ohio State's win over Purdue. Prior to the game against the Boilermakers, the 6-foot-2, 191-pound receiver had a combined five catches for 83 yards in OSU's first five games of the season.
The Carnell Tate drive
— Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom) October 14, 2023
Back-to-back catches for the true freshman #Buckeyes wideout, the second of which goes for 55 yards. pic.twitter.com/nVw8Ny4G0g
It was the Buckeyes' first game this season without Emeka Egbuka, who is recovering from an ankle injury, one that could force the junior wideout to miss Saturday's top-seven showdown against Penn State even though Ryan Day remains hopeful that Egbuka will be able to give it a go. But with Tate's impressive start to his Ohio State career paired with everything he has already proven as a freshman, the Buckeyes know they can lean on Tate to make plays when his name is called.
"Carnell needs to be ready to go (against Penn State)," Day said on Wednesday. "Carnell has continued to prove that he deserves to play. This goes back to the preseason, and you're seeing it. You saw him make a couple nice catches there in the game last week (at Purdue). You've seen it a couple weeks before with the touchdown catch. He continues to impress, so it's about that time when you think about some of the freshmen who have made it as a freshman right around the middle of the season and end of the season when they really start coming on. So that timeframe is about right here for Carnell. We have the confidence to put him in the game."
Tate’s in-game talent has been well known, but the way he prepares each day and his work ethic throughout each week has really caught the eye of his peers.
"We see it every day in practice. So for him to kind of show the world just a glimpse of what he can do on the field, you know, I'm super proud of him," Harrison said. "He's one of the best players that I've been around. Just from the talent to how he takes care of his business on and off the field. So I'm super excited to see, as he continues to grow, as his role increases in the offense. I'm super proud of him for all he's done so far."
Tate's work ethic was not only noticed but rewarded five practices into his time as a Buckeye. Following Ohio State's first scrimmage on March 25, three months after being in Columbus as an early enrollee, Tate became the first member of Ohio State’s 2023 freshman class to shed his black stripe, doing so earlier than any OSU freshman since the custom's 2012 inception.
Six games into his Ohio State career, Tate has eight catches for 162 yards and a touchdown. He not only leads all Buckeye freshmen in both receptions and receiving yards, but his 20.3 yards per catch average is the best on the team among players with at least five catches this season. He’s on pace to have one of the best true freshman seasons by a wide receiver in school history.
| Player (Year) | Stats |
|---|---|
| Cris Carter (1984) | 41 catches, 648 yards, 8 touchdowns |
| David Boston (1996) | 33 catches, 450 yards, 7 touchdowns |
| Garrett Wilson (2019) | 30 catches, 432 yards, 5 touchdowns |
| Chris Olave (2018) | 12 catches 197 yards, 3 touchdowns |
| Emeka Egbuka (2021) | 9 catches, 191 yards |
| Duron Carter (2009) | 13 catches, 176 yards, 1 touchdown |
| Carnell Tate (2023)* | 8 catches, 162 yards, 1 touchdown* |
| Terry Glenn (1993) | 8 catches, 156 yards |
| Ken-Yon Rambo (1997) | 7 cathces, 145 yards, 1 touchdown |
| Marvin Harrison Jr. (2021) | 11 catches, 139 yards, 3 touchdowns |
| DeVier Posey (2008) | 11 catches, 117 yards, 1 touchdown |
| Jameson Williams (2019) | 6 catches, 112 yards, 1 touchdown |
| Corey Brown (2010) | 8 catches, 105 yards, 1 touchdown |
| Brian Stablein (1989) | 7 catches, 104 yards, 1 touchdown |
| Dane Sanzenbacher (2007) | 12 catches, 89 yards, 1 touchdown |
| Chris Gamble (2001) | 5 catches, 82 yards |
| Julian Fleming (2020) | 7 catches, 74 yards |
| Ray Small (2006) | 8 catches, 68 yards, 1 touchdown |
| Binjimen Victor (2016) | 4 catches, 64 yards, 1 touchdown |
| Jaxon Smith-Njigba (2020) | 10 catches, 49 yards, 1 touchdown |
In August, Harrison said Tate was further along in his development than he himself was entering his sophomore season, one in which Harrison caught 77 passes for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns and became Ohio State's first-ever unanimous All-American wide receiver.
“Carnell's gonna be special, man. I think Carnell's probably at a better point right now than I was going into my sophomore year,” Harrison said then. “He's amazing. He handles his business. He's always in the right spot, catches the ball and runs great routes. So I'm excited to really see what his career looks like. I think he'll be one of the best receivers to ever come through Ohio State.”
“He's one of the best players that I've been around. Just from the talent to how he takes care of his business on and off the field.”– Marvin Harrison Jr. on Carnell Tate
If Tate carries the momentum from his best game as a Buckeye thus far, he could establish himself as a regular in the wide receiver rotation, especially if it's not at full strength this week.
