One of the biggest question marks for Ohio State entering the Rose Bowl is how well the Buckeyes can rely on Jayden Fielding if it needs him to make a field goal with the game on the line.
Fielding didn’t do so in Ohio State’s regular-season finale against Michigan, going just 1-for-3 on his field goal attempts with misses on both of his kicks longer than 30 yards, a 38-yard attempt in the second quarter and a 34-yard attempt in the third quarter. Those six points ended up making all the difference in The Game as the Buckeyes lost to the Wolverines by just three points, 13-10.
He was unable to make up for it against Tennessee, coming up short on his only field goal attempt in Ohio State’s first-round College Football Playoff game against Tennessee, albeit a 56-yard try in cold weather that would have been tough for any kicker to make.
Ohio State didn’t need that field goal in its 42-17 rout of the Volunteers, but it’s more likely to need Fielding to make a field goal – or multiple – against No. 1 seed Oregon, who beat the Buckeyes by one point (32-31) in the regular-season meeting between the two Big Ten foes.
Despite his recent struggles, Fielding remains confident in his ability to deliver if and when called upon. He credits his Ohio State teammates and coaches with helping him maintain that confidence by continuing to express their belief in him.
“I have confidence in myself. It helps knowing that my team has confidence in me, the coaches have confidence in me,” Fielding told Eleven Warriors at Ohio State’s Rose Bowl media day on Monday. “Had some good game prep going into this week and last week as well, so I feel pretty good.”
Fielding knows he needs to be better than he’s been of late, but he says that’s pushed him to only work harder in search of better results.
“It hasn’t been my best year, but I know that if I just keep working and continue to grind and try and get better that I'll get to where I want to be,” Fielding said. “Every game's a lesson. You learn things about yourself, whether it's good or bad when you have a good or a bad game. So I've just kind of taken those things and tried to apply them to my everyday practice and my routines.”
Going into the Michigan game, Fielding had been reliable when called upon, making nine of 10 field goal attempts in Ohio State’s first 11 games except for a missed 42-yard kick against Nebraska. He had a one-game hiccup against Marshall that led to a benching for the second half of that game when he sent three straight kickoffs out of bounds, but he’s been steady on kickoffs for the rest of the season.
Most notably, Fielding connected on both of his field goal attempts in a hostile environment on the road at Penn State – including a season-long 46-yard kick – to help lead Ohio State to a 20-13 victory over the Nittany Lions in one of its biggest games of the regular season.
But Fielding has yet to make a kick longer than 47 yards in his Ohio State career, and the Buckeyes have often opted to go for it on fourth down rather than send him into the game to attempt longer kicks. The missed kick against Tennessee is his only attempt from longer from that distance this season, and Ohio State attempted that kick only because it had time for only one more play before halftime.
“It hasn’t been my best year, but I know that if I just keep working and continue to grind and try and get better that I'll get to where I want to be.”– Jayden Fielding on working through his recent struggles
All things considered, it’s likely Ohio State will at least bring in some competition for Fielding next season via a transfer addition. Fielding says he isn’t thinking beyond the next game right now, though. And he feels good entering the Rose Bowl based on how he’s prepared for it.
“Pressure situations, end of game, we have those every Wednesday. Trying to just make the big kicks when they matter the most in practice and trying to have the guys come around me, simulate the crowd noise, simulate the real-life pressure of it,” Fielding said when asked about how the Buckeyes have helped him prepare for the Rose Bowl.
One need not look back very far to find an example of a Rose Bowl coming down to a field goal for Ohio State, as Noah Ruggles made the game-winner in the Buckeyes’ 48-45 win over Utah three years ago. While that kick was only a 19-yard field goal, Ruggles also knows what it’s like to be the pariah after a loss – his miss wide left on a 50-yard attempt made the difference between victory and defeat in Ohio State’s 42-41 CFP semifinal loss to Georgia two years ago – and Fielding says Ruggles, who he backed up in 2022, has been a resource for him as he deals with his own highs and lows.
“I talked to him a couple months back. He's provided a lot of wisdom to me and he's been a great resource for me to tap into when I need it,” Fielding said.
Most of all, though, Fielding says he’s drawn from the support his teammates have provided him.
“It's a true brotherhood here,” Fielding said. “We're all in this together. We win games together, we lose games together, and it's been really nice to have those guys around me.”
