Seth McLaughlin has been recognized as one of college football’s three best centers this season despite his season-ending injury.
The Ohio State center was named Monday as one of three finalists for the Rimington Trophy, which honors college football’s best center, along with Western Michigan’s Jacob Gideon and Tennessee’s Cooper Mays.
We are so excited to announce our three finalists for the 2024 Rimington Trophy!
— Rimington Trophy (@rimingtontrophy) December 9, 2024
Jacob Gideon, SR - @WMU_Football
Cooper Mays, SR - @Vol_Football
Seth McLaughlin, GRAD - @OhioStateFB
Our winner will be announced December 12th on the ESPN College Football Awards Show. pic.twitter.com/wwo0vnY75u
The winner of the Rimington Trophy will be announced Thursday during ESPN’s Home Depot College Football Awards (9-11 p.m.). McLaughlin is one of two Ohio State players up for awards that will be announced on that show along with fellow Alabama transfer Caleb Downs, who is up for both the Jim Thorpe Award (college football’s best defensive back) and Chuck Bednarik Award (best defensive player).
McLaughlin, who earned two degrees at Alabama while maintaining a 4.0 GPA, is also a finalist for the Campbell Trophy as one of college football’s top scholar-athletes. The winner of the Campbell Trophy will be announced Tuesday during the National Football Foundation’s annual awards dinner in Las Vegas.
Before his Achilles injury, McLaughlin was the leader of this year’s Ohio State offensive line, playing a crucial role in the unit’s improvement in both run blocking and pass protection. Since McLaughlin was injured in the week leading up to Ohio State’s penultimate game of the regular season against Indiana, the Buckeyes have struggled to run the ball in their last two games, averaging less than 3.5 yards per carry.
Carson Hinzman has started Ohio State’s last two games at center since McLaughlin went down, but Ryan Day said Sunday that the Buckeyes are considering changes on the offensive line entering the College Football Playoff, with Joshua Padilla and Luke Montgomery in the mix to push for starting jobs on the interior offensive line.
“I think they deserve an opportunity to compete the next two weeks to see if they can find themselves in a role. And that's kind of where we are. And I think a big part of that is how we came out of last game,” Day said.
