Jermaine Mathews Jr. demonstrated his potential to be one of the nation’s best cornerbacks during Ohio State’s penultimate practice of the spring on Friday.
Mathews stood out more than any other player as Ohio State opened up its second-to-last practice of the spring to media and coaches as part of its annual coaches’ clinic. The junior cornerback had consistently tight coverage during Friday’s practice at Ohio Stadium, getting his hands on at least three passes including an interception against Lincoln Kienholz during team drills that likely would have gone for a pick-six. Mathews also had a pass breakup while in coverage against star receiver Jeremiah Smith on a hitch route.
Where exactly Mathews will line up primarily in Ohio State’s secondary this season remains to be determined, as he continued to take reps both outside and at nickel during Friday’s practice. What’s become increasingly clear all spring, though, is that Mathews will be one of the stars of the back end of Ohio State’s defense this season.
Mylan Graham continues building hype
Redshirt freshman Mylan Graham has been one of the biggest rising stars among Ohio State’s next wave of wide receivers, with Mathews mentioning him earlier this week as a player who isn’t getting enough hype. He showed why on Friday.
Graham made the play of the day on the offensive side of the football for the Buckeyes, twirling to catch a back-shoulder ball from Kienholz through tight coverage for a long touchdown on a go route. Earlier in the practice, Kienholz connected with Graham on another nice deep route, this time a corner route that gained roughly 20 yards as Graham made a nice sideline catch.
Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss are in line to start for Ohio State out wide this season, but Graham is in close competition with redshirt sophomore Bryson Rodgers to be the next man off the bench. Graham will likely be next up at outside receiver for the Buckeyes while Rodgers backs up Inniss in the slot.
Quarterbacks’ day marred by turnovers
Julian Sayin and Kienholz continued to split first-team reps at quarterback during Friday’s practice, but neither of them had the kind of day they needed to put their stamp on the starting job.
Kienholz, as aforementioned, threw the only interception of the day when he failed to see Mathews breaking on a throw over the middle. He had some strong downfield throws at other times during the practice, such as the two aforementioned throws to Graham, but wasn’t as consistently sharp as he was during Ohio State’s Student Appreciation Day scrimmage, the last practice that was open to the media.
Sayin’s day was marred by a pair of fumbles in the backfield on back-to-back plays, after which he was made to run a lap around the field for his turnovers. While he was on target with a majority of his throws, he didn’t have many long completions on the day.
Freshman quarterback Tavien St. Clair had the best day among the signal-callers. He didn’t have any turnovers and had most of the day’s best completions as he threw the ball with power and accuracy downfield and made sharp reads. However, all of St. Clair’s reps came with backups against backups, indicating that the starting quarterback competition remains a Sayin vs. Kienholz battle for now.
Perfect day for Fielding
Jayden Fielding said this week he’s feeling the healthiest he’s been in eight or nine months, and it showed on Friday, the first time media had the opportunity to watch kickers practice field goals this spring.
Fielding, who revealed Tuesday that he was kicking with a torn adductor muscle in his right hip after suffering that injury during Ohio State’s third game of last season against Marshall, made every live field goal he attempted during the field-goal kicking portion of Friday’s practice, including a 48-yard kick that concluded the final practice before the spring game.
Kacmarek sidelined by injury
Ohio State is finishing the spring without one of its top tight ends as Will Kacmarek was seen wearing a walking boot and using a scooter during Friday’s practice.
With Kacmarek out and Bennett Christian also practicing only on a limited basis, Max Klare and Jelani Thurman split most of the first-team reps while Nate Roberts and Max LeBlanc split most of the second-team reps at tight end on Friday.
Additional notes
- Austin Siereveld took first-team reps at both left and right tackle, splitting reps with Ethan Onianwa at LT and Phillip Daniels at RT.
- True freshman Jake Cook saw work with the second-team offensive line on Friday, lining up at left guard alongside center Joshua Padilla and right guard Gabe VanSickle.
- Inniss was followed in the punt returner line by Graham, Caleb Downs and Tate during the punting portion of practice.
- Lorenzo Styles Jr. also impressed in the secondary, recording a PBU and hanging tight in coverage as he split nickel reps with various other defensive backs over the course of the practice.
