Jayden Fielding’s struggles during the regular season last year suddenly became more understandable when the Ohio State kicker met with the media last week.
Fielding revealed last week that he tore an adductor muscle in his right hip – his kicking leg – during Ohio State’s third game of last season against Marshall. That injury led to Fielding hitting three straight kickoffs out of bounds and ultimately being replaced for the remainder of that game by walk-on kicker Austin Snyder. But Fielding returned for Ohio State’s subsequent game against Michigan State and handled the Buckeyes’ kicking duties for the rest of the year even though he was still injured.
Despite that injury, Fielding did his job effectively for the most part in 2024, making eight of his nine field goal attempts in Ohio State’s first 11 games of the season. But he became a pariah in Columbus when he missed two field goals inside of 40 yards against Michigan, directly leading to Ohio State’s 13-10 loss in The Game.
Fielding said there was a lot of “trial and error” in learning how to kick with an injured hip, which affected his confidence and ultimately led to his costly misses in the rivalry game. But with Ohio State having no other kickers on scholarship, Fielding fought through the injury all year long.
“Didn't make it too easy trying to kick any names in those games, but I did my best to help the team out,” Fielding said.
In the end, Fielding figured out how to kick through that injury well enough to help Ohio State win a national championship. After coming up short on a 55-yard field goal against Tennessee – which would have been a tough kick even if he was healthy given the cold, windy conditions in Ohio Stadium for the Buckeyes’ College Football Playoff opener – Fielding made all four of his field goal attempts in the team's final three games of the CFP, including a pair of 46-yard kicks and a 33-yard field goal with just 26 seconds to play that clinched the Buckeyes’ national championship win over Notre Dame.
JAYDEN FIELDING PUTS IT THRU
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 21, 2025
THATS THE GAME
OHIO STATE ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
CONGRATUALTIONS @OfficialAJHawk #PMSCFPNATTYESPN2 pic.twitter.com/cRZQQUdZAB
Knowing that Ohio State’s season and his future as the Buckeyes’ kicker were both on the line, Fielding felt a sense of urgency to find a way to kick to his ability despite the lingering injury.
“I knew it was kind of do-or-die, so I kind of had to,” Fielding said. “And there's a different fire in you when you think that you're going to not be able to do something anymore. And you take every opportunity that you can to make sure that you can continue to do what you love to do and be around the people that you love to be around and do the things that we get to do here.”
He said he finally got back to feeling comfortable kicking again before Ohio State’s Rose Bowl win over Oregon, where he made two field goals as the Buckeyes raced out to a 34-0 first-half lead in their eventual 41-21 victory. Fielding said he changed his routine before that game, which made him more prepared both physically and mentally.
“I think I finally figured out at Oregon in the playoffs, and just kind of let it ride from there,” Fielding said. “The process of me warming up has become a lot more in-depth, and I go through multiple different stretches, exercises, that sort of stuff, so I'm going to carry that along with me because I feel like it prepared me even better for the game. And also the mental aspect of it, just believing and having confidence in yourself always, no matter how rough it gets.
“I just started to feel a lot more comfortable then, I guess I would say. A lot of the pressure that was coming towards me from practice and the media and all that sort of stuff, it was all kind of compiling and it was like, I just kind of had to do something about it, so I figured it out.”
Fielding finished the year 13-of-17 on field goals after his game-sealer on college football’s biggest stage, but he still wasn’t satisfied with his performance for the year as a whole, making consistency a big point of emphasis for Fielding entering his senior season.
“Even though it ended the right way, I know it wasn't up to my expectations or the standards here, so trying to get myself to be at that level every single day is kind of what I've been focusing on,” Fielding said.
That said, Fielding is carrying a new level of confidence into the 2025 season.
While there was speculation before the CFP that Ohio State would bring in a transfer kicker to compete with Fielding, OSU now appears firmly committed to Fielding as its starting kicker for another year; the only other kicker on the roster this spring was walk-on Casey Magyar, who’s been with the Buckeyes since 2023 but has never kicked in a game. And Fielding’s given Ryan Day and everyone at Ohio State renewed reason to trust him because of how he stepped up during the championship run.
“I always had confidence in myself, but the level that I'm at right now is probably 10 times more than it was last year,” Fielding said. “Just purely because of showing myself I could do it, and then also showing Coach Day I could do it. I showed everyone that I could do it.”
Most importantly, Fielding is feeling much healthier now than he did at any point after injuring his hip last season.
“I'm really healthy right now. I feel great. This is probably the best I've felt in eight or nine months,” Fielding said.
Fielding’s health and confidence showed in Ohio State’s final two practices of the spring. During Ohio State’s penultimate practice of the spring at Ohio Stadium, which media members had the opportunity to watch alongside coaches who attended OSU’s coaches clinic, Fielding made every live field goal he attempted, including a 48-yarder on the final play of practice with the pressure of determining whether the offense or defense would have to do push-ups. He followed that up by making all three of his field goal attempts in the spring game, including two 43-yard kicks.
Fielding knows there’s a big difference between making kicks in practice and making kicks in games that count, so he knows he’ll have to prove himself all over again this fall. He still hasn’t made a field goal longer than 47 yards as a Buckeye, so it remains a looming question whether he can make a 50-plus-yard field goal if Ohio State needs him to.
But after experiencing both the lowest of lows and the highest of highs last season, all the while quietly battling a significant injury amid a wave of criticism that crescendoed in late November, Fielding feels ready to handle whatever adversity comes his way in 2025.
“It's a lot of help, kind of knowing that I can always turn the ship no matter how rocky it gets, and you'll make it through it no matter how bad it gets, because if you truly believe in yourself, and you have good support around you, you can do anything,” Fielding said.
