‘He kept me going’ – Brian Hartline admits Emeka Egbuka was a hero of sorts for Ohio State at crucial time
Ohio State Buckeyes were presented a rather unique opportunity in the 2024 season where they returned a ton of NFL-level talent that did not have to come back. The Buckeyes made it worth coming back on Jan. 20, when they defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to win a National Championship. From the very beginning […]
Ohio State Buckeyes were presented a rather unique opportunity in the 2024 season where they returned a ton of NFL-level talent that did not have to come back. The Buckeyes made it worth coming back on Jan. 20, when they defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to win a National Championship.
From the very beginning of the season, Ohio State was a trendy pick to win it all. The Buckeyes possessed the most talented roster in the sport, but it looked like it would be all wiped away in late November. When Ohio State lost to Michigan for a fourth straight time, it could have been the backbreaker for the Buckeyes.
It wasn’t. Ohio State rebounded in a way that tells a wild story. The wins over Tennessee, Oregon, Texas, and Notre Dame illustrate the greatest run ever. That run maybe wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for one Buckeye with great leadership.
“He really kept us going. He kept me going. As coaches, you can’t show that, but to hear that coming from Emeka, to see how he brought guys together, his conviction, and the things he said really went a long way,” Ohio State OC Brian Hartline said of Emeka Egbuka on “The Bobby Carpenter Show”. “After the outcome, the ability for us to win that big one, to see him crying, I just kept thinking of the things he said to our unit with the belief of the guys around him. That was pretty special, man.”
Egbuka has the most catches in Ohio State history with 205 and he cleared 1,000 yards in two of his four seasons. The standout playmaker had 1,151 yards as a sophomore and 1,011 as a senior.
The Ohio State star wideout is expected to be a first-round pick in April’s NFL draft, where he will become the latest first-round wide receiver out of Columbus.
Egbuka isn’t from Ohio, but he embodied what it meant to be a Buckeye as well as anyone in the last four years. Ohio State doesn’t win a National Championship last month without his leadership.
Ryan Day makes an honest admission regarding how long he wants to be the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes
He has plans to be around for a while.
