Welcome into The Morning Bell. Grab your coffee, take a seat, and lets begin.
Julian Fleming Returns Home
A pleasant, and necessary, surprise to this season has been how well Julian Fleming has played since coming back from injury. The former #1 WR in the class of 2020, the same class as Jaxon Smith-Njigba, was one of the first major commitments of the Ryan Day Era. His arrival in Columbus was met with a frenzy of excitement, but entering his third year, Fleming had seen the field sparsely, as he had faced chronic injuries to his shoulders.
Fleming, who is from Catawissa, PA, will return back to his home state Saturday to face off against the Penn State Nittany Lions. Penn State was long considered the favorite in his recruitment, but he spurned the Nittany Lions for a chance to play for Brian Hartline and Ryan Day.
Its not easy to keep fighting through injuries and struggling to see the field in your first two seasons, especially as a former 5-Star, but Fleming has met this adversity with the necessary strength to overcome. When finally being cleared against Toledo, he immediately made an impact by catching 2 touchdowns. He has appeared in 5 games so far this year, and has 6 TDs, 327 Yds, and is averaging 19.2 yards per completion.
Fleming is going to be crucial for the Buckeyes as they head down the tough stretch of their schedule over the next 5 weeks. All hands on deck will be needed, especially for the monster November 26th matchup against Michigan, which will have the eyes of the entire nation on it. But first, he must help the Buckeyes take down his home state Nittany Lions.
Ryan Day Was Fined For Missing Award Show
During his Tuesday availability with the media, Ryan Day shared a funny story on his relationship with Penn State's Mike Yurcich.
In 2019, Day was invited to an awards show at the end of the season, along with a few of his standout players, but he and (at the time) QB coach Mike Yurcich had different plans for that day. Day missed the show, and ended up receiving a fine for not attending.
His reason for not attending? He was doing an in-home visit with a high school QB know as CJ Stroud.
If that in-home visit was the difference maker for the Buckeyes landing CJ Stroud, I think it is safe to say Coach Day made the right decision that day. Good call coach.
Lathan Ransom Has The "Hot Hand"
When DC Jim Knowles met with the media on Tuesday, one of the topics brought up to him was the play of 3rd year safety Lathan Ransom. Coming into fall camp, no one was really sure how much Ransom was going to be able to contribute this season. After all, he had just fractured his leg in the Rose Bowl. Not exactly an easy injury to come back from.
Once the pads went on this fall, Ransom impressed immediately, and when Josh Proctor lost contain on the first play of the season against Notre Dame, Ransom was thrown in and hasn't looked back since.
On the topic of Ransom now starting, Knowles said: "He's got a hot hand. When a guy is playing like that, you want to keep him going."
Ransom is playing a far bigger role than anyone anticipated, and for recognition of his excellent play, he was named as 1 of 12 semifinalists for the Jim Thorpe Aware, which recognizes the best defensive back in college football. If he keeps his play at the level it has been all season, he just may find himself in attendance for the College Football Awards.
Thanks for stopping in. The week is halfway over! Celebrate accordingly. Go Bucks!