The Scarlet and Gray

[Captain Canada]

Downs called game all by himself

[ShireNiner]

Caleb Downs is so good. Best player I have played against too. He picked me off twice I remember and had like 17 tackles.

Big player stepping up in a difficult place to play to steal the momentum.

[toysoldier00]

Caleb Downs

even with their rally at the half, great game all around

Downs called game all by himself

Caleb Downs is so good. Best player I have played against too. He picked me off twice I remember and had like 17 tackles.

Big player stepping up in a difficult place to play to steal the momentum.

I'm genuinely not sure what my defense will look like next year without him roaming around

[toysoldier00]

Week 5 Recap: Chaos in Happy Valley, a Tide Turning in Athens, as Week 5 Reshapes the Playoff Discussion

Marissa Bleday
September 28, 2025


The first Saturday that truly felt like the season’s hinge point arrived with a familiar soundtrack: a whiteout roar, a top-two showdown, and a national contender trying to prove it can take a punch on the road. Oregon did more than take it, it delivered the kind of statement win that follows a program for months, walking into Happy Valley and beating No. 2 Penn State 42–31 behind a true freshman running back who kept finding the end zone and a defense that made the Nittany Lions’ margin for error disappear.

“This is why you come to Oregon,” Ducks quarterback Dante Moore said afterward, grinning through the noise. “You want these moments, the lights, the pressure, the best teams. Our guys didn’t blink.”

They didn’t. Oregon’s freshman tailback didn’t need a monster yardage total to leave a giant footprint; he scored four rushing touchdowns, repeatedly finishing drives that Moore and the passing game started. Moore was sharp and aggressive, throwing for 349 yards and a touchdown, and senior receiver Evan Stewart gave him the reliable big-play presence Oregon has needed in games like this, piling up 143 yards and a score. The Ducks’ most telling edge, though, came on Penn State’s side of the ball: defensive end Matayo Uiagalelei wrecked protection plans with three sacks, the kind of disruptive night that turns a balanced offense into a series of “just survive” snaps.

Penn State didn’t collapse, but it never found the counterpunch. Drew Allar was efficient (20-of-30, 254 yards) yet strangely muted where Penn State needed him most, there were no touchdown throws, no red-zone haymakers to answer Oregon’s finishing power. Kaytron Allen (83 yards, three touchdowns) and Nick Singleton (79 yards, one touchdown) produced, but Penn State’s mistakes showed up in all the spots a contender can’t afford them: a special teams fumble that flipped a possession, a missed opportunity here, a stalled series there. “You don’t get to spot a team like Oregon extra chances,” James Franklin said. “They’re too explosive, too well-coached. We didn’t finish.”

If Oregon’s win was the day’s opening jolt, Alabama’s performance in Athens was the weekend’s loudest warning: the Tide may have stumbled in Week 1, but they are very much alive, and dangerous. Alabama went on the road and controlled No. 3 Georgia in a 37–23 win that was less “upset” than “takeover,” building a 37–9 lead before the Bulldogs finally found late points that made the score look closer than the game felt.



Kalen DeBoer framed it simply: “We needed to show who we are. Not talk about it, show it.”

Ty Simpson did exactly that, carving up Georgia’s secondary for 406 yards and a touchdown on 29-of-38 passing. Ryan Williams looked like the game-changer Alabama leans on in these moments, finishing with 141 yards and a touchdown on six catches, while Jam Miller punched in three rushing scores despite modest yardage. The Tide defense did the rest, stacking five sacks, including two from senior linebacker Deontae Lawson, and forcing Georgia into a night of frantic, uncomfortable offense.

Georgia quarterback Gunnar Stockton threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns, but it came with the feeling of a quarterback trying to keep pace against a scoreboard that wouldn’t stop moving. The Bulldogs never established their Heisman-hyped running back Nate Frazier in the way they wanted; he flashed on just seven carries for 84 yards, but the game’s shape demanded Georgia throw, and Alabama happily lived with that trade. “We got out of our script,” Kirby Smart admitted. “Against Alabama, if you’re chasing, you’re usually chasing on their terms.”

In Oxford, Ole Miss authored the kind of result that rattles every rankings meeting for a week: a 44–10 demolition of No. 4 LSU that was as complete as it was unexpected. The twist made it even more jarring, the Rebels did it with a new quarterback, Trinidad Chambliss, after starter Austin Simmons went down last week. Chambliss was steady (244 yards, two touchdowns), but the story was the muscle: Ole Miss ran for 222 yards, held LSU to 17 rushing yards, and sacked Garrett Nussmeier five times.

Lane Kiffin called it “one of those nights where the plan matches the effort,” and it did. LSU’s Heisman co-front runner looked human, finishing 18-of-40 for 232 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions, battered by pressure and stranded without a running game that could stabilize anything. Ole Miss backs Kewan Lacy (96 yards, touchdown) and Damien Taylor (73 yards, two touchdowns) kept LSU’s front leaning backward, and by the time the fourth quarter arrived, the “upset” label felt too polite.



In Champaign, Illinois reminded the country that physicality still travels, even in a league drifting toward track meets. The Illini beat No. 23 USC 26–21 by taking over the middle portion of the game, answering an early 7–0 deficit with 26 straight points and leaning on a punishing ground game that USC never matched. Kaden Feagin, the 255-pound bruiser, ran like a problem USC couldn’t solve, finishing with 159 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries as Illinois rolled up 200 rushing yards and two scores. Luke Altmyer was efficient (24-of-28, 222 yards, one touchdown, one interception) before leaving in the fourth quarter, and Illinois’ defensive control of the run forced USC quarterback Jayden Maiava into a pass-first posture he couldn’t quite turn into a comeback.

The weekend’s most gutting loss belonged to Florida State, which walked into Charlottesville unbeaten and walked out stunned. Virginia won 29–27 in triple overtime, surviving despite being outplayed for stretches because Florida State’s mistakes arrived in clusters: two special teams fumbles, then a crushing overtime turnover on a Samuel Singleton Jr. carry. Tommy Castellanos produced (329 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, plus a rushing touchdown), but overtime is unforgiving, and Virginia quarterback Chandler Morris made enough plays, including a rushing score, to pull the upset that will define the Cavaliers’ season.



There were plenty of other tense finishes and high-wire acts across the country. Notre Dame survived at Arkansas 29–26 behind four touchdown passes from CJ Carr and 119 rushing yards from Jeremiyah Love, even as the Irish struggled on third down. Iowa State outlasted Arizona 57–55 in a six-overtime thriller that felt more like a midnight carnival than a football game, with Rocco Becht and Carson Hansen trading haymakers with Noah Fifita’s four-touchdown response. Texas A&M held off Auburn 34–31, Tennessee went into Starkville and put up 49 behind Joey Aguilar’s 346 yards, and the national weekly awards went to Minnesota’s Koi Perich (two pick-sixes) and Georgia Tech’s Haynes King (five total touchdowns in a shootout win).

But the weekend’s headline remains the same: the playoff picture moved. Oregon announced itself in the loudest stadium it could find. Alabama reclaimed its menace in Athens. Ole Miss flattened a title contender with a backup quarterback. And suddenly, “it’s early” feels less like comfort, and more like a warning.

[djp73]

It will be interesting to see how closely this follows real life

[toysoldier00]

From Glenville to Columbus, Again: Jaylen Smalls Carries the Tarblooder Torch to Ohio State
By Colten Brooks on September 29, 2025


Glenville (Cleveland, OH) Linebacker Jaylen Smalls is looking to continue the Tarblooder to Buckeye tradition.



There are Ohio State commits who feel like national stories, and then there are Ohio State commits who feel like Ohio stories. Jaylen Smalls is the second kind, the kind that makes sense the second you hear “Glenville linebacker,” the kind that makes you think about Friday nights in Northeast Ohio and what it means when a kid from the Tarblooders puts a Block O on his timeline.

Smalls committed to Ohio State on Feb. 18, and in a class that keeps piling up linebackers, he’s become something interesting: a player whose value isn’t captured by his recruiting résumé. He’s a three-star, ranked No. 777 nationally, No. 31 in Ohio, a prospect that doesn’t scream “headline” in a vacuum. But Smalls isn’t a vacuum player. He’s a context player. The context is Glenville. The context is the way Ohio State’s staff is building the room. The context is James Laurinaitis betting on traits and development in the same program that’s already watching Arvell Reese turn his own traits into early-season production.

Smalls is listed at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, but he doesn’t play like someone who’s worried about scales or stars. He plays like a kid who enjoys the collision, like someone who thinks a clean hit is a love language. “I’m not out there trying to make it look pretty,” Smalls said. “If I’ve got a chance to put my pads through somebody, I’m taking it. That’s how I play, that’s how I’ve always played.”

That “blow a guy up” instinct is what makes him easy to picture in Laurinaitis’ world. Smalls isn’t a finished product, not close, but he’s the kind of athlete who looks like he can carry more weight and still keep the movement skills that matter in the Big Ten. Ohio State doesn’t have to rush him, either, which is a luxury that turns a developmental take into a smart one. Laurinaitis can let him learn the room, let him add strength the right way, let him grow into the sort of downhill, in-the-box linebacker who can eventually become a pressure piece on passing downs.

Smalls embraces that projection. “They’re not recruiting me to be the same guy I am right now,” he said. “They’re recruiting me because of what they think I can become. Coach Laurinaitis talked to me about playing fast, playing violent, and then developing the details, eyes, hands, leverage, all the stuff that separates high school from Saturdays.”

The Arvell Reese comparison is impossible to ignore, not because Smalls is Reese today, but because Reese is the clearest example of the pathway Ohio State is selling. Reese has already helped re-ignite a relationship that, frankly, shouldn’t ever go cold between Ohio State and Glenville. The Buckeyes have leaned on Cleveland talent in multiple eras, and Glenville has been one of the most important zip codes in that history.

Scarlet & Gray readers know the highlights because they’re basically Buckeye folklore: Jim Tressel leaning into Cleveland recruiting, and Glenville head coach Ted Ginn Sr. building a pipeline that helped power Ohio State’s rise in the early 2000s. That run included Troy Smith, Ted Ginn Jr. and Donte Whitner, and it’s the kind of foundation that still echoes whenever Ohio State tries to “keep Ohio home.”

Then came the Urban Meyer era, when Cardale Jones (a Glenville quarterback) played a central role in the 2014 national title run, and when Marshon Lattimore became a star corner in scarlet and gray.

The names are different now, but the point is the same: when Ohio State is right, it’s not just recruiting Ohio, it’s recruiting Cleveland on purpose.

And that’s where Smalls becomes more than a ranking. Glenville isn’t just a school; it’s a culture. It’s a program that has produced Buckeyes, NFL players and big moments. It’s also a place where Ohio State’s presence is felt in a way that’s hard to describe if you didn’t grow up in Northeast Ohio. Columbus is two hours away, but for a lot of kids up here, Ohio State might as well be the backyard team, the state’s flagship, the program you watched with your family, the helmet you doodled in notebooks.

“I’ve been around Ohio State my whole life,” Smalls said. “In Cleveland, you grow up with the Buckeyes. That’s what it is. When you’re playing football up here, you know the history. You know who came out of Glenville. You know what it means.”

That history matters in recruiting because it’s trust-based. It’s relationships and familiar faces and a sense that the jump from Glenville to Ohio State is a jump other people have made, and thrived making. The Scarlet & Gray's reporting on the Glenville-to-Ohio State pipeline framed it perfectly: the connection has been “alive and well again,” and Arvell Reese’s break out this season has once again shown the importance of this particular relationship. There may not be a more intimate relationship between a high school and a high level football program than this one.

When a pipeline is strong, it doesn’t just produce players; it produces belief. Smalls is stepping into a story that already has chapters.

And he knows it. “When you see Arvell doing what he’s doing, it’s like, yeah, that can be me if I do the work,” Smalls said. “Not just on Saturdays, but every day. That’s what I’m excited about. The standard. The development. The competition.”

That last part might be the biggest clue about how Ohio State views him. This class has added bodies at linebacker, and Smalls is now the third-highest ranked of four in the group. In some classes, that would be a red flag. In this class, it’s a feature. Ohio State isn’t collecting linebackers because it’s bored; it’s collecting them because modern defense demands waves, and because the best rooms are the ones that keep raising their own floor. Smalls fits as a long-term swing: a high-motor, high-violence player with a frame that looks like it can grow and a mentality that doesn’t flinch at the idea of earning everything.

“I’m coming to work,” Smalls said. “That’s the biggest thing. I’m not coming in thinking anything is given. I’m coming in knowing I’ve got to prove myself, and I like it that way.”

That’s the Glenville part, too, the hard edge, the pride, the chip that shows up in the way kids from that program play. It’s why Ohio State’s relationship with the Tarblooders has always felt natural when it’s functioning. Glenville sends players who don’t need to be taught how to compete; Ohio State sends them into an environment where competition is the point.

Smalls’ commitment won’t shake up the recruiting rankings by itself. It won’t dominate the national cycle. But it absolutely matters in the way Ohio matters: as another thread tying Ohio State back to one of the most important programs in the state, as another reminder that Northeast Ohio is still fertile ground, and as another bet by Laurinaitis on a linebacker who looks like he’ll enjoy the day the Big Ten finally tries to run the ball at him.

And when that day comes, Smalls already sounds like he knows exactly what he wants it to look like.

“Hit first,” he said. “Hit hard. Make them remember it.”

Rank	Pos	Name	Height	Weight	High School	Home Town
	QB	Tyree Figurs	6'3"	190 lbs	Mission Hills	Mission Hills, CA
	WR	Ashton Ramsey	6'3"	190 lbs	Loyola Academy	Chicago, IL
	TE	Jordan Ivory	6'5"	235 lbs	Culver Academies	Culver, IN
	OT	Marcus Okam	6'7"	285 lbs	Pickerington Central	Pickerington, OH
	OT	Grady Austin	6'6"	305 lbs	Princeton	Cincinnati, OH
	OT	Derron Merriman	6'6"	300 lbs	Hilliard Bradley	Marysville, OH
	OT	Alex Jordan	6'7"	280 lbs	Paramus Catholic	Paramus, NJ
	IOL	George Crecelius	6'4"	285 lbs	Cy-Fair	Cypress, TX
	IOL	Thaddeus Roe	6'4"	290 lbs	Avon	Avon, IN
	DE	Deontae Savage	6'6"	240 lbs	Avon	Avon, IN
	DE	Ornell Mack	6'5"	240 lbs	Winton Woods	Cincinnati, OH
	DT	Vondree Eagles	6'3"	345 lbs	Reynoldsburg	Reynoldsburg, OH
	DT	Dillon Bridges	6'3"	290 lbs	Snider	Fort Wayne, IN
	LB	Pauly O'Dwyer	6'5"	215 lbs	Washington	Massillon, OH
	LB	Emmanuel Wooden	6'2"	210 lbs	Westerville South	Columbus, OH
	LB	Jaylen Smalls	6'2"	210 lbs	Glenville	Cleveland, OH
	LB	Avondre Lincoln	6'1"	200 lbs	Princeton	Cincinnati, OH
	CB	Teion Cherry II	6'1"	175 lbs	Wayne	Huber Heights, OH
	CB	Tremayne Shepley	6'1"	185 lbs	Greenville	Greenville, SC
	S	Bobby Jackson-Ruud	6'1"	190 lbs	St. Thomas Aquinas	Fort Lauderdale, FL
	S	Landon Bishop	6'0"	195 lbs	Whitmer	Toledo, OH
	P	David Procter	6'5"	170 lbs	Elder	Cincinnati, OH

[toysoldier00]

Sonny Styles Expected to Miss Minnesota Game With Hamstring Tweak
By Zachary Anderson on October 1, 2025


Sonny Styles got his first sack of the season against Washington.



Ohio State's is expected to be without one of its defensive centerpieces this weekend.

Linebacker Sonny Styles is expected to miss Saturday’s game against Minnesota with a hamstring tweak, giving the Buckeyes their first notable injury concern at the second level as they push deeper into the schedule. Styles, a 6-foot-5, 245-pound senior widely viewed as a borderline first-round NFL Draft prospect, had been trending toward a major season after flashing in a rotational role the last two weeks and delivering his best performance of the year in Ohio State’s win at Washington.

Styles posted eight tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack against the Huskies, providing the kind of disruptive, downhill presence that makes him so important to Ohio State’s defensive identity. Through the first portion of the season, Styles has recorded 20 tackles, one tackle for loss, one sack and one pass deflection across 120 snaps. His snap count has been somewhat managed, particularly in the blowout wins over Grambling State and Ohio, when Ohio State rotated early and often, but the Washington game was the clearest example yet of what the Buckeyes look like when Styles is fully involved.

With Styles sidelined, Ohio State is expected to lean on sophomore Payton Pierce and freshman Riley Pettijohn as the primary options to absorb those snaps. Pierce has impressed Ohio State coaches since arriving in Columbus and has shown a willingness to play physically while also contributing on special teams. He has 11 tackles, three tackles for loss and a sack in 102 snaps this season, though much of that production has come in games where the Buckeyes were able to play deeper into the roster.

Pettijohn, a freshman out of the state of Texas and one of Ohio State’s most touted young defenders, has been even more productive in limited opportunities. The freshman has totaled 19 tackles and two tackles for loss in 120 snaps, with most of that work coming in second-half situations when Ohio State has been playing with a sizable lead. Saturday will present a different kind of test, not just more snaps, but higher-leverage ones, as Ohio State attempts to maintain its standard on defense without one of its most versatile linebackers.

Styles’ status beyond this weekend remains to be seen, but Ohio State will hope the bye-week-style benefit of an early-season rotation continues to pay off as it navigates the short-term absence.

[djp73]

Isn’t that where Ginn’s dad coached?

[toysoldier00]

Isn’t that where Ginn’s dad coached?

He still does

[toysoldier00]

bump