COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Pierre Charles L’Enfant laid out the plans for the city that would become Washington, D.C., he purposely sought to both inspire visitors and intimidate foes by way of Rome-inspired towering architecture, monuments and marble. A century and a half later, Howard Dwight Smith did the same when he designed Ohio Stadium, adorning the Horseshoe with a Rotunda inspired by the Pantheon, eliciting gasps from Ohio State fans and shivers from those who dared to oppose the home team.
That same DNA of shock and awe can be found a short walk from the ‘Shoe, in the lobby layout of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. That’s where a pair of two-story walls are covered in trophies earned via 54 bowl trips, 41 conference championships and eight national titles, those cups and sculptures connected by a collection of floor displays featuring seven Heisman Trophies won.
The room highlights multiple long lists of legendary names. There are so many stockpiles of linemen, tight ends and bulldozer runners. But if you’re looking for wide receivers, you’re going have to put in some time and perhaps even bring a magnifying glass.
Until you get to the here and now.
“You come to Ohio State to be part of the best wide receiver corps that I think there’s ever been, because there’s a torch that has been passed to us and that pushes us to defend that legacy,” said Emeka Egbuka, the current team leader with 41 catches and the ninth-best receiver in the nation in yards per game with an average of 105 over seven games.
Hang on. Did you say best there’s ever been?
“Yes sir,” Egbuka said. “I believe that. Everyone in our position group believes that. We all do. We have to.”
Every classic college football program likes to proudly declare it is the official university of some particular position group. Penn State has always laid claim to Linebacker U. An internet search for “Quarterback U” produces a list that ranges from USC and Miami to BYU and NC State. In 2019, LSU and Texas famously feuded over the rights to Defensive Back U. The Horns even wore DBU T-shirts during pregame warm-ups, before being outplayed by the Tigers.
But with the greatest respect to Cris Carter, David Boston and Terry Glenn, at no point has anyone ever dared to declare the Ohio State University as Wide Receiver U. Well, until now. And those who do have a rather good case.
Yes, those six Heisman legends (Archie Griffin won two) were all running backs, with the exception of QB Troy Smith in 2006. Of the school’s 32 members of the College Football Hall of Fame, none are true wide receivers and two are listed as “end.” Of the Buckeyes’ 213 all-time All-American selections, there are tight ends scattered around, but only five of those honors were awarded to true wideouts and between 1914 and 2020, they had only three in Carter, Boston and Glenn.
But one year ago, the Buckeyes had two in Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, now rookie starters with the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets, respectively. Entering this season, they had one receiver on the preseason All-American team in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who is still on the mend from a Week 1 hamstring injury. Last week, when the midseason awards were announced, there were a pair of OSU wideouts on most lists, Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr. Those honors were announced leading up to a game at Iowa when those two and teammates Julian Fleming and Mitch Rossi each hauled in a TD catch against the Hawkeyes.
“Now, I’m not gonna sit here and lie and say that [Hartline] is not a goof,” Egbuka continues. “He’ll cut up in the receiver room just as much as we do. But when it’s time to handle business and lock in, he’s one that’s really good at doing that. He’s a perfectionist like us. He recruits thinking about the room, where would this guy fit in? Would he fit in? And can that guy be a part of our discussions? You caught the ball, but this could have been better. Let’s all make each other better. That starts with Coach Hart.”
“I am a believer in coaching who you have in the room instead of trying to make everyone in the room do the same thing and run the same route and just do what we tell them to do,” Hartline said at the end of September. “That’s how I wanted to be coached. That’s how the guys I played with wanted to be coached. As individuals who believe in what they can do and they want to share that not because they’ll post big numbers, but because they know that it will contribute to the team. When you can make that work, that’s the best kind of football right there.”
It’s also what started the process of transitioning the Ohio State receiving corps from very good to very great in a very short period time. A spark unexpectedly lit by the same internal fire that once seemed like it might have the potential to burn down the building. Instead, that building is now full of pass-catching potential.
No, you won’t find a lot of wide receiving awards or plaques hanging on the walls of the Woody Hayes Center among all the Heisman and Rose Bowl trophies. Not yet anyway. But if you’re in that lobby, turn to the left and take a look at that other wall, the one covered in the framed jerseys of the Ohio State alums currently playing in the NFL. When the 2022 season kicked off, there were 65 Buckeyes on active NFL rosters. Ten of them were wideouts.
Tuesday afternoon, Marvin Harrison Jr. moved through that lobby, headphones on, and without realizing he was being watched, turned to look at those jerseys and gave them a little point as if to say, “See y’all soon, but first I got to go to work.”
Ohio State as Wide Receiver U? If not yet, it sure feels like it’s coming.
