Ohio State Football: A look back at Justin Fields’ career

Ohio State QB Justin Fields has officially declared for the 2021 NFL Draft, as expected. Fields played in just one full season at Ohio State and an abbreviated 2020 season. Despite the short stay in Columbus, Fields will be remembered as an Ohio State legend. 

January 4, 2019 is a day that changed Ohio State football history. While it was a chilly and cloudy day in Columbus, it was anything but cloudy within the Ohio State football program.

Justin Fields had announced his decision to transfer from the University of Georgia to The Ohio State University, in hopes of seeking immediate playing time for the Buckeyes. Fields played one season at Georgia, and playing time was a rarity as incumbent QB Jake Fromm was leading the Bulldogs.

Ohio State was coming off of a 13-1 season, and a Rose Bowl victory. Head Coach Urban Meyer had already announced his retirement, and star QB Dwayne Haskins was coming off one of the best passing seasons in college football history.

On January 5, Fields was already on campus and was sitting courtside at the Buckeyes’ basketball game with Urban Meyer and Dwayne Haskins. While not yet announced, Haskins was undoubtedly heading to the NFL, leaving the starting QB job up-for-grabs. Fields would have to beat out former-four star Tate Martell for the job.

Martell, now-infamously, tweeted a message for Fields prior to his transfer to OSU, saying “Word of advice: don’t swing and miss…especially not your second time.” Fields did not strike out, and Martell would walk. Just ten days after Fields’ transfer was finalized, Tate Martell transferred to the University of Miami.

Fields was seeking a waiver to gain immediate eligibility, rather than having to sit out a year per standard NCAA protocols. Tom Mars was hired as Fields’ lawyer, the same lawyer that helped Michigan QB Shea Patterson gain immediate eligibility after transferring from Ole Miss. Mars was able to provide enough evidence to the NCAA that Fields’ transfer was in the best interest of his safety and overall wellbeing. Fields was eligible for the 2019 season and was the Buckeyes QB1.

It would take no more than a quarter for Justin to show Buckeye Nation why he was the #2 prospect coming out of high school. He welcomed himself to Columbus with a 51-yard touchdown run and added three passing touchdowns in the first quarter of Ohio State’s rout of Florida Atlantic.

2019 was a spectacular season for Fields, as he would go on to throw for 3,273 yards, 41 touchdowns, just three interceptions, and rushed for 484 yards and 10 touchdowns. Fields finished third in Heisman voting in 2019 and led the Buckeyes to a perfect regular season under first-year Head Coach Ryan Day. The Buckeyes would go on to beat Wisconsin in comeback-fashion in the Big Ten Championship Game and were selected as the #2 seed in the College Football Playoff.

The Buckeyes would go to Arizona to play in the Fiesta Bowl and would go up against the Clemson Tigers, led by QB Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence and Fields grew up just 20 miles apart and were the top two players in the class of 2018.

Despite the proximity of their high schools, this was the first time the two had played each other. It was Lawrence and the Tigers who walked away victorious, and Fields had all offseason to reminisce on his end-zone interception in the final moments of the Fiesta Bowl.

Then 2020 happened. The COVID-19 pandemic caused worldwide shutdowns and uncertainty. On August 11, the Big Ten announced their decision to cancel the 2020 football season, with hopes of playing in the spring of 2021.

Fields wanted to come back to Ohio State, in hopes of winning a Heisman and a National Championship, but now his chance to play another snap for the Buckeyes was vanishing right in front of his eyes.

Parents of Big Ten football players protested outside of Big Ten Headquarters in Chicago, and Fields started a petition in hopes of reversing the Big Ten’s decision to cancel the season. Fields’ petition received over 300,000 online signatures.

Other conferences were still planning on playing some sort of fall season, and on September 16, the Big Ten announced the reinstatement of the 2020 season, with a targeted start date of October 23 and 24. The season was back on for Justin Fields and the Buckeyes.

Ohio State would play just five regular-season games, out of the eight originally scheduled. Ohio State would go a perfect 5-0 and would have a chance at their fourth consecutive Big Ten title. The Buckeyes would face-off against Pat Fitzgerald’s Northwestern Wildcats.

Fields struggled in this game and did not throw a touchdown pass for the first time as a starter. Thanks to a record-breaking rushing performance by RB Trey Sermon, the Buckeyes were victorious, 22-10.

The Buckeyes were selected as the #3 seed in the College Football Playoff and would have a re-match in the Sugar Bowl against Clemson. Fields’ ability to beat Clemson was in question after his struggle against Northwestern, but he silenced the doubters and cemented his spot as an early first round draft pick after completing 22 of 28 passed for a career-high 385 yards, and tied an Ohio State single-game record with six touchdowns. The Buckeyes got their revenge and stomped Clemson, 49-28.

Ohio State would advance to the National Championship Game against the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide. The 2020 Tide are arguably the best team Nick Saban has ever had, led by Heisman winning WR DeVonta Smith and Heisman finalist QB Mac Jones. It was the Tide who rolled Ohio State, 52-24.

Despite not winning the national title, Justin Fields still led his team to a Big Ten title, a Sugar Bowl win, and a National Championship appearance, all in a season that seemed unlikely to happen.

Justin Fields finished his Ohio State career with the second-most passing touchdowns in school history with 63, the second-most single-season touchdown passes with 41 in 2019 and tied the single-game touchdown passing record with six. Fields’ 3,273 passing yards in 2019 was also the third-best passing season in school history.

Justin would have undoubtedly climbed his way up the all-time leaderboards in nearly every statistical category had there been more games in 2020. Fields truly made the most of his 22 games as an Ohio State Buckeye, and he will forever be an Ohio State football legend.