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Ohio State Football: Buckeyes lose out on two recruits

By Frank Teriaca

COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND - NOVEMBER 19: A view of the achievement stickers on the helmets of Ohio State Buckeyes players during the game against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium on November 19, 2022 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND - NOVEMBER 19: A view of the achievement stickers on the helmets of Ohio State Buckeyes players during the game against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium on November 19, 2022 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) /
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The Ohio State football team lost out on two recruits over the past few days. Hopefully, the month of July will wind up being good to the Buckeyes.

The Ohio State football program received awesome news when five-star defensive tackle Justin Scott surprised a lot of people by verbally committing to the Buckeyes. But while winning that battle for Scott, Ohio State lost out on two other battles in recent days.

First amongst them is Marquise Lightfoot, a four-star, top-70 national recruit whom defensive line coach Larry Johnson wanted to add to his defensive end rotation. Lightfoot verbally committed to Miami on Monday, so at least the Buckeyes didn’t lose the Chicago area native to a fellow Midwest school like Michigan or Penn State.

Some believe that Miami stepped up its NIL package in recent days to Lightfoot after Justin Scott picked Ohio State over Miami and Michigan. Who knows if that’s true, but Larry Johnson certainly wanted this kid to be a Buckeye. Now Johnson will focus on five-star defensive ends Dylan Stewart and Eddrick Houston, both believed to be Ohio State leans at the moment.

The Buckeyes also missed out on four-star receiver Elijah Moore, as the Maryland native picked Florida State over the Buckeyes and Maryland. Offensive coordinator and receivers coach Brian Hartline offered Moore back in December and thought about the prospect ranked in the 400s nationally as a bit of a project. Moore has a huge frame standing at 6-4 and weighs 200 pounds.

Moore picked Florida State, presumably because he would see the field quicker in Tallahassee. Hartline is still in contention for another four-star receiver, Jeremiah McClellan. The St. Louis native is crystal-ball projected to Ohio State by 247 Sports. He would give Hartline a three-wideout class with five-star commits Jeremiah Smith and Mylan Graham.

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So, while the Buckeyes currently have the No. 2 class in the nation and received great news last week when Just Scott gave his verbal, not everything went according to plan for Ohio State. Hopefully, the Buckeyes can keep up the recruiting momentum it built in June with some July commitments.

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