The Ohio State football team has been one of the best teams all season long. Unfortunately for them, they are coming off a loss to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game. Still, they are one of the favorites to win the national title, which would give them back-to-back championships.
The Buckeyes have plenty of talent on the team, led by Caleb Downs, Jeremiah Smith, and Julian Sayin. Downs won the Jim Thorpe Award for the best defensive back in the country. Sayin fell just short of winning the Heisman Trophy. Yet the Ohio State Buckeyes did accomplish something great.
Everyone has known all season that the Buckeyes are perhaps the most purely talented team in the country. The voters for the All-American teams certainly agreed. In fact, Ohio State tied a program record for the most first-team All-Americans in a single season, tying the 1974 team.
The Ohio State football team ties the program record for most first-team All-Americans
Downs and Smith came into the country as the best defensive and offensive players in the country. Both earned first-team All-American honors. The only other offensive player to earn that honor was center Carson Hinzman, who was voted first-team by the AFCA.
On defense, Kayden McDonald and Caden Curry joined Downs. McDonald is projected to be a first-round pick in next year's NFL Draft. Curry was dominant in the last few games of the season, and he will continue to be a menace in the College Football Playoff.
Linebacker Sonny Styles was also voted as a first-team All-American, and he is also projected to be a borderline first-round pick in the NFL Draft. Arvell Reese is the final player on the roster to get first-team All-American status. Reese might be the first overall pick in the draft.
All of these players will be immortalized as legends on campus by getting trees planted in Buckeye Grove. They all deserve it for the seasons that they've had.