Hot 11: Post Oregon (Rose Bowl)

The Buckeyes are still playing and we are still looking at our Hot 11 list.

There is always going to be a bit of a “what have you done for me lately” vibe to this list, no matter how much we insist that this needs to be an overall view of the season to date.

One of our members suggested expanding the list out to a “Hot 25” but that would not really be fair to all of the previous weeks.

But what do we do when so many players had great weeks? What do we do when our voters vote for entire position groups rather than players or just vote for one player 11 times?

We have to get a little bit creative with the scoring system this week and for the first time ever, we put an entire position group (minus the one player who voted above the number of his linemates) on the list.

Is your favorite player not on the list? The only way to vote is to sign up for BuckeyeHuddle (get your first month for just $4.99) and vote on this prestigious list.

The Buckeyes have a short turnaround for the Texas game, so we are having to accelerate our schedule a little bit, so he is a late night edition of the Hot 11, post Rose Bowl edition.

Rank	Player	The Info	Last
1.	Jeremiah Smith	The game started off as the Jeremiah Smith show and the Ducks had no answer. Smith had two big touchdowns with seven catches, 187 yards, and the praise of the college football world. Smith is a freshman no longer, if he ever really was.	1st
T2.	Will Howard	This may not have been Howard’s most accurate game, but he played a hell of a game regardless. He threw for 319 yards, much of it in the first half and three scores. Those numbers could have been much higher if the Buckeyes really needed to press the issue. His leadership is not talked about enough, but really should be.	3rd
T2.	Cody Simon	11 tackles, three for loss, two sacks and a pass break up. Simon had a tremendous game and yet there will be that random fan complaining that he couldn’t secure an interception that hit his hands. It is hard to believe that Simon had to wait so long to get his turn.	9th
4.	Jack Sawyer	This is the Jack Sawyer that everyone, Jack Sawyer included, wanted to see. A pair of sacks, three pass break ups, Sawyer was all over the field and just a downright nuisance for the Oregon offense. The best news for Buckeyes fans is that this is not something new, Sawyer has really turned it on and there is no reason not to expect it moving forward.	T4th
5.	Caleb Downs	Sometimes the impact of Downs is not seen in the stat book. There is not a column for clutch tackles and drive ending plays, but if there were, Downs would be all over those categories. He still had three PBUs in the game and really has proven to be an eraser out there with his play.	6th
6.	TreVeyon Henderson	Sure, 66 of Henderson’s 94 yards in the game on the ground came on one play, but what a play it was as he really torched the hopes of the Ducks with one massive run. But Henderson totaled over more than 100 total yards with his pass catching and really is playing the best ball of the year, all in the postseason. Remember that he has been dinged up to just plain out in postseasons before, so this is a great development.	T7th
7.	Tyleik Williams	Defensive tackles often are overlooked by their overhyped teammates just outside of them at the end position but you know when 91 is on the field. He had a big TFL and just really makes opponents think twice about things with his ability to snuff out big plays. Oregon had negative rushing yards, need I say more?	11th
8.	Lathan Ransom	Is there a bigger hitter on the team than Ransom? Cody Simon may say that he is, but Ransom makes hits that you know who delivered the blow before it ever happens. He had a sack of his own as the Buckeyes went nuts with the pressure as the Ducks were unable to run the ball.	T7th
9.	Donovan Jackson	Jackson really could have messed up his NFL path by moving out to tackle, already an All-American level guard, he went to a position that he had not played in college and while there was a hot moment that you could tell he was relearning what it was to play in space, he has now emerged as a tremendous tackle. Our voters agree.	2nd
10.	JT Tuimoloau	JT Tuimoloau was not going to let Jack Sawyer get all of the accolades this week, as he had three TFLs, two sacks and was just a downright nuisance. There were plenty of times where Oregon had to hold on and keep JT from making a big play. The Ducks were running for their lives and despite their 21 points, the game was not nearly that close.	10th
11.	The Rest of the OL	We had several people vote for the entire defensive line and offensive line and while we normally don’t accept those votes, I made an exception this time around. The DL was largely represented on their own (apologies to Ty Hamilton and others) but we wanted to give the love to the OL that kept Howard upright and allowed Ohio State to run for 181 yards in a dominating win.	NR