Ohio State’s dominant Rose Bowl showing not only keeps its goals alive, but helps in recruiting too

The Buckeyes showed out in front of millions watching in person and on television, proving how powerful their brand really is.

Rose Bowl champions has an incredible ring to it, and while the job is only half way finished, you cannot say enough about how stellar Wednesday’s game against Oregon was — and the previous game against Tennessee too, for that matter.

An Ohio State team that is clicking in all three phases of the game and seemingly peaking at the right time, Ryan Day and this coaching staff have to be praised for the work they are doing to prepare a team that is hitting their stride at the perfect point of the season. A credit to the players as well, of course, they are responding in a way that this fanbase dreamt of seeing, but I’m not sure anyone could have predicted or expected the team to look this good.

Either way, Texas is now on the clock, and there’s not a single team right now that has to be wanting to see this Ohio State squad if the current trends continue.

The most exciting piece to winning the Rose Bowl is being able to play on and keep their ultimate goals of a national title alive, but there’s another area that has to be mentioned as well because of the importance it has on the overall state of the program: Recruiting.

When a team looks as good as the Buckeyes have and are playing once again on the national stage, commanding all of the attention as they tend to do, recruiting has to come to mind. Not only with the top prep targets this staff is after, but the transfer portal targets as well, the Buckeyes are showing why Columbus can be the best place to spend your college career.

All eyes on Ohio State

It’s no secret the power of Ohio State’s football brand. The Buckeyes are routinely atop of the college football landscape when it comes to viewership for their games. Certainly the opponent matters in many cases for sure, but it’s no secret as to why FOX continued slating the Buckeyes in their Big Noon Kickoff, and why many times Ohio State is the premier televised game of the day.

This program is always being watched, and whether it be by their massive fanbase or even their haters, all eyes are on Ohio State more times than not. Last night was no different, and you better believe top high school prospects from around the country saw what the Buckeyes did to Oregon and had to come away rather impressed.

A tip of the cap to Oregon, they had some sort of momentum streak going for them through signing day with how much NIL money they have backing their program. While that won’t change thanks to Phil Knight and Nike, beating them on the field is one way to help your cause when many of these recruiting battles are literally going head-to-head with the Ducks.

Dan Lanning is a heck of a recruiter, and honestly a very good football coach, so Oregon isn’t going to go away easy, but last night helped the Buckeyes keep their brand at an all-time high and show they’re not just going to hand over control of the Big Ten to the Ducks.

Seeing the Buckeyes lose five-star corner Na’eem Offord to Oregon on signing day, this win has to make the staff feel great about where they can go from here when it comes to pitching their program in recruiting battles against Oregon. In addition, thinking of in-state safety Trey McNutt and of course Dorian Brew, these are all players Ohio State was seriously in the mix for. Whether it was a “loss” or not, Oregon signed each one of them, showing there’s a real threat in the conference for top targets the Buckeyes want.

Down the road, Ohio State sits in great position for several of their key in-state 2026 targets, but recently even Elbert Hill has taken to his social media to share Oregon related posts. The No. 1 player in Ohio per the 247Sports Composite in the next cycle, seeing Ohio State’s secondary lock down the Oregon passing attack basically all night shows the a player like Hill that he can stay right at home to be developed and can compete at the highest of levels if he chooses Ohio State in the end.

Several more examples could be pointed out, but the point is this: Ohio State winning head-to-head on the field means at least something in recruiting.

The stars showing out in Scarlet & Gray

It’s shocking to believe he has two more collegiate seasons before he’s even draft eligible, but Jeremiah Smith continues to be the best receiver in the country at just 19 years old. The best true freshman I have watched in my lifetime, the performances he and his fellow teammates are putting out show this staff is right where it needs to be developing their players for the highest level of the game. That matters maybe more than anything when it comes to recruiting.

Not just with freshmen either, this team is improving its play, and that’s development at its finest. Seeing the play from guys like Cody Simon is a testament to his position coach, and tonight the old chatter of the Buckeyes not being able to pass rush was put to rest for the second game in a row. If you don’t think that matters to recruiting prep and transfer portal targets, I have some ocean front property in Ohio I would like to sell you.

Not to be forgotten, the offensive line play has to be discussed. A unit that is missing arguably it’s two best players, Justin Frye has had his dudes ready,. Sure, he can take some heat for recruiting misses — and Lord knows I’ve said it myself too — but he deserves recognition for the way his guys are playing right now. To me, that preaches he can develop his guys, and may just be the aspect he needed most to start winning these top national offensive tackle targets.

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Without getting to rambling on much more, this win needs to be celebrated. Hopefully it is just one of two more games this team can win to achieve greatness as national champions.

A national title can do wonders for a football program in any and every aspect. It’s been a while since Ohio State has hoisted that trophy, and they really haven’t suffered much when it comes to recruiting or anything else hindering their goals to be one of the best programs annually.

The Buckeyes have two more games to go, and that’s not lost on me, but if you think about recruiting for just a moment and what these two games are telling recruits, it’s nothing but positive.