At Big Ten Football Media Days in Las Vegas on July 22, Ohio State will be represented by senior linebacker Sonny Styles, junior safety Caleb Downs and sophomore wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.
Media days will take place from July 22-24, but the Buckeyes will be there on day one of the event to preview the upcoming season in which they will be defending their national championship.
Styles is going into his fourth year with Ohio State with 39 games under his belt and 162 tackles. It will be his second year playing as a linebacker after making the switch from safety, where he was for two seasons in Columbus. He’s coming off a season in which he had 100 tackles (11 for loss), six sacks, five passes broken up and a forced fumble.
Downs enters his second year with the Buckeyes after transferring from Alabama, where he was a freshman All-American with 107 tackles and two interceptions. In his first season at Ohio State, he was a unanimous All-American with 82 tackles (eight for loss), two interceptions and six passes broken up.
Smith is coming off of the best freshman wide receiver season a Buckeye has ever had. He smashed the records set by Cris Carter with his 76 catches, 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns through the air while also running for another score. He immediately broke onto the scene as the No. 1 target for Will Howard, and should be that again this year for either Julian Sayin or Lincoln Kienholz.
Downs, Smith and Styles are three of just six returning full-time starters who made major contributions to the championship team throughout all of last season.
The three of Downs, Smith and Styles, along with head coach Ryan Day, will be joined on day one at the Mandalay Bay Resort by Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska and Rutgers.
Ohio State’s season is set to begin on Saturday, Aug. 30, in a playoff rematch against Texas at noon that will be broadcast on Fox.
