Akih Injured In Season Opener
High school football has begun in Ohio, and many Ohio State commits are back in action for their final prep seasons before joining the college ranks.
In 2026 running back commit Favour Akih’s first game with Delaware Hayes, Akih went down with an ankle injury on his first carry of the year.
“It was a tough one,” Akih said after the game. “But I’ll be back soon. It’s a high ankle sprain. We had it X-rayed. Nothing’s broken. I get it re-checked on Monday.”
Last season, Akih ran for 1,600 yards and 19 touchdowns and was set to try to beat those numbers in his senior year, but now he will have to get back to 100 percent before he gets going in. But it does seem like the four-star was able to avoid a serious setback.
With five-star running back Savion Hiter committing to Michigan earlier this week, it seems very possible that the Buckeyes will stick with one running back in the 2026 cycle due to the young talent on the roster currently.
Gray Commits To South Carolina
Hiter wasn’t the only five-star recruit the Buckeyes missed out on in the past week. Five-star safety Bralan Womack committed to Auburn, and most recently, offensive lineman Darius Gray pledged his services to South Carolina.
Gray chose the Gamecocks over the Buckeyes, LSU, Tennessee and Clemson. While he did have a good relationship with OSU offensive line coach Tyler Bowen dating back to Bowen’s days at Virginia Tech, that wasn’t enough for the Buckeyes to add to their already solid offensive line class.
They currently have four-star offensive tackles Sam Greer and Maxwell Riley committed as well as three-star offensive tackle Aaron Thomas and three-star interior offensive lineman Tucker Smith. Greer currently ranks No. 69 by 247Sports composite while Riley is No. 142, Thomas No. 505 and Smith No. 702.
Gray would have been the highest ranked lineman in the class for the Buckeyes as the No. 30 player in the class.
Photo courtesy of @FavourAkih on Twitter
