Football
September 6, 2019by Tom Orr
Time and change will surely show how many different quarterbacks have passed through the Buckeye program recently in O-Hi-O.
Transfers have been a big topic of conversation recently around the college football world, but there are few programs and positions that have been impacted as much as the quarterback room at Ohio State.
The Buckeyes currently have three scholarship quarterbacks on their roster, and Justin Fields, Gunnar Hoak, and Chris Chugunov all arrived via transfer. Walk-on Jagger LaRoe did as well.
But that’s nothing compared to the number of players who have left the Buckeyes via the Transfer Portal, or who were committed to be Buckeyes at one point, but ended up signing elsewhere.
Some have gone on to big things. Others are still waiting for their chance to make a big impact at the college level.
Here’s a look at how six former Ohio State quarterbacks are doing this fall.
Joe Burrow
By far the highest-profile success story is Joe Burrow, who decided to graduate transfer to LSU during the summer of 2018.
Burrow threw for 2,894 yards, 16 touchdowns and just 5 interceptions while leading the Tigers to a Fiesta Bowl championship in 2018.
He started off even hotter than that last weekend, going 23-for-27 for 278 yards and 5 touchdowns in a blowout win over Georgia Southern.
Burrow also holds the distinction of being the player for whom his former teammates in Columbus seem to be rooting the hardest.
This week, OSU head coach Ryan Day was asked about Burrow’s success on the Bayou.
“I could talk about him for an hour. What a special young man,” Day said.
“I couldn’t be prouder of what he’s done down there. Not just playing, but going into a situation at a big-time SEC school in a tough environment and being the leader. I talked to Coach (Ed) Orgeron during the NFL Draft and he said he literally took over that team and he turned that whole program around. They were going in one direction – he told me that – and then all of sudden Joe Burrow showed up and it changed.”
Matthew Baldwin
Baldwin was also in the news this week for a positive reason.
The NCAA finally granted Baldwin’s waiver, allowing him to play this season for TCU.
Horned Frogs coach Gary Patterson announced that news following TCU’s opening week win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
True freshman Max Duggan and Kansas State transfer Alex Delton split time during that Week 1 game, with Duggan looking more impressive than Delton.
Baldwin isn’t quite ready to play yet. The Star-Telegram reported that he was still recovering from “cleanup surgery on his knee this summer.”
“He can’t run yet,” Patterson said on the Big 12 conference call this week. “Right now, he’s just getting healthy.”
Tate Martell
Martell transferred to Miami this spring, but lost the quarterback battle to Jarren Williams during fall camp.
Instead of settling for the backup job, Martell offered to move to wide receiver. He played there sparingly during the Hurricanes’ 24-20 loss to Florida during Week 0, and did not record a catch.
The Hurricanes play at North Carolina this weekend.
Kory Curtis
The former walk-on transferred to FCS Bryant following the 2018 season, looking for a chance to play.
He opened the season as the backup for the Bulldogs, but saw the field late in their 35-10 loss to Stony Brook to open the season.
Curtis went 3-for-4 for 69 yards and an interception during that game.
Dwan Mathis
Mathis flipped his commitment from Ohio State to Georgia on Early Signing Day in December 2018, after word began to leak that Fields might be headed from UGA to OSU.
That made the path to early playing time tougher in Columbus, but opened up an opportunity in Athens, which Mathis took.
He got a major health scare this spring when doctors had to perform surgery to remove a cyst from his brain.
Mathis was back at practice this summer, but hadn’t been fully cleared to play at the start of fall camp and didn’t play in the Bulldogs’ season-opening win over Vanderbilt.
Emory Jones
The year before Mathis, it was Jones who officially flipped his commitment on Early Signing Day. By that point, the Buckeyes had moved on, signing Baldwin instead.
Jones ended up at Florida.
He saw limited action in four games as a backup and change-of-pace quarterback behind Feleipe Franks in 2018, completing 12-of-16 passes for 125 yards and 2 touchdowns.
He is a redshirt freshman this fall and didn’t play in the Gators’ Week 0 win over Miami.
Danny Clark
Clark committed to the Buckeyes when he was just a high school freshman. But when the OSU coaching staff decided years later that he wasn’t a great fit, he was gently encouraged to reconsider his options.
Clark ended up going to Kentucky instead.
He spent two seasons with the Wildcats, playing in just two games.
Clark transferred to Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Mississippi this year. He went 15-for-27 for 198 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception in the Wolves’ season-opening win over Holmes Community College.
They won again Thursday night, as Clark hit a 55-yard touchdown pass in a 14-7 victory over Northeast.
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