Scarlet Sunrise: Caleb Downs named semifinalist for Bednarik Award

COLUMBUS — Ohio State superstar safety Caleb Downs isn’t putting up the same numbers he did last year at Alabama, when he had 107 total tackles and was a Freshman All American for the Crimson Tide.

But Downs is clearly one of the best defensive players in college football this fall, and his impact reaches far more than just the hard numbers. On Tuesday, Downs was named a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award, which has been given annually to the top defensive player in college football since 1995.

Downs has 40 total tackles, six tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks and three pass breakups for the Buckeyes this season. He’s one of the leaders of the unit.

Ohio State has only had one winner of the Chuck Bednarik Award; defensive end Chase Young won it in 2019. Now Downs is aiming to become the second winner of that prestigious award.

He made the first cut for it on Tuesday.

Buckeyes hold steady in second College Football Playoff rankings

The second set of College Football Playoff rankings are officially out. Ohio State doesn’t need to care about them, because the Buckeyes are in ‘Win and Get In’ mode until they lose another game — if they lose another game.

Ohio State checked in at No. 2 in the second CFP rankings, the same place it was in last week when the initial rankings came out. The Buckeyes collected a signature road win on Nov. 2 over Penn State, which the committee deemed is No. 6 in the country. Ohio State has one loss, that being to the committee’s top-ranked team in Oregon — a loss that came by one point on the road.

Ohio State will be back in action this weekend, playing against Northwestern at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

College Football Playoff rankings (Nov. 12)

1. Oregon
2. Ohio State
3. Texas
4. Penn State
5. Indiana

Ryan Day speaks about Buckeyes run of Noon games

Ohio State is set to play Northwestern at Noon on Saturday. It’s the Buckeyes fourth straight game in the early window of college football Saturday. The final two games of the regular season after this week’s game will also appear in the Noon window.

FOX has received a lot of backlash for the run of Ohio State games, especially on Monday when it was revealed that the Buckeyes’ top-five matchup next week against Indiana will be a Noon game instead of a night game. The Buckeyes previously played two road games against top-five teams, one at Oregon (a 7:30 p.m. kickoff) and at Penn State (Noon on FOX). Ohio State fans wanted a marquee night game at home this season — and aren’t getting one. Fans aren’t happy.

Ohio State coach Ryan Day was asked about the string of Noon games during his weekly press conference on Tuesday, and he had this to say:

“Listen, I’ve got to deal with a lot of fan backlash or other things other than the times of games,” Day said with a smile. “So I am going to leave that for other people to deal with. I’ve got other things I have to deal with. Whenever they tell us to play, we’re going to play. It doesn’t matter where it is.

“It could be at a baseball field, it could be 11 a.m., it could be at night. Whatever it is, we’re going to put the football down and go play. And I’ll worry about the team.”

READ MORE: Ryan Day responds to criticism of six straight Buckeyes Noon games

Counting down

Ohio State at Northwestern: 3 days
Ohio State vs. Indiana: 10 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 17 days

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