Scarlet Sunrise: Minnesota will have full-capacity crowd for Buckeyes opener

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Minnesota will have full-capacity crowd for Buckeyes opener

Ohio State didn’t play any regular season games last year with fans in attendance.

But it appears the Buckeyes will play in front of full stadiums and massive crowds this season. They’ll play for a packed TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sept. 2 in the season opener. The Gophers athletic department announced Tuesday morning it’ll welcome fans back to its football stadium this fall, clearing the way for the season-opening game to have full stands.

Tailgating and other festivities will also be welcomed back for the season-opening Ohio State game against Minnesota.

Ohio State wasn’t able to play in front of crowds last football season due to the pandemic. That’ll change this fall, as crowds will be welcomed into stadiums once again.

Buckeyes land 2022 four-star running back

Dallan Hayden is the man Ohio State wanted in its 2022 running backs class. He’s been a priority for months. And the Buckeyes got their wish on Tuesday afternoon, as the four-star Christian Brothers (Memphis) product committed to Tony Alford and Ohio State.

It had been a heated battle between Ohio State and Notre Dame to land Hayden, especially after a positive official visit to South Bend two weeks ago. The trip with the Irish forced some recalibration in his recruitment. But the Buckeyes made an even stronger impression on Hayden last weekend, and they now get a special talent in the fold at running back.

Ohio State is probably done at running back in this cycle, provided there’s no unexpected attrition at the position before signing day.

Ohio State increased its lead in the pole position and firmly holds the No. 1 ranking in the 2022 class with 257.67 total points and an average player rating of 94.28. That is actually a slight drop than the Buckeyes had previously in the per-player average, but their 14-man class remains ranked No. 2 in that category behind Alabama (95.05 with seven commitments).

New Tim May Podcast

Ohio State is always working The Tim May Podcast had an action-packed episode this week.

Tim welcomes on Lettermen Row senior writer Austin Wardsto chat about Monday’s Supreme Court decision. The Supreme Court decided unanimously that the NCAA can’t enforce rules limiting education-related benefits — like computers and paid internships — that colleges offer to student athletes.

This doesn’t impact Name, Image and Likeness legislation, but it allows schools to schools to offer athletes benefits such as tutoring and study-abroad programs. Current NCAA rules state students cannot be paid, and scholarship money isn’t allowed for anything else outside of the cost of attending school.

Lettermen Row staff writer Spencer Holbrook also hopped on the podcast to break down J.T. Tuimoloau’s Ohio State visit with Tim. The No. 3 prospect in the class of 2021, Tuimoloau took his official visit to Columbus last weekend. He has trips to Oregon and Alabama scheduled this week, and then he’s expected to announce his commitment shortly after. It would be a huge pickup for an Ohio State defensive line which is set to lose up to nine players to graduation and the NFL Draft after the coming season.

Both conversations makes this episode of the Tim May Podcast a must-listen for any Ohio State or college football fan.

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