Miamisburg High School graduate Josh Myers couldn't have scripted a better start for his first season as a starter. He's also a big reason why the Buckeyes sit at 6-0 entering a road game Friday against Northwestern.
“Josh Myers is playing really good,” offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. “I mean really good, really good.”
Asked on Monday during a press conference at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center what it feels like to earn that kind of praise, Myers said, “It feels amazing. That trust is everything. Trust is why we’re 6-0. Trust is why the offensive line is playing so well right now. We all trust each other.”
» ARCHDEACON: Myers reflects on first start
Myers earned a champion grade in five of the six games and may have missed that honor in the Miami game only because he didn't play enough snaps in a game that was over at halftime.
Myers said he has made significant progress as a player since Week 1 when he made the first start of his career against Florida Atlantic.
“I was confident and comfortable week 1,” Myers said, “but there were still a lot of questions I hadn’t answered for myself yet. I’m just a lot more comfortable now after having experienced the first half of the season. Things happen so fast in the games. One of the hardest things about center and about me as a player is I always wanted to get it so right, which is one of the things I struggled with my redshirt freshman year. I wanted it to be perfect. I think accepting it’s not always going to be perfect and going fast and living with the call I make and what I do has helped me come a long way, especially even in this last month. In a game, it’s not going to be perfect. I’m not going to have time to say what I want to say all the time. I’ve just got to go with it.”
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With Myers at center, Ohio State has averaged 49.3 points per game and scored touchdowns on 24 of 30 red-zone opportunities. J.K. Dobbins is 174 yards away from becoming the first player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons. Fields has thrown 26 touchdown passes, the same number Dwayne Haskins had through six games last season.
Myers, a redshirt sophomore, had to wait until his third season for a chance to start, but it appears the wait was worth it.
“I had a full year, my redshirt freshman year, to develop, and that year was huge for me,” Myers said. “I think as a redshirt freshman, not winning that starting spot, I was upset and angry just because I wanted it so bad but looking back now, I probably wasn’t ready for it.”
Myers won the job last spring and worked to keep it in preseason practices.
“I just approached it like I had something to prove and something to earn every single day, and I did,” Myers said. “That’s how I approached it every single morning. It Was on my mind before practice, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t let it slip.”
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