It’s almost game day. And there are more and more official Buckeyes. Ryan Day and the Ohio State football team continue their work towards this Saturday when the Buckeyes’ host Nebraska in the 2020 season opener. The Buckeyes have been practicing and as practices continue more black stripes are being removed. Today there are two more of those black stripes that have come off.
Freshman linebacker Cody Simon from Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter’s Prep is one of the latest two Buckeyes to lose their black stripe. Ohio State football posted the news on Twitter this evening.
?? Black Stripe Alert ??
About to be a monster for #H2 for a long time! Congrats @Cody_Simon30!#GoBuckeyes pic.twitter.com/boXlWKaMQd
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) October 20, 2020
Simon, from Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter’s Prep, became commitment No. 14 in Day’s 2020 recruiting class on June 29, 2020. Simon picked Ohio State over scholarship offers from Penn State, Nebraska and many others.
The 6-foot-1 and 218-pound Simon was a 4-star prospect in the final 247Sports Composite. He is the country’s No. 75 overall 2020 prospect, the No. 4 inside linebacker, and the No. 1 prospect in New Jersey.
Ohio State assistant coaches Al Washington and Jeff Hafley (at the time) recruited Simon and now Washington is his position coach.
Simon was part of an outstanding 2020 recruiting class signed by Day and Director of Player Personnel Mark Pantoni. It was a class that was ranked No. 5 in the country in the 247Sports Composite team recruiting rankings. Simon was the sixth highest ranked prospect in that class.
Also losing his black stripe today was tight end Corey Rau. Rau is a walk-on graduate transfer from SMU who is originally from Katy, Texas.
?? Black Stripe Alert ??
Transferred in and fit right in! Thanks for all you do for the Buckeyes, Corey!#GoBuckeyes pic.twitter.com/6N41vuSQr4
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) October 20, 2020
The 6-foot-4 and 260-pound was a member of the 2018 AAC All-Academic Team and earned his undergraduate degree in sport management at SMU.
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To be a member of the Ohio State football team is special. Players don’t just become Buckeyes. They have to earn that right. Former head coach Urban Meyer and now Ryan Day have a creative way of forcing players to prove they merit the right to officially be called Ohio State Buckeyes with the black stripe tradition. Meyer brought this to the program when he arrived in 2012. Any new player has a black stripe placed down the center of his helmet until the coaching staff decides he’s earned the right to have it removed.
