Ohio State is now 11-0 after winning its final home game of the season. The Buckeyes played host to Rutgers Saturday, and despite missing both Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, came away with a 42-9 victory.
With the Scarlet Knights now in the past, it is now time for rivalry week, hate week, the week.
Ohio State won the national championship last year, being the first team to win in the newly-expanded College Football Playoffs. This year’s team may be even better, but there is certainly a monkey on its back: Michigan.
Normally in this space, I talk about how despite preparing for the upcoming game, Ryan Day and the coaching staff still have their eyes on recruiting, because they know they have to if they want the best recruiting class possible.
However, the Buckeyes haven’t beaten their rivals since 2019 and this year the game is up north. If there was ever a game, or ever the year, this is the one where Ryan Day should be placing all of his focus on the upcoming game.
That doesn’t mean Ohio State won’t continue to make the recruiting headlines this week. Everyone will be talking about the game in the days leading up to it, and all eyes will be watching come noon Saturday, including those of recruits.
Ohio State has been working on this recruiting class for a long time, and the coaching staff has seemingly increased its efforts recently, flipping numerous recruits committed elsewhere. The hard work will continue to payoff this week as well, including Monday when Ohio State made the cut for a blue-chip defensive recruit in the 2027 class.
Four-star safety Isala Aisa Wily-Ava (Bellflower, CA / St. John Bosco) released his top eight schools on Monday and Ohio State made the cut alongside Michigan, Washington, Texas A&M, Oregon, Texas, Tennessee and Hawaii.
Of his eight finalists, Wily-Ava has already visited with five schools: Ohio State, Washington, Oregon, Texas and Hawaii. He took an unofficial visit to Ohio State Aug. 30 for its home-opener against Texas. Ohio State has remained in constant contact with him and certainly like where it sits in his recruitment.
Wily-Ava is scheduled to visit with Michigan this week, which to his credit will be focused on Michigan. However, if Ohio State shows up this year and wins the game, it would be impossible to not note it would leave a small impact at least.
Wily-Ava will likely wait until next season to make a decision. Because of this spring and summer visits next year will be crucial in his recruitment. Expect Ohio State to continue recruiting him and try and get him on campus again next year.
Wily-Ava is the No. 24 safety in the 247Sports Composite and he is the No. 232 national recruit. He is also the No. 24 recruit out of the talent-rich state of California.
Ohio State makes cut for 2027 four-star DL
The aforementioned Wily-Ava was not the only recruit Ohio State recently made the cut with. The Buckeyes also were named a top school by Karlos May (Birmingham, AL / Ramsay) who cut his recruitment down to 12 schools over the weekend.
May holds more than 24 official scholarship offers and was able to cut his list down by more than half and Ohio State made the cut. The Buckeyes are far from alone as Auburn, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, South Carolina, Florida State, Oregon, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Missouri and Oklahoma all also made his top schools list.
It should also be noted the pedigree of the programs named alongside Ohio State as the Buckeyes certainly have their work cut out for them in his recruitment.
Ohio State offer May back in September and the leader in his recruitment is Larry Johnson. While Johnson and May have seemingly already established a strong relationship, it will be a tough task to pull May out of SEC country.
Expect Ohio State to continue making May a priority target in the 2027 class, as the Buckeyes have yet to earn a commitment on the defensive front in next year’s cycle. May is the No. 24 DL recruit in the 247Sports Composite and he is the No. 200 national prospect. He is also the No. 6 recruit out of Alabama.
Quick Hits
It wasn’t all good news for Ohio State this weekend, as the Buckeyes lost a member of its 2026 class. Three-star defensive lineman Cameron Brickle (Bradenton, FL / IMG Academy) decided to flip his commitment to Maryland.
Ohio State has been on the more positive side of commitment flips late in the 2026 cycle, and Brickle was the first to spurn the Buckeyes in favor of another school.
Brickle committed to Ohio State on June 28 of this year. Despite this, Maryland continued to recruit him and make him a priority target. Brickle had visited with Maryland for its spring game prior to joining the Buckeyes, and then made a return visit this past weekend when it played host to Michigan. The visit went as well as possible, and on Sunday May announced he had flipped his commitment to the Terrapins.
Ohio State now holds 27 commitments in the 2026 recruiting cycle and sits at No. 6 in the 247Sports Class Rankings. Brickle is the No. 65 DL in the 247Sports Composite and he is the No. 572 national recruit.
