Ohio State is now 9-0 following another dominant performance on the field Saturday. The Buckeyes went into West Lafayette and left with a 34-10 victory. Ohio State will now prepare to host UCLA in what
will likely be the last night game of the regular season in Ohio Stadium.
The Buckeyes have been racking up wins off the field as well, especially when it comes to flipping recruits committed elsewhere in the 2026 recruiting class. Last week, Ohio State flipped four-star defensive back Jay Timmons from Florida State, and then following the Purdue victory, the Buckeyes then flipped four-star defensive lineman Emanuel Ruffin from Colorado — and they weren’t finished.
Ohio State kicked off the week by flipping yet another blue-chip 2026 prospect when four-star athlete Legend Bey (Forney, TX / North Forney) flipped his commitment from Tennessee to join the Buckeyes. Bey is the No. 24 ATH and the No. 361 national recruit per the 247Sports Composite.
Bey is not a new name for Ohio State recruiting, as the Buckeyes offered him back in January of this year and his relationship with the Buckeyes goes back even longer than that. Additionally, Bey’s recruitment with Ohio State has been led by running backs coach Carlos Locklyn, who was recruiting Bey at Oregon before he joined Ohio State’s staff. Despite this, Bey decided to commit to the Vols on June 28.
The Buckeyes never stopped recruiting Bey, and continued to build on the long-standing relationship. Fast-forward to the fall and things started to heat up again between Bey and the Buckeyes. He scheduled an official visit to Columbus for the Penn State game on Nov. 1. Just over a week later, Bey decided to flip his commitment to Ohio State.
Bey is an incredibly unique and gifted athlete and will likely add a factor to Ohio State’s offense that it is missing on this year’s roster of Buckeyes. Bey plays quarterback for his high school team and has thrown for 1,138 yards and 14 touchdowns this season, and he has also rushed for 1,356 yards and a whopping 23 touchdowns.
He was being recruited as a wide receiver at Tennessee, and the Buckeyes have been recruiting him as a running back, which is why Locklyn has been the lead in his recruitment. The common comparison for Bey following his commitment to the Buckeyes has been a Curtis Samuel-esque player, and Ohio State has not rostered an athlete with the potential to play and succeed both at WR and RB as well as being able to draw up plays for him at QB in the wildcat formation.
Bey is now the 25th member of Ohio State’s 2026 recruiting class which now sits at No. 7 in the country following the commitments of Bey and the aforementioned Ruffin. The Buckeyes want to keep adding to this haul, and it may be in the form of another flip.
Quick Hits
Ohio State’s 2026 recruiting class is all but wrapped up, minus some last-minute flip additions, and has been for some time. Because of this, the Ohio State coaching staff has been afforded the opportunity to shift more focus on next year’s class, which already holds five commitments highlighted by the likes of five-star WR Jamier Brown and four-star QB Brady Edmunds.
Ohio State is not finished adding to this, and on Monday they made the cut for two key targets.
2027 four-star offensive tackle Joshua Sam-Epelle (Douglasville, GA / Douglas County) holds more than 30 offers and was able to whittle down his list of suitors to ten, and Ohio State made the cut alongside Miami, South Carolina, Georgia, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia Tech and Ole Miss.
Sam-Epelle is the No. 8 OT and the No. 68 national recruit according to the 247Sports Composite. He is also the No. 7 recruit from the talent-rich state of Georgia.
The Buckeyes were not finished receiving good news Monday as later in the afternoon four-star cornerback Ace Alston (Cincinnati, OH / Anderson) cut down his list of nearly 40 offers to just ten schools. Ohio State made his most recent cut, making his top ten schools alongside Notre Dame, Indiana, Oregon, Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee, Penn State, LSU and USC.
Alston is the No. 11 CB and the No. 113 national recruit according to the 247Sports Composite and he is the No. 2 recruit out of Ohio.
