Over the last couple of days, parents of Ohio State players have been taking to Twitter to congratulate their sons for being named starters. One of the few position battles still raging has been at right guard, and Saturday afternoon, Branden Bowen’s mother Natalie tweeted the news that that competition was now over.
Proud Mom! Just received the call that Branden will be starting as the right guard for The Ohio State!! So proud of your hard word! #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/r2ojNV5oR6
— Natalie Bowen (@NatalieOSUmom) August 26, 2017
Bowen is a redshirt sophomore from Draper, Utah. As a redshirt freshman last season he was the team’s No. 3 offensive tackle and played in every game. Bowen has been the most consistent of OSU’s reserve offensive linemen over the last year, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when offensive line coach Greg Studrawa gave him a look at the open right guard spot in fall camp.
Bowen impressed throughout and only got better as he grew more comfortable with the position.
“I’ve been on him, but I can’t say enough about what he’s done so far,” Studrawa said three weeks ago. “He’s been really good.”
Ohio State began camp with seven possibilities at right guard. That was then quickly whittled down to four players, and then three between Bowen, Matt Burrell, and Malcolm Pridgeon. Bowen’s experience and talent won out, however.
Bowen will give the Buckeyes two 6-foot-7 guards, as he joins sophomore Michael Jordan on Billy Price’s respective flanks.
Other starting positions that have been tweeted out by happy parents include Austin Mack at the X receiver and Damon Arnette at the corner opposite Denzel Ward. Expect Mack to share the spot with Binjimen Victor, as Zach Smith believes he has two starters at each of the three receiver positions.
Arnette is also expected to be part of a rotation this year, provided redshirt sophomore Kendall Sheffield or a true freshman can prove worthy of a spot.