Every year at Ohio State, some hotshot freshman running back rolls in with dreams of Buckeye greatness. Sometimes those dreams come true immediately, other times it can take a year or three, and yet other times the dreams never find reality.
Last season, J.K. Dobbins came in simply wanting to contribute in any way that he could. In his first collegiate game, he carried the ball 29 times for 181 yards against the Indiana Hoosiers. He finished the season with a team-high 1,403 yards rushing, which was the most ever for an Ohio State freshman.
The Buckeyes enter spring camp this year with two proven running backs in Dobbins and Mike Weber, but as Dobbins showed a year ago, if a freshman is good enough to play, he’ll play.
This year, Ohio State adds a pair of talented freshman tailbacks in Master Teague and Brian Snead. Teague is already on campus, having taken part in winter conditioning and now spring ball.
Seeing what Dobbins was able to accomplish last season has motivated Teague.
“I guess you could say that,” Teague said. “Ultimately, I have self-motivation. Every day I just know I need to work hard. I know it’s not always going to be easy, but I just want to come here and do my best, be the best I can be, and everything else will take care of itself.”
With two running backs on the roster who starred early in their respective careers, Teague has experienced ears to bend. Like Teague, Dobbins enrolled early and it helped him be ready when Weber went down with a hamstring injury. Now Dobbins is trying to help Teague prepare for both the expected and the unexpected.
“Really, he just told me that this time of year is a little bit easier,” Teague said prior to the beginning of spring camp. “But you start getting toward practice and the season it gets harder because you start spending more time here watching film and walk-throughs and practice and everything.
“He has been telling me that every day you are going to be evaluated, so be the best you can be. Sometimes you don’t feel like doing it, but you have to bring the energy somehow. It’s an elite program so you have to be elite every day. At other programs, there is another person working hard, harder or just as hard as you.”
With Teague absorbing lessons like he’s cramming for his first final, he will also be able to impart some knowledge to Snead when he arrives in the summer. While it make take some time for both of them to get the opportunities they are looking for, Teague has very high expectations for the possibilities down the road.
“It’s going to be real dangerous if we stay disciplined, we stay together, help each other through everything, clear up any struggles, just perfecting our craft and just getting better every day and not letting a day go by without doing our best,” he said. “I think it’s going to be great. I’m looking forward to it.”
The waiting, as they say, is the hardest part. If you’re good enough, however, you don’t have to wait. Teague knows it isn’t going to be easy to see the field, but he already knew that well before he enrolled.
“I am not scared of competition,” he said. “Hopefully I can take some things from the older guys and better myself. Every day perfect my craft and get better to be the best person, player I can be. Hopefully I can contribute down the road.”
Whether that contribution happens sooner or later, Teague is confident that he will bring something positive to the Buckeyes each and every day.
“I am going to bring a lot of things,” he said. “Every day I am going to work hard. I’m going to bring breakaway speed, power. I am just looking forward to competing and getting better this coming season and spring as well.”