On Thursday, the fifth and sixth black stripes were removed from Ohio State helmets this year, signifying two more Buckeyes had officially earned their respective way onto the team.
The first was walk-on senior tight end Tate Duarte out of Poland, Ohio.
Duarte walked on in the spring after playing previously at St. Francis and Ohio Dominican.
The second player on the day to have his stripe removed was freshman middle linebacker Teradja Mitchell.
Mitchell, out of Virginia Beach, is the first summer enrollee freshman to have his black stripe removed this fall.
Mitchell was the No. 2 inside linebacker in the 2018 recruiting class and the No. 44 player overall. Urban Meyer talked about his maturity on signing day, and it would appear that Mitchell put that maturity on display even through just six practices so far in fall camp.
Duarte and Mitchell joined freshman defensive tackle Tommy Togiai and freshman linebacker Dallas Gant as the latest players to have their black stripes removed so far this year.
You can see the clips of Mitchell and Duarte below.
⬛️?This guy, @t_duarte10 has been putting in the work to officially become a Buckeye‼️ #GoBucks #WinTheMoment pic.twitter.com/OCeqKKh3cR
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) August 9, 2018
⬛️? “That boy love to hit‼️” Congrats to @7eradja on getting that black stripe off‼️
#GoBucks #WinTheMoment pic.twitter.com/OiT8FpDh5C
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) August 9, 2018
Black Stripe Chart
March 30 – DL Aaron Cox (walk-on)
March 30 – WR De’Shawn White (walk-on)
April 11 – DT Tommy Togiai
August 8 – LB Dallas Gant
August 9 – TE Tate Duarte (walk-on)
August 9 – LB Teradja Mitchell