2018 OSU Penalty Data: Urban Meyer Flagged More Than JK Dobbins and Other Fun Facts

While you were out having fun doing your parties or enjoying a nice book in front of a fire Saturday night, I was going through each Ohio State box score this year and putting a spreadsheet together of every Buckeye penalty committed in 2018.

And before you think this was just some easy exercise, let me tell you — it was not.

There are plenty of box scores that didn’t list the players who were flagged, which meant that I had to go through other box scores at other web sites, and when that didn’t work, I’d go find the game on YouTube and look at the actual play. And when THAT didn’t work, I went through my DVR and had to fast-forward like a yokel until the right spot and find the play.

I also charted the penalties that were not accepted because flags were still thrown.

I said all of that to say that I think all of this data is pretty correct because any time there were question marks, I went searching for the answers. If some of it is incorrect, feel free to let me know so that I can chastise the people who do the box scores. And I said all of that because I know you’re probably not going to believe some of the information that you are about to read.

So who committed the most penalties for the Buckeyes?

We’ll get there, but first let’s talk about who committed the fewest. Four starters — JK Dobbins, Parris Campbell, KJ Hill, and Pete Werner all committed zero penalties, which is one fewer than head coach Urban Meyer committed. Meyer was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when Dwayne Haskins was hit in the head by Michigan linebacker Noah Furbush.

That penalty currently ranks Meyer in a tie for 18th place in most penalty yards on the team.

Who is first?

Get a guess in your mind. I’ll wait.

While right tackle Isaiah Prince committed the most penalties with 13, only nine of those were accepted for a total of 60 yards. Four other Buckeyes had more penalty yards than that, and a fifth — defensive back Shaun Wade — tied him with 60 yards on four pass interference flags.

The most penalty yards lost by one player is 100 by left guard Malcolm Pridgeon. Pridgeon committed 11 penalties this season, though only 10 were accepted. An eleventh penalty (unsportsmanlike conduct) was offset by the same penalty committed by the other team (Indiana) at the same time.

Who has the second most penalty yards? You’d probably never get it with 10 guesses, but it is safety Jordan Fuller with 85. He really swung for the fences on his flags. He was only flagged six times, but five of them went for 15 yards and a sixth — the illegal blocking penalty against Northwestern — went for 10 yards.

Two players — defensive end Chase Young and tight end Rashod Berry — tied for fourth-most yards with 65.

Young committed seven penalties, but two of those weren’t accepted. You may remember them because they came against Oregon State on the same possession. Twice he jumped offside, which allowed a free throw down the sideline, which both times ended up in pass interference penalties for Jeff Okudah.

Young also got the most out of his flags, with a roughing, two unsportsmanlikes, and a facemask.

Berry, you might be surprised to learn, led the team with five holding penalties. Prince had four, but only one was accepted. Pridgeon had four, all of which were accepted. Right guard Demetrius Knox held three times, two of which were accepted. Center Michael Jordan was flagged once for it — it was his only penalty on the season. Left tackle Thayer Munford was flagged for holding once, but it was not accepted. He also had two false starts, which were his only other penalties of 2018.

Where are the cornerbacks, you ask?

Damon Arnette was flagged for five times, all pass interference penalties, for 53 yards. Jeff Okudah was also flagged five times, with three pass interference calls and twice for holding. One of each was declined. Kendall Sheffield was flagged just three times — once for holding, once for pass interference, and once for offsides, which was declined.

Middle linebacker Tuf Borland committed two penalties, both pass interferences, and both were declined because the passes were caught.

Will linebacker Malik Harrison’s only penalty this season was a roughing call against Rutgers. Combined with Pete Werner’s zero penalties, that means Ohio State’s starting linebackers were responsible for 15 penalty yards this season.

What about individual penalty types?

Isaiah Prince was flagged for false start a team-high six times. Pridgeon got tagged for it three times, Munford twice, and Knox once. Redshirt freshman Josh Myers was called for it twice early in the season.

Defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones led the team with six offside penalties. Chase Young had three, but two were declined. Robert Landers had two, and freshman receiver Chris Olave got called for it once on a kick placement.

Ten personal foul penalties were called, with Jordan Fuller and Pridgeon getting nabbed twice. Freshman linebackers K’Vaughan Pope and Teradja Mitchell also got flagged once a piece for handing out some business cards.

Chase Young led the team with two unsportsmanlike penalties. There is still one game left for Urban Meyer to grab the lead back, however.

The Data