There is certainly some irony in the fact that the nastiest guy on Ohio State’s offensive line was also the first to break down in tears after the Buckeyes’ win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game this past Saturday.
Sure, everyone on the Buckeye offensive line was happy, and they have all climbed their own personal mountains to get where they’ve gotten, but a year ago at this time, Jonah Jackson had only ever experienced four Big Ten wins in his four years at Rutgers, and just 11 wins total.
After one season as a Buckeye, however, he is now sitting at 13 wins this season and 10 wins against the Big Ten.
Appreciative of his time at Rutgers — and a proud graduate of the university — Jackson transferred after last season, looking for an opportunity to help out a winner.
He eventually ended up at Ohio State and both he and the Buckeyes could not have had a better connection.
Jackson was named a First-Team All-Big Ten selection this season and routinely led the team in knockdowns. He helped to provide a nasty streak that was missing from last year’s offensive line.
Even though Jackson came to Columbus with an eye on a starting job, the Ohio State offensive line welcomed him with open arms upon his arrival.
And those open arms continued Saturday night as teammates found Jackson among the crowd on the field to give him a hug and offer him their congratulations.
For Jackson, he tried to play it cool, but it was unlikely anybody was buying it.
“I had to put my head down, man, I broke down in tears. It was just surreal,” Jackson said, sitting at his locker after the game, eyes still red and puffy with championship tears.
“All the guys were coming up to me ‘Congrats, congrats,’ and they didn’t even know I was crying. I’m acting like I’m still focused, but I’m breaking down in tears, man. That’s first time I cried in a long time. So it was incredible.”
Jackson helped to bring a mean streak to an Ohio State offense that was lacking it last season. Some would say the OSU offensive line wouldn’t have been able to do it without him, though Jackson isn’t one of those people.
“I don’t believe that,” he said. “Those guys in that room, Wyatt, Josh, Thayer, Josh Alabi, Branden Bowen, those dudes. I believe if I wasn’t here, they’d still be in the same position. I just felt like I came in and gave a little extra oomph.”
The opposing defensive lines always felt the oomph, and it gave his teammates an example to follow.
Jonah Jackson left Rutgers for an opportunity like this. He came to Ohio State to experience this very moment. And even though he thought about it and dreamed about it, his expectations still had no shot of preparing him for the reality of a Big Ten title.
“Man, it’s such a surreal moment,” he said. “I was just emotional a second ago, so I’ve lost my voice a little bit, but I’m just so blessed to be here with these guys, this staff and everybody in this organization and the people that are part of the Buckeye history.
“It is a blessing I can’t even have imagined. This is not exactly how I thought it would be, but I had a dream about it. And I feel like I’m still dreaming. I’m still dreaming. This is incredible.”
Just imagine how good it is going to feel in 31 days with a natty to go along with being a B1G Ten champion…
Are there any more Jonahs out there? We’ve been recruiting a little thin on O-line as of late and could use some seasoned ass kickers to give some depth in case some one goes down
Voisa, just wait till you see Wypler and Miller on the field. Nastiest OL ive ever seen on the HS level. Studz is finally molding our OL into a reloading behemoth, no thanks to warinners terrible recruiting. ttun fans just don’t know. The 2016 OL problems were all because warinner had 9/21 OL commits during his tenure contributed ZERO.
Speaking of transfers, Meyers legacy stays intact, the Burrow injury in 2017 is the only thing that will keep him from being a guy that ran off a heisman winner. Meyer was blinded by Haskins arm and forgot about the little intangibles that championship QB’s have, “The It Factor”. Joe has it, much like Krenzel.
Meyer had the same problem with Cardale – if not for the JT injury we would have never seen him play – Meyer was an asshole.
Everybody’s got one of those.
Coach Meyer favored his running game preferences and perhaps a few players, over situational advantaging and a tactical approach.
“Elite” is a judgmental term, not a problem-solving one.
Great story. And now he gets to go to the NFL.
I welcomed Jonah from the beginning of his transfer. A respected team captain who happens to be good enough to transfer to a better opportunity is commendable. It has to be a very hard decision. Same as Joe Burrow. Better opportunity. It’s no disrespect to Ohio State just like it’s no disrespect to Rutgers (kinda) .I’m very glad to have that badass on out offensive line!
Call me mushy – but great story (sniff). Well played Jonah Jackson. You rolled those dice and came up with a 7. Let the dream continue. Go Bucks!
Always great to have stories like this. Good skill to you, young man!