Buckeye Leaves: Cade Stover builds on breakout season with strong opener

Win or lose, every week there are a handful of Ohio State players who stood out above the rest. Following the tradition of the helmet stickers that dates back to the days of Woody Hayes, Lettermen Row shares out our version of the award every Sunday morning for the best performers on offense, defense and special teams for the Buckeyes.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Cade Stover trained this offseason like a wideout. He ran with the Ohio State offensive skill players. He shaved off close to 10 pounds. He did 1-on-1 receiver drills with safeties for the first time in his career. Stover, who last year turned in one of the best receiving seasons by a Buckeyes tight end, became an even better route runner this offseason.

But his best play Saturday at Indiana didn’t showcase his route running — if anything, it demonstrated his speed.

Stover attacked the seam, blew through the Hoosiers’ second level and caught a perfectly-placed pass over the middle from Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord. Then came 25 yards after the catch.

The senior galloped into open space, breaking one tackle and nearly shedding another while dragging Indiana safety Phillip Dunnam six yards to the Indiana 27-yard line.

Stover’s 49-yard catch and run was the Buckeyes’ most explosive play of the game, and it was the highlight of his five-catch, 98-yard performance.

Stover led Ohio State in receiving Saturday during a rocky 23-3 win over the Hoosiers. It was an outing that will earn him some Buckeye Leaves in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center this week. His showing warranted one from Lettermen Row.

So let’s go ahead and hand out leaves from the Ohio State victory at Indiana, starting with Stover’s.

Offense

TE Cade Stover

Ohio State has arguably college football’s best wideout pairing in Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka. They spearhead a Buckeyes receiver room that’s easily the deepest position group on the team. That depth was yet again evident Saturday when Ohio State brought three of its four true freshman wideouts as part of its 74-player travel roster.

None of those receivers, including senior Julian Fleming — who did haul in six passes for 58 yards — had the kind of game Stover enjoyed.

Stover’s 98 receiving yards were not only a team high, but they were also a career high for the Mansfield, Ohio, native. Stover’s previous best in a Big Ten game was 78 yards at Penn State last October.

Stover is already well on his way to an encore season after piling up the most receptions (36) and receiving yards (406) by a Buckeyes tight end in 28 years in 2022.

Defense

S Josh Proctor

Have a day, Josh Proctor. The sixth-year defender got the start at free safety, or “adjuster,” and made the most of it. He was competing for the job with Syracuse transfer Ja’Had Carter and true freshman Malik Hartford.

Hartford wound up playing some, like Day said he would earlier in the week. Proctor, though, took the lion’s share of snaps back there.

He posted four total tackles, including two solos, and a pass breakup. What’s more, one of those solo stops was behind the Indiana line of scrimmage. It occurred midway through the first quarter. On an option play, Hoosiers quarterback Brendan Sorsby pitched the ball to the shifty Jaylin Lucas, who tried to cut back inside before he was met by Proctor’s boomstick hit.

Proctor said postgame that the tackle for loss felt nice.

“It definitely did,” Proctor said with a smile. “I miss hitting. I was ready for that contact. It’s been too long.

“That gets the guys going. It brings energy. So I’m just glad to make a play out there.”

Proctor lost his starting job in last year’s opener. This time around, he made his case for why he deserves to keep one. His performance, and that of the entire Ohio State secondary, was impressive.

“I just wanted to honestly keep my head down, keep my head down and work,” Proctor explained, when discussing his offseason mindset. “I didn’t know if I was going to be a starter, but I wanted to work like a starter. Watching film, meeting with coach, staying in the playbook and all of that. I just wanted to be prepared if I got the chance next time.”

Special Teams

PK Jayden Fielding

Ohio State sophomore Jayden Fielding beat out Parker Lewis — who transferred in from USC last season — for the starting place kicker job at the end of training camp. Fielding did right by Buckeyes special teams coordinator Parker Fleming at Indiana, drilling all three of his field goal attempts.

Keep in mind, before Saturday, the IMG Academy product had never tried a field goal in a college game. His first attempt was from 40 yards out, and he knocked it through the uprights. For what it’s worth, Fielding missed a 40-yarder in this year’s spring game. At Indiana, though, he was on the money.

He also converted a pair of 22-yard field goals. In doing so, he helped the Buckeyes stave off any potential Indiana comeback.

Fielding handled kickoff duties in all 13 games last season. He kept that streak going Saturday.

X-Factor

RB Chip Trayanum

Chip Trayanum quietly had one of the best offseasons of any Buckeyes player. After emerging as a viable back for Ohio State late in 2022, while even leading the team in rushing against Michigan, Trayanum turned heads in spring practice with long touchdown runs on Student Appreciation Day and in the spring game. He carried over that momentum to training camp, where the 5-foot-11, 233-pound back continued to carve out a legit role for himself in the Buckeyes’ offense.

That role became clear at Indiana. Trayanum served as the Buckeyes’ fullback, filling the void left by Mitch Rossi. Additionally, and more notably, he got eight totes, which he turned into 57 rushing yards, good for tops on the team.

Trayanum didn’t score, like fellow running back Miyan Williams did twice, but he did the Buckeyes’ dirty work. He looked strong between the tackles and finished with three runs of 10-plus yards. And he moved the chains with a critical 3rd-and-8 reception on the Buckeyes’ final scoring drive.

Trayanum — who transferred in from Arizona State last season to play linebacker at Ohio State — is part of Tony Alford’s stacked running back room. Although the Buckeyes’ rushing attack wasn’t at its best Saturday, Trayanum was.

“It’s good to have multiple backs,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said postgame. “It was hot today, especially in the first half. And so Tony kind of rotated them, and that was good. There were a couple of drives there where we moved the ball down the field. It was about time to go with a new back because of how long those drives were. It’s going to be a long season.

“They’re all going to carry it. But Tre (TreVeyon Henderson) is the starter, Miyan’s right there and Chip’s right there as well.”

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