BUCKEYES WRS WILSON, OLAVE SKIPPING BOWL
Ohio State wide receivers Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave is skipping the Rose Bowl to enter the NFL Draft.
Offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere and defensive tackle Haskell Garrett are also bypassing the game, coach Ryan Day said during the Buckeyes’ visit to Disneyland to celebrate their New Year’s Day showdown against Pac-12 champion Utah.
“Certainly love those guys and appreciate everything they’ve done for the program, but the guys have had a good month of practice and we’re gonna go forward with the guys that we have,” Day said.
Wilson made the announcement Monday in a statement on Twitter.
“This journey has been a lifetime in the making and after careful consideration, today, I am excited to start the next chapter by declaring for the NFL Draft,” Wilson wrote.
Wilson, a 6-foot, 192pound junior, is regarded as a potential first-round selection. He had 70 receptions for 1,058 yards and 12 touchdowns, ranking second on the team in each category for the potent Buckeyes passing attack. He caught 23 touchdowns in his three seasons at Ohio State.
Olave, who went to Mission Hills High, returned for his senior season in hopes of helping No. 6 Ohio State win the national title, but those aspirations ended with the 42-27 rivalry game loss to Michigan. Day said Olave is with the team in Southern California and even went through practice on Monday.
“He came back for a reason, and got nothing but an unbelievable amount of respect for Chris and what he’s done here, and everything he’s done for this program. And he still wanted to be part
of the team and everything like that,” Day said.
Olave caught 35 touchdowns in four seasons. This year, he had 65 receptions for 936 yards and 13 scores in 12 games.
Bowl changes
Given an opportunity to make a postseason upgrade, Central Michigan on Monday jumped from the Arizona Bowl to the more established and lucrative Sun Bowl, which had lost Miami the day before. The Hurricanes withdrew from the Sun Bowl because of a coronavirus outbreak, and a similar situation Monday led to Boise State pulling out of the Arizona Bowl.
The Arizona Bowl, scheduled for Friday, was canceled Monday night. It became the fourth bowl game called off in the wake of a nationwide spike in coronavirus cases.
Washington State, Miami’s scheduled opponent in the Sun Bowl, did not learn of the Hurricanes’ withdrawal until Cougars players and staff arrived at site of the game in El Paso on Sunday. At that point, Washington State Athletic Director Pat Chun said in a statement that he would work with bowl officials and the Pac-12 to “hopefully find a replacement opponent for the game.”
The Sun Bowl’s executive director, Bernie Olivas, expressed doubt Sunday that a bowl-eligible replacement team could be found on such short notice, but he allowed for the possibility that one of “those teams that got canceled might be available right now.”
That’s how it played it out, leaving Chun to share his gratitude for the efforts made by bowl and school officials.
Quick Lane Bowl
Western Michigan 52, Nevada 24: threw two touchdowns and ran for another and Western Michigan recorded its second bowl victory in program history, rolling past Nevada (8-5) on Monday in Detroit.
Sean Tyler rushed for 146 yards on 14 carries and returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown for Western Michigan (8-5). Jaxson Kincaide, a Nevada transfer, rushed for 105 yards on 17 carries and scored two touchdowns.