Ohio State leads country with 8 AP All-americans

Ohio State led all programs by having eight players earn Associated Press Allamerica honors, though no Buckeyes made the AP first-team.

OSU had six second-team All-americans — left tackle Nicholas Petit-frere, left guard Thayer Munford, wide receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, defensive tackle Haskell Garrett and kicker Noah Ruggles.

Quarterback C.J. Stroud and receiver Jaxon Smith-njigba earned third-team honors.

It is the first time that a team has had three receivers earn AP All-american recognition in the same season.

Wilson, a junior, has 70 catches for 1,058 yards and 12 touchdowns. Olave, a senior, has caught 65 passes for 936 yards and 13 scores. Smith-njigba, a sophomore, has 80 receptions for 1,259 yards and six touchdowns.

Stroud, who finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting, has completed 70.9% of his passes for 3,862 yards. The redshirt freshman has thrown for 38 touchdowns with only five interceptions, greatly aided by an offensive line led by Munford and Petit-frere.

Ruggles, a graduate transfer from North Carolina, made 18 of 19 field goal attempts and all 68 extra-point kicks.

Garrett, a fifth-year senior, had seven tackles for losses, including 51⁄2 sacks. He also had two fumble recoveries, one of which he returned for a touchdown against Minnesota.

Bill Rabinowitz covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact at brabinowitz@dispatch.com or on Twitter @brdispatch.

KYLE ROBERTSON/COLUMBUS DISPATCH Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-njigba (11), left guard Thayer Munford (75) and left tackle Nicholas Petit-frere (78) all earned Associated Press All-america honors. Eight Buckeyes were honored by the AP, the most of any program.