Ohio
What Ohio State football star safety Caleb Downs thinks about also playing running back
When Ohio State coach Ryan Day first floated the idea of Caleb Downs lining up as a running back as well as in the secondary earlier this summer, the suggestion did not surprise the star sophomore safety.
Downs, who transferred to the school from Alabama in January, took it as a serious possibility.
“I feel like I’m an elite player with the ball in my hands,” Downs said. “I would never not believe in myself to do something. So I definitely believe that’s on the table.”
Reflecting on the prospect of contributing on both sides of the ball Tuesday night following a preseason practice, Downs did not shy away from a potential role as a two-way player for the Buckeyes.
It was something he did in high school two years ago, playing for Mill Creek in Georgia’s highest classification. The Hawks used him in situations as a wildcat quarterback, and he ran for 334 yards and threw for 370 yards as a senior in 2022.
Downs did not log any snaps on offense as a freshman at Alabama, but he touched the ball in another phase, returning four punts, including taking one for 85 yards for a touchdown against Chattanooga.
“I know it would be accelerated because it’s college and everybody’s better,” Downs said, “but I have an idea about it because in high school, I played a lot of plays. I know what it would take.”
More: Caleb Downs could play safety and running back in 2024. Which Ohio State players played both ways?
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Downs has taken notice of Colorado’s Travis Hunter, a fellow All-American who has played both wide receiver and cornerback for the Buffaloes, logging as many as 152 snaps in a game last season.
But Downs laid out a more modest vision for himself if he goes out as a running back with the Buckeyes
“I wouldn’t say every play or anything,” Downs said. “If I played on offense, it would be max, 10 snaps a game.”
Downs’ presence in the offensive backfield could ultimately result from a handful of factors ranging from his playmaking threat to a need that materializes at the position.
The Buckeyes went down to four scholarship backs after Dallan Hayden transferred to Colorado at the end of spring practice. All the remaining backs, which include the decorated tandem of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, appeared healthy this month, but the season can take a toll.
The possibility hasn’t appeared imminent as the Buckeyes open their season against Akron next week.
At Big Ten media days in July, Day said Downs would focus on safety in preseason training camp, and Downs said he last took a rep as a running back at the end of summer, indicating it was before the start of their preseason practices on Aug. 1.
If he’s touched the ball, it’s either been while picking off a quarterback or as a punt returner.
“I’ve caught a lot of punts,” Downs said. “If they give me the opportunity to do that, I’ll be happy to. If they give it to someone else, I wish them the best, and I’ll be behind them.”
Asked to summarize his mindset when he gets ahold of the ball, Downs was succinct.
“Score,” he said.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @joeyrkaufman or email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com.
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Ohio
Statehouse encampment speaks to revolutionary spirit in Ohio country
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — The Ohio Statehouse West Lawn and North Grounds are set to the air of an American Revolution military encampment from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.
The camp enables visitors to step back in time to experience sights and sounds such as Captain Joseph Ogle’s Company of the Ohio County, Virginia militia in action and feel the energy of the Heritage Fife and Drums as they fill the air with the stirring music of the Revolution.
Ohio
2 arrested at Ohio State pro-Israel event featuring IDF soldiers
Demonstrators gather at Ohio State to protest Israel-Hamas war
Several student and community groups attend a demonstration at Ohio State University Wednesday evening protesting the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Two individuals were arrested on Ohio State University’s campus April 14 during an event held by a pro-Israel student organization, the university confirmed.
The event, which was hosted at the Ohio Union by the OSU chapter of Students Supporting Israel, was part of the “Triggered: From Combat to Campus” speaking tour. The tour features Israeli Defense Forces soldiers “sharing firsthand stories from October 7th and beyond,” according to Students Supporting Israel’s website.
“The name plays on the irony of campus outrage, where many students were ‘triggered’ not by Hamas’ terror, but by Israel’s defense,” according to the website.
Two IDF soldiers were scheduled to speak at the event, held at 6 p.m. inside the Ohio Union.
In response to the event, Students for Justice in Palestine, Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine at OSU and Law Students for Justice in Palestine at Ohio State Moritz College of Law scheduled a protest.
“We vehemently oppose any attempts to commemorate or honor war criminals, in addition to any acts of normalization with the zionist entity,” an Instagram post about the protest read. “We will not stand by and allow them to be welcomed onto our campus.”
It was at this protest that two individuals were arrested, Ohio State spokesperson Dan Hedman said in a statement.
“Following multiple warnings, two individuals were arrested for criminal trespass after disrupting a scheduled event inside the Ohio Union and violating university space standards,” Hedman said.
Whether the arrested individuals are affiliated with Ohio State was not immediately available.
In 2024, more than 40 people were arrested on Ohio State’s campus during a string of anti-Israel protests in the days leading up to spring commencement. About half of those arrested individuals were affiliated with the university.
This is a breaking story and will be updated as more information is available.
Higher education reporter Sheridan Hendrix can be reached at shendrix@dispatch.com and on Signal at @sheridan.120. You can follow her on Instagram at @sheridanwrites.
Ohio
‘Little Rascals’ star Bug Hall arrested in Ohio
Brandon “Bug” Hall was arrested in Ohio and charged with failure to appear for a court date from more than a year ago.
The “Little Rascals” actor, best known for playing Alfalfa Switzer in the 1994 cult classic, did not appear in court in December 2024, according to records obtained by TMZ.
Hall, 41, was previously given a traffic citation on Oct. 29, 2024, for not having liability insurance.
Page Six has reached out to Hall for comment but did not immediately hear back.
A few years ago, the “Stupids” star had another run-in with the law.
In 2020, he was arrested in Texas for huffing air duster cans.
At the time, a 911 caller claimed Hall may have overdosed after spotting him huffing by a hotel dumpster. When the police arrived, they discovered the “Get a Clue” actor in his hotel room surrounded by cans.
Upon an investigation, Hall was arrested for misdemeanor possession for use to inhale or ingest a volatile chemical.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Hall — who identifies as “a radical Catholic extremist” — moved his wife, Jill DeGroff, and their five children to a small area near Mountain Home, Arkansas, after giving up Hollywood to take “a vow of poverty.”
In accordance with his religious commitment, Hall told the Daily Mail in January that he donated all of his savings along with the majority of his material items to “maintain a life as free of any need for an income as possible.”
Page Six reported that the “Big Green” star and his family resided in a campervan with a water well and a generator.
Hall plans to go totally off-the-grid and build his family a house with its own hydro-electrical dam, as well as plumbing and electrical systems.
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