Ohio State sits in an enviable position heading into Saturday’s Big Ten Championship game. They’ve got not one but two legitimate Heisman Trophy candidates in quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. But when asked to pick between the two for Ohio State’s top Heisman candidate, HC Ryan Day refused to play along with the binary choice. He offered a response that shows just how loaded this roster really is.​​

“I’d vote for ’em both, so don’t get me in trouble,” Day said with a laugh. “I’d put Carnell right there, too. And Caleb Downs would be right in there. These guys are really good football players — Arvell Reese? I could go on and on.”

It sounds like coach-speak at first. But the stats back up Day’s reluctance to narrow the field. Carnell Tate ranks third among the top Ohio State players this season. Caleb Downs is widely regarded as the No. 1 defensive player in America. Arvell Reese, the linebacker Day also mentioned, climbed to No. 4 in Eleven Warriors’ rankings of Ohio State’s top players entering November. 

When Downs was asked about the Heisman race, even he joked, “They could just give it to Ohio State and name two people as Heisman.” Day’s refusal to single out one player isn’t political correctness. It’s an honest acknowledgment that this team’s success comes from a depth of elite talent that makes choosing just one Heisman candidate feel arbitrary.​​

This is a developing story