Ohio State Buckeyes: Senior WR looking to finally carve out role

And does that make him more determined to have a big year?

“Most definitely.”

No one can blame McCall for being more interested in actions than talk at this point in his career with the Buckeyes.

The 5-foot-9, 195-pound senior is going on his fifth year as one of the next big things for the Ohio State offense.

Of course, Ohio State has no shortage of next big things annually — highly rated recruits who are expected to excel, immediately if not sooner as far as the fan base is concerned — and that can turn out to be a blessing and a curse for players such as McCall.

A combination of competition and nagging injuries have held McCall back thus far, and the former figures to be in play again this fall.

The running back room goes five deep in scholarship players, including Oklahoma transfer Trey Sermon, while the receivers room has been restocked with four highly regarded freshmen following the graduation of productive seniors Austin Mack, Binjimen Victor and K.J. Hill.

The youngsters join returning regulars Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson to give receivers coach Brian Hartline no shortage of options as the Buckeyes prepare for their Oct. 24 opener against Nebraska.

“It’s just a battle,” said Hartline, who hopes to see players steal skills from each other as they go along this fall.

“Not everybody’s great at everything, but there’s somebody in this room that can do something I don’t do, and if I can learn from that then I can add that to my game,” he said.

Credit: Ohio State Athletics

Credit: Ohio State Athletics

Despite the wealth of weapons, a healthy McCall could still be useful for the Buckeyes, something he has shown from the start.

McCall ran for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass in his college debut against Bowling Green in 2016 and went on to average 5.5 yards per carry that season.

He toted the rock 49 times as a freshman but has only 40 carries since as the presence of Mike Weber and the arrival of J.K. Dobbins made those hard to come by.

In 2018, McCall carried the ball just eight times for 50 yards, but he had nine catches for 110 in a limited role as the third-down back.

The latter included a couple of key catches against Michigan, including a 33-yarder that set up a field goal just before halftime and helped make up for a muffed kickoff that led to a Michigan touchdown. The big catch helped blunt the momentum of a late flurry of points for the Wolverines and left a lasting impression in a stunning 62-39 win for the Buckeyes, who entered the game as underdogs but won going away.

McCall played in 13 games last season but logged just 18 carries for 122 yards and four catches for 28.

So what now?

Anything will do as far as McCall is concerned, and that could include returning kicks and punts.

He has returned 22 kickoffs for an average of 20.7 yards and 16 punts for 7.3 for the Scarlet and Gray.

“First thing first, I’m gonna do whatever I’ve got to do just to make the team better and get the team wins, but for me personally I just want to go out on top and our goal is to get the Big Ten championship first and then compete for national championship. Other than that, I’m just focused on getting a role.”

Hartline, whose first season on the field as an Ohio State player in 2006 was marked as much by his nine special teams tackles as his 17 catches, hopes to see that kind of mindset from all of his players this fall.

“I can’t emphasize enough being able to play multiple roles and understand concepts, not just your position, will be very important this year, probably more than ever,” Hartline said. “So whether it be on special teams, rushing a punt or holding up on a punt or being a gunner or whether it be on offense I think at the end of the day, a lot of the cream will rise to the top and you have to be able to play multiple positions, no matter where on the field.”