Ohio State

(Official OSU Press Release)

Seven Named 2018 Ohio State Football Captains

Group includes three receivers, Isaiah Prince and defenders Nick Bosa, Jordan Fuller and Tuf Borland

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State football team has voted on and selected seven players to serve as its captains for the 2018 season. This year’s group includes a pair of returning captains from 2017 – WRs Terry McLaurin and Parris Campbell – along with a third fifth-year senior WR in Johnnie Dixon, OT Isaiah Prince, DE Nick Bosa, SAF Jordan Fuller and LB Tuf Borland.

The players voted on captains Friday. Campbell led the way with the most votes with Dixon just one vote behind. Fuller led all defensive vote getters.

Campbell, a fifth-year senior, has played in 34 games during his career with 24 starts. A dynamic pass catcher and returner, he started 12 games in 2017 and led the team with 18 plays of 20-or-more yards, including long receiving touchdowns of 74 yards vs. Indiana, 69 yards vs. UNLV and 57 yards in the Big Ten title game win over Wisconsin. He enters the 2018 campaign second on the team in career receptions with 53 and second in receiving yards with 705. On special teams, Campbell averaged 36.6 yards per kick return. He was a third-team All-Big Ten performer at wide receiver and second-team as a return specialist.

McLaurin has played in 40 career games and is a returning 14-game starter from the 2017 squad. He enters his fifth year in the program with 40 receptions for 550 yards and a 13.8-yards per reception average. His eight touchdown receptions were tied for the team lead last year, including an 84-yard catch-and-run TD against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game. McLaurin graduated last December with a degree in communication.

Dixon, a fifth-year senior, has battled injury and adversity throughout his career but had his best statistical year in 2017, tying for the team lead with eight touchdown receptions while averaging 23.4 yards per catch. Named a “champion” nine times by the coaching staff, Dixon had multi-TD performances against Rutgers (three receptions, career-high 115 yards, two TD), Penn State (three receptions, 56 yards, two TD) and Iowa (four receptions, 81 yards, two TD). Already viewed by his teammates as a leader on and off the field, Dixon was one of 56 Ohio State student-athletes across 17 sports to take part in the Fourth Annual Wolstein Leadership Academy Retreat this May

Prince was a third-team All-Big Ten performer last year and is a veteran of 40 career games with 27 consecutive starts. He’s been Ohio State’s starting right tackle in 2016 and 2017 and the Buckeyes have led the Big Ten in rushing in each of those seasons. A sport industry major, Prince interned last summer with Ohio State’s social media and fan experience department.

Bosa is universally regarded as one of the best defensive players in the country, coming off first team All-American honors from the American Football Coaches Association. He led the Buckeyes last year in tackles for loss (16.0), sacks (8.0) and was the Big Ten Conference Smith-Brown defensive lineman of the year. Bosa was named a game “champion” by the Ohio State coaches for his efforts in all 12 wins last year, the only defensive player to achieve the feat.

Fuller is the unquestioned leader in the back end of Ohio State’s defense, a returning 13-game starter from 2017 who had 70 tackles (57 solo) to earn third team All-Big Ten honors. He had what was essentially the game-deciding interception against Michigan and was a game “champion” by the coaching staff seven times. A business marketing major, his work in the classroom has been equally impressive – last season, Fuller became the program’s fifth CoSIDA Academic All-American in the last four years.

Borland, a third-year sophomore, saw his first extensive playing time in last season’s third game against Army and went on to start nine of the final 11 games of the season at middle linebacker. He finished with 58 tackles – fourth most on the team – and was twice voted by the coaches as the team’s defensive player of the game. His spring was cut short due injury but all signs point to him returning for action in 2018. An exercise science major, Borland earned Academic All-Big Ten and OSU Scholar-Athlete honors.

QB Chugunov Joins Team

Former West Virginia quarterback Chris Chugunov has joined the Ohio State football team as a graduate transfer. He will work on a master’s degree in hospitality management after earning his bachelor’s degree from WVU in finance. He will have two years of eligibility.

Chugunov, who is 6-1, 203 pounds and will wear jersey No. 4, is from Skillman, N.J., and Montgomery High School. He was a January 2015 enrollee at WVU and spent three seasons with the Mountaineers. He played in eight games, including starting twice last season in place of an injured Will Grier, and completed 45 of 95 passes for 551 yards and three touchdowns with three interceptions.

Pronunciation: CHUG uh nov