Ohio State benched Jayden Fielding for kickoffs during the second half of its 49-14 win over Marshall on Saturday.
Fielding sent three kickoffs out of bounds in the second quarter, allowing the Thundering Herd to gain possession of the ball at their 35-yard line on each subsequent drive.
“This is completely ridiculous,” coach Ryan Day said. “We have to fix this, no matter how we do it.”
Fielding, who has been handling kickoffs for the Buckeyes since 2022, attempted an extra point after TreVeyon Henderson ran for a 40-yard touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter. Austin Snyder otherwise handled kickoffs and extra points for the rest of the game.
“You get to a point where you want to let someone play through,” Day said, “but you also have to make changes. I thought Austin stepped in well and shot the ball.”
Snyder, who transferred from Division II Findlay last year, made his debut for the Buckeyes two weeks ago against Western Michigan. He scored an extra point against the Broncos.
Fielding had no problems with PATs. He made all five against the Thundering Herd. His problems were limited to kickoffs.
Day wasn’t sure what had prompted Fielding to kick her out of the field.
“We’ll examine him and see if he pulled his hip or something else happened,” Day said. “Either way, we can’t let that happen. It puts our defense in a terrible position.”
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State University football for The Columbus Dispatch. Follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @joeyrkaufman or send him an email to [email protected].
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