Ryan Day's praise for another emerging star freshman gives Ohio State more strength in numbers for CFP run

The Ohio State Buckeyes knew they were injecting some major talent long-term into its program this past offseason when they welcomed four running backs in the 2025 recruiting class. Bo Jackson has already emerged as a superstar, supplanting both James Peoples and CJ Donaldson. But this past-week's matchup against Wisconsin brought a new young star to the table.

Freshman Isaiah West has only 21 carries on the year, but he's looked more advanced than expected in small doses. We saw him quite a bit in Week 1's thrashing of Grambling, then sparingly against Minnesota and Illinois. It's a good sign that Ryan Day went out of his way to highlight West's performance this past matchup.

Here's what Day said about the team's fourth-back.

Ryan Day gives Isaiah West promising feedback as Ohio State expands role

The Buckeyes have three backs averaging at least five yards a carry, and Donaldson isn't far behind despite being the team's designated power back. West, benefitting from Day's new approach to keeping his team healthy for the College Football Playoff, saw a career-high in touches against the Badgers. Everyone came out a winner with West in despite the Buckeyes struggling to run the ball for three quarters.

Setting a new career high with nine carries for 55 yards, West showed off undeniable strength and speed for a 210-pounder.

“Hit (the holes) good (on his two runs for seven and 14 yards),” Day said. “There were two guys in the hole that he made miss. So good sign for a young back. So we’ll kind of see what it looks like and see where we’re going from here. I mean, those are good runs. And so we’re going to look at everything and do everything we can to make sure that we’re efficient and we’re balanced.”