Cooper talks final run at Ohio State: 'I love this team.'
The past two years have not been easy for Jonathon Cooper.
After sitting out all but four games last season with an injury, Cooper witnessed the cancellation of three of his final eight regular season games this year.
It has taken two full seasons’ worth of games for the fifth-year to truly have one complete, final season of college football.
“Obviously, this year hasn’t gone the way I thought it would,” Cooper said on Sunday. “I don’t think it’s gone the way anybody has thought it would. It’s been a crazy year-- games canceled left and right, everybody with this whole COVID situation. I think, even with all that, I just feel blessed that I got the opportunity to come back and play.”
Cooper missed all of the 2019 postseason-- from the exhilaration of Ohio State’s third-straight Big Ten Championship to the utter disappointment of its heart-breaking loss in the College Football Playoff.
All the senior could do was watch from the sidelines.
“To put it frankly, it just sucked having to sit back and watch my team do everything that I wanted to do,” Cooper said. “But honestly, I mean, I did everything that I could-- being a leader, speaking up, trying to coach the young guys up out there and just help out the best way I could."
When the time came for another go-round, Cooper was more than ready.
He has become a key cog on Ohio State’s defensive line, a group that has been effective this season despite losing heaps of talent from last year’s unit.
The Gahanna native has registered two sacks this season and has provided constant pressure in his time on the field. Per PFF, Cooper has six quarterback hits (tops on the team) and 10 hurries this season.
No matter what his performance on the field has been like or how many games Ohio State ends up playing, coming back for another ride in 2020 was a no-brainer to Cooper.
“Even if it was for 12 games or five games, which it ended up being, I feel blessed and I’m just happy that I got to go out there and play with my brothers at all,” Cooper said. “Because nothing’s guaranteed for us.”
Still, with only five games played in his final season, no Michigan game, and no true Senior Day, a little frustration from Cooper would be perfectly acceptable.
Instead, the defensive end and his team have let the constant challenges and letdowns of this season give them more motivation for any opportunities given.
“It is what it is, man,” Cooper said of his strange fifth year. “Nothing really surprises us. I think Justin [Fields] said earlier, in the beginning, everything was a surprise, but now it’s just kinda like, ‘Oh. Yeah. Of course that would happen.’”
A few missing games here and there don’t deter Cooper from the fact that he’s back playing postseason football once more.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day knows what his seniors have gone through. He understands that every last game is special for this group of graduating Buckeyes.
Even so, Day admitted that Cooper is a bit different.
“I think that would be unbelievable for a lot of guys. But Coop is special,” Day said of having another shot at a Big Ten Championship. “I mean, he’s been in this program a long time, he’s poured his heart and soul into this program, and has a lot of respect from everybody here. Always will.”
For Cooper and his team, everything is about beating Northwestern and claiming yet another Big Ten title.
No matter how different his final season has been, the man many call "Coop" is enjoying every last minute of his time donning the scarlet and gray.
“I love this team,” Cooper said. “I know it didn’t go the way I thought it was going to go, but at the end of the day I’m happy and I’m ready to go on and do my thing.”
He's finally back in the postseason.