The trophy case of Ohio State guard Wyatt Davis received another addition on Tuesday, as the redshirt junior was awarded the distinction of the Big Ten’s Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year.
Davis, a first-team All-American in 2019 and a selection for the Big Ten’s All-Decade team over the summer, is the first Buckeye to win the award since Billy Price in 2017.
This year marks the ninth time a Buckeye has won the award, which dates back to 1984, and Davis is the seventh different Ohio State offensive lineman to be given the honor.
Ohio State tackle Korey Stringer became the first Buckeye to win the award in 1993, and repeated the following season. Orlando Pace kept the streak alive in 1995, and won the award a second time in ‘96 to make it four straight years that an Ohio State player had won the award.
Former center LeCharles Bentley received the honor in 2001, although no Buckeye would follow suit until Taylor Decker in 2015. However, Decker’s win started a streak of three-straight years in which Buckeyes captured the award, with Pat Elflein and Price winning in the two subsequent seasons.
Davis initially decided to return for a fourth season in the Ohio State program following his stellar 2019 campaign, but a month after the Big Ten announced it would cancel its football season this past August, Davis declared for the NFL Draft.
Davis is projected to be a first round pick at the next level, but when the Big Ten reinstated the football season just five days after he announced his decision to leave school, Davis wasted little time before letting Ohio State know that he would return to the program.
With a COVID-19 outbreak causing three of Ohio State’s starting offensive lineman to miss the Buckeyes’ Dec. 5 meeting with Michigan State, Davis is one of only two Buckeyes to start all five games up front this season.
Running behind Davis and company, Ohio State has the No. 1 rushing attack in the Big Ten, averaging 251 yards per game on the ground this season, which also ranks seventh-best in the nation.
