Mack comes up big in opening win
Advertisement
FORT WAYNE, Indiana - On the day that class of 2016 wide receiver commit Austin Mack signed his financial aid agreement with Ohio State, he also opened his senior season. The four-star prospect out of Fort Wayne (Ind.) Bishop Luers made game-changing plays on both sides of the ball in a 28-15 win over rival Bishop Dwenger.
"It's a great feeling, especially being against our rivals," said Mack after the game. "It started off a little rough but we got things together and the best team came out on top."
Mack's first impact play came on defense in the second quarter. With his team leading 7-0, it looked like the game might get tied up with an open receiver in the end zone, but Mack used his great closing speed and ball skills to snag an interception to keep his team in front going into halftime.
"They put me at corner this year and I actually missed the coverage but I saw my man go deep and I just tried to recover the best I could," he explained. "I'm a receiver, so I just made a play on the ball."
Coming out of the locker room, Mack delivered what was ultimately the biggest play of the game, taking the second half kickoff 99-yards for a touchdown to give his team a 14-0 lead that they would not relinquish.
"That was a big momentum changer," he said. "We've been working on special teams all week and the hole was huge, anybody could have ran through that. It was a great job by teammates of blocking so that wouldn't have happened without them."
Mack would finish things off with a late nine-yard touchdown run out of the wildcat, to put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. He was limited in the second half by cramps but fought through them on the final score.
"I was just fighting," he said. "I actually started cramping right after about a 20-yard run out of the wildcat and we just ran the same play again in the red zone and it was a pretty easy touchdown. I was going into the end zone cramping, I was kind of running on my heels into the end zone."
It was a full day for Mack, making big plays on offense, defense, and special teams while officially becoming a Buckeye. He'll be the first athlete in Bishop Luers history to enroll early at the college of his choice.
"I still need to take care of my classes and everything but when I get that done, I'll be the first one," he said. "During my recruitment, Urban Meyer really emphasized that I'm a key player for them. He said he really wants to get his hands on me early and help me develop so that when camp season comes around, I'm ready. I'm just glad I was able to help convince my school to let me graduate early."
Mack still has some things he wants to accomplish before arriving at Ohio State, most notably winning a state championship his senior season. He'll continue to lean on Buckeye wide receivers coach Zach Smith who he plans to call to discuss his first game.
"I'm sure he will critique me," Mack said. "There are a lot of things that I could have done better. I started cramping up in the third quarter so I couldn't do as much as I wanted to. I'm definitely going to ask him some questions about this double team stuff, because it's really hard trying to get open and get the ball when you're being double teamed."
[rl]