Published Oct 6, 2021
Ohio State shows trust in Mitch Rossi after first career touchdown
Colin Gay  •  DottingTheEyes
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — The play was unusual from the moment C.J. Stroud and the rest of the Ohio State offense lined up at the Rutgers’ 1-yard line.

The redshirt freshman quarterback lined up right under center Luke Wypler early in the second quarter, with tight end Mitch Rossi taking the full back position in front of Master Teague at running back; the I-formation in a spread offense.

Stroud took the snap, quickly faked the handoff to Teague and found Rossi wide open in the flat, taking two steps to record his first touchdown of his Ohio State career.

“It’s something that we prepared for. We had that set in,” Rossi said. “I was just glad that Coach Day trusted me enough to call the play in the game.”

As a former walk-on to the Ohio State football program, trust is all Rossi can really strive for.

The former running back at Franklin High School in Tennessee with former Ohio State and current Colorado offensive lineman Max Wray dreamed of being a Buckeye, with both parents being from Ohio and growing up a “huge fan” of the team.

It was one of those things that made sense to Rossi, despite not being the easiest option.

“I was just happy to get the opportunity here,” Rossi said. “I could have chosen a lot of other paths, maybe a lot of easier routes, played sooner or just even be a normal college student — I was thinking about that too. But I wanted to do something that I would be proud of and would make me a better person as a whole and make my parents proud.”


Rossi’s path to that trust was incredibly inconsistent.

Walking on to the team in the 2017 class as a running back, Rossi was moved to tight end: a position he played some at the high school level, playing a hybrid of the H-back and tight end. But it was still something new, learning and molding his play off teammates Luke Farrell, Jake Hausman and Jeremy Ruckert.

Heading into 2021, his final season with Ohio State, Rossi had one career catch: an eight-yard grab from quarterback Gunnar Hoak in the Buckeyes’ 73-14 win against Maryland Nov. 9, 2019.

But in his final season with the Buckeyes, Rossi’s role expanded to something he never had the luxury of having himself as a high school running back: a full back.

The blocking ability is something Rossi said he learned from Farrell: becoming detail-oriented and learning about feet and hand placement on blocks.

But the redshirt senior said the blocking technique for a full back is a bit different than what he’s expected to do on the outside.

“We like to play very aggressive,” Rossi said. “I think that fullback blocks are definitely more aggressive, more downhill. You don’t really have a lot of scheme to hide behind, basically. It’s kind of just isolation blocks.”

A former high school rugby player, Rossi said it comes down to physicality, never playing with hesitancy.

To Ryan Day, this attitude is the reason why Rossi earned a scholarship prior to the start of the 2021 season.

There was no flashy ceremony or viral moment. Rossi said he just met with Day and tight ends coach Kevin Wilson in the head coach’s office prior to the start of the season, knowing that a scholarship was what was between him and playing one final season with the Buckeyes.

To the head coach, this didn’t seem to be a shock or a surprise. Rossi’s gone through multiple offseasons, getting stronger and developing as a football player. He understands football and how opposing defenses are trying to attack offenses. He’s shown intelligence and maturity on and off the field.

To his teammates, Rossi’s been the glue guy: approachable, honest, caring and hard working.

So when it came time to decide to give Rossi a scholarship, Day felt the redshirt senior embraced the role he was given and was rewarded for it.

“When you come here at Ohio State as a walk-on, you have to embrace a role,” Day said. “There’s also going to be an opportunity along the way. You see some of our guys are getting on the field as walk ons. So those opportunities will be there. But you have to earn it. Nothing is given. Whether you are a scholarship player or a walk-on player, you have to earn it. He’s earned it, so hats off to him.”

Rossi was trusted, just like he was in that I-formation against Rutgers early in the second quarter. It was trust that have Rossi a moment of fulfillment, showing his parents in the Rutgers stands — the Ohio natives raising him a Buckeye fan — what it looks like to achieve his goal.

Rossi understands it’s not about him. He knows that this is a position anyone on the roster could have been in.

But when it was his turn, through all of the peaks and valleys throughout the four previous years as an Ohio State walk-on, it was his turn to show what he could do.

“Anyone of us can do the job,” Rossi said. “It’s just the way that it worked out was that I got the opportunity out of anyone to do it.

“It’s not a Mitch Rossi position, but I’m glad I have it for now.”