Veteran decide to pathways to Neighboring Rivals After 3 Years with Ohio State
The Ohio State Buckeyes have suffered yet another loss to the transfer portal: punter Jesse Mirco. Mirco spent each of the past three seasons with the Buckeyes, but will finish his final season of eligibility with the Vanderbilt Commodores. The Fremantle, Australia-native compiled his second consecutive season with over 2,000 punting yards, finishing this year with 2,174. Having recorded 50 punts this season, Mirco ended his junior campaign with an average of 43.5 yards per punt.
Mirco’s workload increased every year at Ohio State, starting off at 31 punts in his first year in 2021 before shooting up to 49 in his sophomore season. The aforementioned 50 punts were the most in one season for Mirco, as Ohio State’s offense had one of its slower seasons in recent memory.
The rising-senior kept the announcement of his commitment short and sweet, shooting out a less-than-ten-word post on his social media pages. “Ready to get to work!! #AnchorDown,” Mirco wrote on his X channel.
Along with his punts, Mirco recorded a handful of tackles and carries over his time. The special teamer was on the delivering end of two tackles and 24 rushing yards from two carries. Ohio State has two punters on their current depth chart, each of whom will be looking to fill Mirco’s open cleats. Joe McGuire and Austin Snyder will each be looked at over the offseason and spring practices, with the annual Spring Game being a solid indicator of whom could start against Akron on August 31.
Michigan Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy didn’t let the program’s ongoing sign-stealing investigation distract him from helping the team win games this season. McCarthy believes college football teams stealing signs has “been around for years” and is a normal practice in the college football landscape. However, during Wednesday’s College Football Playoff conference call, the Wolverines’ star said the program’s latest scandal is a response to Ohio State legally stealing Michigan’s signs in previous years.
“We actually had to adapt because in 2020 and 2019 when Ohio State was stealing our signs, which is legal,” McCarthy said, per On3. “We had get up to the level that they were at, and we had to make it an even playing field.”
“I don’t want to say a crazy number, but I’d say a good number, 80% of teams in college football steal signs,” McCarthy added. No. 1 Michigan is coming off 27–20 overtime win against Alabama in the 2024 Rose Bowl on Monday. The junior signal-caller played an integral part in helping the Wolverines defeat the Crimson Tide, throwing for 221 yards on 17 of 27 passes and three touchdowns while rushing for 25 yards on the ground.
McCarthy looks to put together another noteworthy performance next Monday when Michigan faces No. 2 Washington in the College Football Playoff national championship game at 7:30 p.m. ET at NRG Stadium in Houston.
