Ohio State defensive end Caden Curry dives to register a tackle against Arkansas State last fall.
Submitted photo
The first 133 seasons of Ohio State football produced only one in which the Buckeyes made three trips to Indiana.
Caden Curry can’t wait to play a role in the second.
The former Center Grove player, now a 6-foot-3, 259-pound sophomore defensive end for the Buckeyes, lines up against each of his home state’s so-called big three, starting with the season opener at Indiana on Saturday.
Ohio State travels to Notre Dame in three weeks and is at Purdue on Oct. 14. The lone other time the Buckeyes hit that scheduling trifecta was in 1996, when they won all three of those games on its way to an 11-1 record.
“Going home and being closer to my family and friends, it’s going to be a dream come true,” Curry said. “Definitely that first game, seeing (IU quarterback Tayven Jackson) and all the other Center Grove guys on the other sideline, that’s going to be really exciting.”
Ohio State takes a No. 3 national ranking into the game against the Hoosiers.
There’s always a chance Curry and Jackson reunite at some point prior to postgame handshakes. It would likely be in the Hoosiers’ backfield, but Curry would be okay with that.
Curry is presently slotted as OSU’s second-team defensive end on the depth chart behind redshirt sophomore JT Tuimoloau. As for Jackson, he spent his freshman school year at Tennessee but transferred to coach Tom Allen’s program in January and is in the hunt to take snaps for the Hoosiers.
Other former Trojans at IU include defensive back Mitchell Evans and linebacker Matt Hohlt; also recently transferring in were linebacker Jackson Schott (Miami of Ohio), defensive lineman Carl Biddings (Louisville) and running back Daniel Weems (Indiana Wesleyan).
Talk about a reunion.
Of course, it will be all business for no less than four quarters for Curry, who saw action in all 13 of Ohio State’s games in 2022. He played a total of 82 snaps on defense, and was on the field as a Buckeye special teamer for 218 plays, finishing his freshman campaign with a total of 14 tackles.
That experience, not to mention lining up against mammoth former tackles Paris Johnson and Dawand Jones every day in practice, proved invaluable for Curry.
“At first, it can get you juiced up and out of focus a little bit,” Curry said. “Last year was definitely an eye-opener going against Paris and Dawand in practice. It brought out the good sides of me, and the bad sides of me.
“But just talking to my coaches and my teammates about their futures, I was like, ‘Why not me?’”
Why not, indeed.
Last spring, the 6-6, 310-pound Johnson was selected sixth overall by the Arizona Cardinals; Jones, the former Ben Davis standout who stands an eclipsing 6-8 and 375, was nabbed in the fourth round by the Cleveland Browns.
Time will tell if Curry eventually joins the fraternity of outstanding Buckeye defensive ends, a scroll that in the past few years has included the likes of current NFLers Chase Young (Washington) and the brothers Bosa, Joey (Los Angeles Chargers) and Nick (San Francisco).
For now, it’s about improving his craft to become the best college defensive end he can be.
If it involves a sweep over the three Indiana schools, so be it.
