Payton Pierce, Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs were Pro Football Focus’ highest-rated players while three offensive linemen received the lowest grades in Ohio State’s loss to Miami.
We compiled the PFF grades for every Buckeye who played on either offense or defense in the 14th game of the season and highlight the three highest-graded players who played at least 10 snaps against the Hurricanes.
For the first time this season, Payton Pierce graded out as Ohio State’s best player.Pierce's score of 97.5 is the highest for a Buckeye player in any game this season. In fact, his grade against Miami was the highest of any offensive or defensive player during the bowl season. Pierce's 97.5 is almost six points higher than the second-highest graded linebacker, Pittsburgh's Rasheem Biles, who had a 91.7 against East Carolina. Perhaps more impressive is Pierce's 99.9 grade in rush defense against Miami. This number is a full nine points higher than Hawaii defensive lineman Carsen Stockinksi, who graded out at 90.9 against the run. This marks the first time this season for a linebacker to take the top spot among Ohio State's players for a game. Surprisingly, Pierce is the only linebacker to be rated in the top three among Buckeye players this season, despite backing up Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles all season. During bowl season, Smith led all Big Ten receivers with seven catches and only trailed USC's Tanook Hines for the highest grade among the conference's receivers with at least two catches in a bowl game. Smith finished the season with an overall offensive grade of 90.7. That is one-tenth of a point behind USC's Makai Lemon for the best overall grade among receivers this year.Downs finished as one of Ohio State’s three highest-graded players for the second time in three games to end the season. The unanimous All-American led Ohio State's defenders in coverage against Miami and also had the best grade in run defense among the Buckeyes in the secondary.had the highest tackling grade among all defensive tackles during bowl season. McDonald also finished the season as the Big Ten's best defensive tackle with an overall defensive grade of 86.7, and he also had a conference-best grade of 91.2 in rush defense among the conference's players in his position group.earned pass-blocking grades of 0.0 against Miami. Army's Ned Brady and Minnesota's Marcellus Marshall were the only other players to grade out with a 0.0 in pass-blocking in a bowl game. had the lowest grade of any Buckeye who played at least 10 snaps against Miami, followed by fellow offensive linemen earned the lowest grade of any Ohio State player against the Hurricanes, but played only eight snaps before leaving the game with a shoulder injury.finished the season with a tackling grade of 91.6, which was the best in the nation. He was also the highest-graded Big Ten Linebacker in overall defense .Ohio State Transfer Portal Tracker: Mason Williams and Dalton Riggs Are Ohio State’s First Transfer Commits of 2026, Tegra Tshabola and Mylan Graham Among Departing Buckeyes
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