The Scarlet and Gray

[toysoldier00]

Avondre Lincoln Didn’t Flinch When Ohio State Kept Taking Linebackers — He Just Committed Anyway
By Colten Brooks on October 20, 2025


Avondre Lincoln isn't the fastest or the biggest, but he might just be the meanest.



Avondre Lincoln understands the math. He’s not naïve. He knows Ohio State already had three linebacker commits in the 2026 class before he even earned his offer.

He knows those other names, Pauly O’Dwyer from Massillon, Emmanuel Wooden from Westerville, Jaylen Smalls from Glenville, came with higher rankings and earlier headlines. He knows the Buckeyes don’t take four linebackers in a class because they’re bored. They take four because the room needs bodies, because modern defense demands waves, and because the best programs never let depth become an emergency.

Lincoln knows all of that.

And it still didn’t change his decision.

When Ohio State offered him in the summer and he committed on July 26th, Lincoln didn’t treat it like a debate. He treated it like an answer. Fourth linebacker in the class? Fine. Ranked 639th nationally and 108th at the position? That’s somebody else’s number. Competition? That’s the job.

“I don’t care how many linebackers they take,” Lincoln said. “I’m going there to compete. That’s the point. I just want to be a Buckeye. If you want to play at Ohio State, you’ve got to earn it anyway.”

That mindset is the story with Lincoln, because his recruitment moved the way Ohio State recruitments move when a coach believes he’s found a fit, quick offer, quick commitment, no unnecessary drama. Lincoln wasn’t a spring headline. He was a summer evaluation that turned into a take. A Cincinnati Princeton linebacker, 6-foot and 220 pounds, built more like a modern thumper than a space-only player, and wired like someone who enjoys contact.

He’s also the kind of player Ohio State has been searching for as it rebuilds the linebacker room from the inside out.

James Laurinaitis, in his role developing the next wave, has approached 2026 like a coach who wants options. Not one option, not two. A room full of options, different body types, different strengths, different developmental timelines. The Buckeyes didn’t add four linebackers because they fell in love with collecting commitments. They did it because depth is the only sustainable answer at the position now. Between injuries, rotation demands, and the way college football offenses try to isolate linebackers in space, you can’t build a championship defense with “two starters and hope.” You need a pipeline.

Lincoln is part of the pipeline, and he knows exactly what that means.

“Coach Laurinaitis told me the truth,” Lincoln said. “He said the room needs depth and guys who want to work. He didn’t promise anything. He said, ‘If you come here, you’re going to be coached hard. And you’re going to be pushed every day.’ That’s what I want.”

There’s an honesty to that that fits the way Lincoln plays. He doesn’t win with hype. He wins with collision, with effort, with a willingness to take on blocks and end drives. He’s the type of linebacker who looks for contact in the hole, the type who tries to arrive with bad intentions. Princeton has produced plenty of talent, but Lincoln’s edge has always been how seriously he takes the physical part of the sport, the part that can’t be faked.

That’s why Ohio State’s offer meant something, even if it arrived later than most of the other commits. For Lincoln, the timing wasn’t a slight. It was a reminder that he had to earn his way into the conversation.

“I wasn’t really worried about when it came,” he said. “I was just working. I knew if I kept getting better, the right people would see it. When Ohio State offered, it was like, alright, that’s real.”

It’s also worth noting where Lincoln comes from, not just Princeton High School, but the broader Cincinnati talent wave that is starting to feel like the most important recruiting trend inside the state. Ohio State has always recruited Ohio, but the gravity has often leaned toward the Cleveland pipeline and central Ohio. Cincinnati was never ignored, but it didn’t always feel like a core pillar.

That’s shifting.

Lincoln’s teammate, four-star offensive lineman Grady Austin, is already committed. Winton Woods edge rusher Ornell Mack is in the class. Elder punter David Procter is in the class. Cincinnati isn’t just supplying Ohio State with depth pieces, it’s supplying it with real foundational bodies, the kind that build classes. Lincoln adds another name to that list and reinforces what’s happening right now: the southwest corner of the state is producing more high-level football players than it ever has at once.

Lincoln feels that pride.

“There’s a lot of talent in Cincinnati,” he said. “People are starting to see it more. And for me, it means something to represent my city and my school at Ohio State.”

That part matters because Lincoln isn’t just joining Ohio State. He’s joining a linebacker class that is deeply Ohio in its identity. O’Dwyer is a Stark County linebacker with a Mr. Football-type profile. Wooden is a central Ohio prospect Ohio State expected to win from the start. Smalls keeps the Glenville connection alive. And Lincoln is the Cincinnati piece, the fourth name, the late offer, the guy who didn’t hesitate even when the class already looked full.

On paper, it’s easy to view him as the depth add. The fourth take. The “we needed another body.”

Lincoln doesn’t view himself that way at all.

“I’m not coming there to be a number,” he said. “I’m coming there to be a player. I know what I can do. I’m going to work for it.”

And that’s the point. Ohio State’s linebacker room isn’t a place where anything is handed out, and Lincoln seems drawn to that reality rather than intimidated by it. He wants to learn in a room where every rep matters. He wants to be developed by a coach who played the position at the highest level and treats fundamentals like law. He wants to be pushed by guys who were All-Americans in high school, because he believes he’ll become one of the guys pushing back.

The recruiting rankings won’t tell you whether that will happen. They rarely do.

But the best Ohio State depth stories always start with the same sentence: the kid didn’t care where he was ranked, he just cared about earning it. Avondre Lincoln is leaning into that sentence fully, and the Buckeyes are betting that his willingness to embrace the hardest parts of the job will matter by the time his career arrives on schedule.

He didn’t flinch when Ohio State kept taking linebackers.

He committed anyway.

Rank	Pos	Name	Height	Weight	High School	Home Town
	QB	Tyree Figurs	6'3"	190 lbs	Mission Hills	Mission Hills, CA
	WR	Ashton Ramsey	6'3"	190 lbs	Loyola Academy	Chicago, IL
	TE	Jordan Ivory	6'5"	235 lbs	Culver Academies	Culver, IN
	OT	Marcus Okam	6'7"	285 lbs	Pickerington Central	Pickerington, OH
	OT	Grady Austin	6'6"	305 lbs	Princeton	Cincinnati, OH
	OT	Derron Merriman	6'6"	300 lbs	Hilliard Bradley	Marysville, OH
	OT	Alex Jordan	6'7"	280 lbs	Paramus Catholic	Paramus, NJ
	IOL	George Crecelius	6'4"	285 lbs	Cy-Fair	Cypress, TX
	IOL	Thaddeus Roe	6'4"	290 lbs	Avon	Avon, IN
	IOL	David Weeks	6'4"	300 lbs	Janesville Parker	Janesville, WI
	DE	Deontae Savage	6'6"	240 lbs	Avon	Avon, IN
	DE	Ornell Mack	6'5"	240 lbs	Winton Woods	Cincinnati, OH
	DT	Vondree Eagles	6'3"	345 lbs	Reynoldsburg	Reynoldsburg, OH
	DT	Dillon Bridges	6'3"	290 lbs	Snider	Fort Wayne, IN
	LB	Pauly O'Dwyer	6'5"	215 lbs	Washington	Massillon, OH
	LB	Emmanuel Wooden	6'2"	210 lbs	Westerville South	Columbus, OH
	LB	Jaylen Smalls	6'2"	210 lbs	Glenville	Cleveland, OH
	LB	Avondre Lincoln	6'1"	200 lbs	Princeton	Cincinnati, OH
	CB	Teion Cherry II	6'1"	175 lbs	Wayne	Huber Heights, OH
	CB	Tremayne Shepley	6'1"	185 lbs	Greenville	Greenville, SC
	S	Bobby Jackson-Ruud	6'1"	190 lbs	St. Thomas Aquinas	Fort Lauderdale, FL
	S	Landon Bishop	6'0"	195 lbs	Whitmer	Toledo, OH
	P	David Procter	6'5"	170 lbs	Elder	Cincinnati, OH

[toysoldier00]

Diego Pavia Is the Most Fun QB in America

By Bailey Lloyd
October 22, 2025



Vanderbilt has spent most of the last decade trying to look like it belongs in the same league as the teams it shares a schedule with. On Saturday night in Nashville, the Commodores didn’t just belong, they controlled LSU, 36–29, behind a quarterback who plays the game like it’s both a job and a dare.

Diego Pavia finished with 310 passing yards and three touchdowns, the kind of line that usually belongs to somebody wearing a five-star résumé. Instead, it belonged to a senior who looks like he’s enjoying every second of turning Vanderbilt into a problem. Afterward, Pavia didn’t sound surprised. He sounded entertained.

“We’re out here having fun,” Pavia said. “We believe in what we’re doing, and we’re going to keep proving it.”

That’s the thing about Pavia’s season: it doesn’t feel like a hot streak. It feels like a quarterback dragging the entire sport into his energy. Vanderbilt is 6–1, ranked No. 24, with its only loss coming at No. 5 Alabama. The Commodores’ résumé now includes the kind of win that changes how opponents prepare, and how fans talk. Last year, Pavia engineered a shocking upset over Alabama in Nashville. This year, he’s been better, sharper, cleaner, and somehow more fearless.

He has not turned the ball over once.

Through seven games, Pavia has 1,608 passing yards and 15 touchdowns on 70% completion, plus 536 rushing yards and six more scores on 110 carries. He’s the current frontrunner in the Heisman race, not because he’s piling up empty numbers, but because Vanderbilt keeps winning games it isn’t supposed to win, and because he’s the reason the pressure never seems to touch them.

Against LSU, the fun came in waves. Vanderbilt trailed 26–22 in the third quarter, then Pavia responded the way he always does: with speed, with swagger, with answers that arrive before the defense finishes asking the question. Vanderbilt scored touchdowns at the end of the third and the start of the fourth, and the Commodores’ defense made those points stand.

Some quarterbacks play tight when the spotlight finds them. Pavia plays looser. He smiles after big hits. He chirps after first downs. He runs like the sideline is an invitation. Vanderbilt, a program that has spent years hoping for relevance, now looks like it’s riding a quarterback who’s treating the whole season like a celebration, and turning every Saturday into proof.

[Count]

I'm all on board the Pavia hype train

[djp73]

Agreed

[Soapy]

get ready to learn canadian, buddy

[ShireNiner]

FF to the future when Pavia embarrasses himself in the national spotlight and ends up in the CFL.

[toysoldier00]

Week 9 Preview: Elimination Games in Norman and Baton Rouge, and a Heisman Showcase in Nashville

Marissa Bleday
October 23, 2025


October has a way of stripping the fluff out of a season. The undefeated glow fades, the “we’ll clean it up later” excuses disappear, and the games start sounding like ultimatums. Week 9 is built like that, a slate of matchups where the loser doesn’t just take a hit, but often tumbles out of the race entirely. College GameDay is headed to Norman for Ole Miss–Oklahoma, Texas A&M visits LSU with the Tigers running out of runway, and Vanderbilt hosts Missouri in a game that might be the most fun quarterback showcase in the country.

#7 Ole Miss Rebels (6-1) at #9 Oklahoma Sooners (6-1)
The weekend’s centerpiece is No. 7 Ole Miss at No. 9 Oklahoma, a game that feels like an SEC title eliminator even if nobody wants to say it out loud. Ole Miss enters 6–1, fresh off a gutting 41–38 loss at Georgia where it played well enough to win and left with nothing. Oklahoma is 6–1, rebounding from its own heartbreak, the 38–35 loss to Texas, by going on the road and flattening South Carolina 41–10. These aren’t teams with perfect résumés anymore. They’re teams trying to avoid a second scar.

“That’s what this part of the season is,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said this week. “You get tested, you respond, and you find out if you’re built for it.” Venables has a defense that’s been the identity of Oklahoma’s rise, allowing just 10.4 points per game and living off pressure and disruption. The Sooners don’t have to win shootouts; they want to drag you into frustration.

Ole Miss would prefer the opposite. Lane Kiffin’s offense has been one of the SEC’s most productive all season, and since Trinidad Chambliss took over at quarterback three games ago, the Rebels have been efficient and clean. “We can’t play scared,” Kiffin said this week. “You don’t beat teams like Oklahoma by hoping it goes your way.” The issue is personnel: Ole Miss will be without key pieces in the secondary and is missing a major receiving option, which makes the margin thinner in a game already defined by narrow margins.

If Ole Miss is going to survive, it probably needs Damien Taylor, the league’s most consistent touchdown machine, to keep Oklahoma honest early and keep Chambliss out of obvious passing situations. The pressure point for Oklahoma is also real: the Sooners spread the ball around well, but losing top receiver Isaiah Sategna forces someone else to become the “move the chains when everything tightens” guy.

#2 Texas A&M Aggies (7-0) at #15 LSU Tigers (5-2)
In Baton Rouge, No. 2 Texas A&M at No. 15 LSU carries a different kind of urgency. A&M is unbeaten and still chasing the dream season under Mike Elko, but the Aggies haven’t lived on style points, they’ve lived on defense, field position and a willingness to win ugly when necessary. “This is the kind of game you want,” Elko said this week. “It tells you who you are.” LSU, meanwhile, is trying to keep its season from becoming a slow slide into irrelevance.

The Tigers’ early wins look less shiny now, and two SEC losses already means the margin is razor thin. “We’ve got to be the more physical team in our stadium,” Brian Kelly said. “That’s non-negotiable.”

The chess match is straightforward: Texas A&M’s pressure against Garrett Nussmeier’s rhythm. Nussmeier is a pure thrower, not a creator, and A&M has made a habit of collapsing pockets and making quarterbacks speed up. On the other side, LSU’s defense has to decide whether it can bottle up Le’Veon Moss, who has become the Aggies’ most reliable source of balance and finishing power. If LSU loses at home here, it’s hard to see a playoff path that doesn’t require help from half the country.

#13 Missouri Tigers (6-1) at #24 Vanderbilt Commodores (6-1)
The most entertaining game on paper might be in Nashville, where No. 13 Missouri visits No. 24 Vanderbilt in a matchup that feels like it belongs in a bigger stadium than a noon window usually gets. Vanderbilt has a quarterback playing like a folk hero. Diego Pavia has been electric and mistake-free, and he’s turned Vanderbilt from “nice story” into “real problem.”

Clark Lea described the mood succinctly this week: “We’re not trying to be cute. We’re trying to win.”

Missouri, though, brings one of the nation’s best offenses and a quarterback in Beau Pribula who has turned the Tigers into a weekly avalanche, with running back Ahmad Hardy providing the kind of ground control that can quiet even a hot crowd.

Eli Drinkwitz framed it as a stress test: “They’re confident for a reason. If you don’t match their intensity, you’re going to be chasing all day.”

#8 BYU Cougars (7-0) at Iowa State Cyclones (5-2)
In the Big 12, No. 8 BYU at Iowa State is the type of under-the-radar game that ends up defining a conference race by Thanksgiving. BYU is unbeaten and riding belief, while Iowa State is suddenly desperate after back-to-back road losses that knocked the Cyclones out of the early-season glow.

Matt Campbell called it a “season-shaping stretch,” and it is: Iowa State gets BYU and Arizona State in consecutive weeks, meaning the comeback either starts now or doesn’t start at all.

Houston Cougars (6-1) at #23 Arizona State Sun Devils (5-2)
Finally, Houston at No. 23 Arizona State has sneaky danger. Arizona State revived its season by knocking off Texas Tech, but now it gets a Houston team that is better than its name recognition suggests.

Kenny Dillingham warned this week against emotional letdowns: “The biggest trap is thinking you’ve arrived because you won one big game.”

Week 9 is built on that idea. Nobody arrives in October. You either stack wins and keep breathing, or you lose once and start realizing how quickly the sport moves on without you.





[Count]

Feel like people slept on Houston's success this season. Willie Fritz has them on the come up.

Do you use an elgato for your screenshots?

[toysoldier00]

I'm all on board the Pavia hype train

Agreed

I think he’s co-favorite for the Heisman at this point

get ready to learn canadian, buddy

FF to the future when Pavia embarrasses himself in the national spotlight and ends up in the CFL.

that UDFA Draft grade coming soon

[toysoldier00]

Feel like people slept on Houston's success this season. Willie Fritz has them on the come up.

Do you use an elgato for your screenshots?

Definitely, i had no idea they had the season they had until really going back and going through this week by week..

Elgato capture card hardware , but I use OBS software to actually take the screenshots, not the Elgato software. Much, much higher quality available. Lets you maximize what the capture card can do, whereas the elgato software is pretty limiting.