Skip to content

Ad Disclosure

Ohio State adds transfer kicker from USC to roster

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Ohio State’s special teams is adding a new piece.

Friday, the Buckeyes received a verbal pledge from former USC kicker Parker Lewis. He spent two years with the Trojans and was ranked as the No. 7 kicker in the 2020 recruiting class. Lewis could serve as a kickoff specialist for the Buckeyes this fall.

Noah Ruggles is expected to return for the 2022 season as the primary placekicker. Since he struggled with kicking the ball through the back of the end zone, though, Lewis might be able to take over those duties for the upcoming season.

Lewis will have three years of eligibility to use at Ohio State.

At USC in 2021, Lewis was successful on 17-of-22 field goal attempts and was responsible for 27 touchbacks on 34 kickoffs. Lewis also converted on a career-best 52-yard field goal try last year. He’s 46-of-47 on extra point kicks over the past two seasons.

Ruggles was a Lou Groza Award finalist last season after knocking home 20-of-21 field goal attempts for the Buckeyes. He also made all 74 PAT kicks.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB