Ohio's Houston, Duke's Carter lead Columbus-area football players into bowl season
To call Bryce Houston a utility player for Ohio University’s defense is no exaggeration.
The Olentangy Orange graduate has taken full advantage of his sixth and final season with the Bobcats, leading them in solo (54), assisted (65) and total (119) tackles, tackles for loss (12.5) and interceptions (3) entering Saturday’s Myrtle Beach Bowl against Georgia Southern.
Houston, a three-year starter at middle linebacker and two-time all-Mid-American Conference selection who is preparing for his fourth bowl game, admitted his game had to be tweaked to make it possible.
“I really wanted to improve on my pass coverage ability, just to be a full three-down linebacker,” said Houston, who is 6 feet tall and 246 pounds. “I’m a do-everything guy. (Coaches) send me on blitzes. They have me in pass coverage. They trust that I can play man coverage in certain situations. They want me to be as diverse a player as I can.”
Houston’s achievements earned him first-team all-conference and third-team All-American by College Football Network.
He ranks 16th nationally in total tackles and was a two-time MAC Defensive Player of the Week during the regular season.
The Bobcats (9-3) allow an average of 14.5 points and 96.5 rushing yards.
After a high school career that saw him amass 215 tackles, 151 of them solo, and 10 sacks with all-state honors in his junior and senior seasons, Houston redshirted as a freshman at OU in 2018 but saw action in two games. One of them was a 27-0 win over San Diego State in the Frisco Bowl.
Houston tore his left ACL in 2020, after having torn his right ACL during his senior year at Orange.
The first OU football player to be accepted into the school’s Master of Business Administration program, Houston — whose undergraduate degree is in international business and finance — is designing an app called “Curfew” to provide students free access to food unused by area restaurants at the end of the business day.
Houston’s hope is for the app to be unveiled by spring.
OU, which fell one game short of a second consecutive MAC-East Division championship, is in its 12th bowl game in 15 seasons.
Saturday’s game kicks off at 11 a.m. on ESPN.
Three or four hours later, Houston expects the emotions of his final college game to take hold.
“It’s very different knowing I won’t be coming back wearing the green and white,” said Houston, who called playing at the next level “100%” his goal. “It will be an emotional time once the game is over. The years before, it was a fun experience and a great time, but I was kind of looking forward to the next year. Now, it will be that final chapter. It will be a surreal moment and an amazing time.”
College football bowl schedule: A guide for fans
‘Mr. Duke’ DeWayne Carter prepares for next phase
The Monday after Thanksgiving, Duke football released a YouTube video titled “The Story of DeWayne Carter.”
It lasted 8:35, and the vast majority addressed Carter’s background, passion for social justice and his career goals in education. His play took a back seat, but the 6-3, 305-pound redshirt senior defensive tackle from Pickerington Central will leave a legacy long after his final game, the Birmingham Bowl against Troy on Dec. 23.
“When it comes to my identity, football player is last for me personally although it may seem like it’s not that way,” Carter said. “It was important for me coming to Duke to use the experience for what it was, learning all the possibilities of what could be. My goal was to leave a legacy, a lasting impact, leave the place better than I found it.”
A three-year starter and the first three-time captain in program history, a distinction that led to the nickname “Mr. Duke,” Carter leads the Blue Devils (7-5) with 39 tackles, including three for loss and a sack, and has 124 for his career. His time as a starter coincides with a resurgence for Duke, which went 3-9 in 2021, 9-4 last year and this season started 4-0 for the first time and won a record six home games.
Carter, who won a Division I state championship at Central in 2017, was first-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference this year and won the Jim Tatum Award as the conference’s top senior football student-athlete. He has a 3.47 GPA as he pursues a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in education and theater studies.
Carter said his biggest improvement has been mental.
“There’s always bigger, faster, stronger, but for me it was really just intelligence,” he said. “Understanding the game, learning how football really works and how much of a mind game it really is. The mental aspect, the film study, tendencies, anything you can pick up on to give yourself an edge.”
Eligible for a sixth season at Duke because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carter instead intends to declare for the NFL draft.
“Life will start coming really fast,” he said. “But I’m ready.”
Former central Ohio high school football players in bowl games
Ninety-five college football players from central Ohio are listed on rosters of teams that will compete in bowl games. Here is the list:
Air Force
Kaleb Holcomb, sr., OT (Dublin Coffman)
Boston College
Jackson Ness, graduate student, OL (Upper Arlington)
Bowling Green
Patrick Day, sr., S (Hilliard Bradley)
Ian Drummond, sr., TE (Olentangy)
Jacob Harris, fr., TE (Westerville Central)
Jace Henry, fr., CB (Watkins Memorial)
Jabari Mitchell, fr., LB (Reynoldsburg)
Andre Robinson, fr., WR (Olentangy Orange)
Duke
DeWayne Carter, sr., DT (Pickerington Central)
Eastern Michigan
Mitchell Tomasek, jr., P (Worthington Kilbourne)
Daniel Warnsman, jr., OL (Dublin Coffman)
Florida State
James Rosenberry II, sr., LS (Olentangy)
Iowa
Luke Lachey, jr., TE (Grandview Heights)
Iowa State
Jarrod Hufford, sr., OL (Licking Valley)
James Madison
Cole Potts, jr., OL (DeSales)
Kansas
Gage Keys, so., DL (Hilliard Davidson)
Marshall
Jalen Slappy, fr., OL (Eastmoor Academy)
Jaden Yates, fr., LB (Gahanna Lincoln)
Miami University
Eli Coppess, fr., LB (Pickerington North)
Reid Holskey, jr., OL (Licking Heights)
Jackson Izzard, so., WR (Jonathan Alder)
Will Jados, so., OL (Westerville Central)
Cam Kirk, so., DB (Dublin Coffman)
A.J. Mirgon, so., WR (Hilliard Bradley)
Dominic Nardone, jr., LB (Dublin Jerome)
Malik Ray, fr., LB (Pickerington North)
Blaine Riley, so., LB (Canal Winchester)
Gavin Rohrs, fr., OL (Marysville)
Marcus White, so., OL (Gahanna Lincoln)
Michigan
Joey Velazquez, graduate student, LB (DeSales)
Minnesota
Devon Williams, jr., LB (Dublin Coffman)
New Mexico State
Jaelen Gill, sr., WR (Westerville South)
Northwestern
Garner Wallace, jr., DB (Pickerington Central)
Ben Wrather, sr., OL (Olentangy Liberty)
Notre Dame
Ben Krimm, graduate student, P (Upper Arlington)
Zac Yoakam, so., K (Upper Arlington)
Ohio State
David Adolph, so., WR (Dublin Jerome)
Quinton Burke, sr., OL (Lancaster)
Patrick Gurd, sr., TE (New Albany)
Ty Hamilton, sr., DT (Pickerington Central)
Collin Johnson, jr., LS (New Albany)
Max Lomonico, jr., LS (Pickerington Central)
Mason Maggs, so., QB (Dublin Coffman)
Casey Magyar, jr., K (Dublin Coffman)
Jace Middleton, jr., TE (Olentangy)
Gabe Powers, so., LB (Marysville)
Chad Ray, sr., QB (Dublin Scioto)
Ryan Rudzinski, fr., S (Watterson)
Jack Sawyer, jr., DE (Pickerington North)
Will Smith Jr., fr., DL (Dublin Coffman)
Austin Snyder, jr., K (Groveport)
Lorenzo Styles Jr., jr., CB (Pickerington Central)
Sonny Styles, so., S (Pickerington Central)
Toby Wilson, jr., OL (Olentangy)
Ohio University
Jay Amburgey, graduate student, OL (Reynoldsburg)
Major Brown, jr., WR (Gahanna Lincoln)
Miles Fleming, jr., S (Hartley)
Tyler Foster, sr., TE (Pickerington North)
Kobi Gorman, fr., DT (Pickerington Central)
Caleb Gossett, so., WR (Olentangy)
Christian Hilton, so., WR (Granville)
Bryce Houston, graduate student, LB (Olentangy Orange)
Dontay Hunter II, sr., DE (Westerville Central)
Ben Johnson, sr., S (Pickerington North)
R.J. Keuchler, fr., DT (Pickerington Central)
Andrew Marshall, fr., LB (Bloom-Carroll)
Chris Mayfield, jr, DT (Hilliard Bradley)
John Motton, so., S (Groveport)
Quintell Quinn, so., RB (DeSales)
Brady Sestilli, fr., LB (Dublin Jerome)
Jake Skelly, so., OL (Hartley)
Dylan Stevens, jr., LB (Olentangy Liberty)
Bradley Weaver, so., DE (Hilliard Darby)
Gino Williams, fr., DL (Pickerington Central)
Jeremiah Wood, sr., S (Pickerington Central)
Joey Woolard, jr., DT (Grove City)
Kam Wright, fr., OL (Granville)
Penn State
Kaden Saunders, fr., WR (Westerville South)
Rutgers
Kwabena Asamoah, so., OL (Pickerington Central)
South Alabama
Rickey Hyatt Jr., jr. DB (Westerville Central)
Syracuse
J.J. Branham, jr., RB (Northland)
Tennessee
Jackson Locke, so., WR (Newark)
Toledo
Mike Drennen II, jr., RB (Dublin Coffman)
C.C. Ezirim, fr., TE (Dublin Jerome)
Connor Jones, so., LB (Hilliard Darby)
Don Munnerlyn, so., WR (Independence)
Cole Rhett, fr., OL (Watterson)
Nick Rosi, jr., OL (Olentangy Liberty)
West Virginia
Hammond Russell IV, so., DL (Dublin Coffman)
Western Kentucky
Craig Burt, sr., WR (Centennial)
Wisconsin
Joe Huber, jr., OL (Dublin Jerome)
Rodas Johnson, sr., DE (DeSales)
Isaiah Mullens, sr., DE (Harvest Prep)
Manny Mullens, so., DE (Harvest Prep)
Jack Pugh, so., TE (Hilliard Bradley)
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Former Columbus high school football players prep for bowl games
