This certainly could’ve shaken things up in myriad ways, both in the Big Ten and the chase for the playoffs.
A little over two weeks after entering the NCAA transfer database, Justin Fields confirmed Jan. 5 that he would be transferring from Georgia to Ohio State. After receiving a waiver that granted him immediate eligibility to play this season, Fields won the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback job and, in just seven games, has led OSU to an undefeated record that has them in the driver’s seat for one of the four spots in the College Football Playoff field just past the halfway point of the regular season.
Were it not for the wisdom of his father, however, the situations for both Fields and the Buckeyes could’ve played out much, much differently.
In an interview with the Columbus Dispatch, Fields acknowledged that, soon after he arrived in Columbus, he wanted to leave. The sophomore had never lived anywhere other than Georgia and told his dad, Pablo Fields, in a phone conversation that he wanted to go back to his home state and re-enroll at UGA.
The elder Fields, though, wasn’t having it.
From the Dispatch:It’s hard going into a new place where you just don’t know anybody,” Fields told The Dispatch.
So he called his father back in Kennesaw, Georgia.
“Justin calls me up and says, ‘Hey, Dad. Come get me,’” Pablo Fields said.
Justin’s plan, Pablo said, was to re-enroll at Georgia. But Pablo understood, as Day did, that Justin was just homesick. He told Justin to give it a couple of more days and then call back if he still wanted to leave — though he had no intention of letting him.
“He just told me to stay in it, to pray about it and just trust in God,” Justin said. “It was crazy because the next day I met a few friends, and I felt comfortable from there.
(WRITER’S NOTE: I’d highly recommend clicking HERE and reading the article, in its entirety.)
Now firmly -- and comfortably -- entrenched in his second football home, the new BMOC is flourishing on the field.
Fields’ 30 total touchdowns (22 passing, eight rushing) are tied, along with Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts, for second nationally behind the 31 of LSU’s Joe Burrow, while his 190.2 passer rating is fourth nationally behind those two plus Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa. Along with those three, Fields is considered one of four viable Heisman Trophy candidates at the moment.