COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Associated Press named its preseason All-Americans for the upcoming college football season and three Buckeyes were named to the top team.
Receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka along with captain and linebacker Tommy Eichenberg were included in the first-team preseason selection. Two other Buckeyes were named to the second-team: offensive guard Donovan Jackson and edge rusher J.T. Tuimoloau.
Harrison Jr. is considered as one of the top players in the country after a breakout sophomore season where he caught 77 passes for 1,263 yards with 14 touchdowns. Egbuka also caught for over 1,000 yards last season with 10 receiving touchdowns as him and Harrison Jr. form one of the best receiver duos in college football. On the defensive side, graduate student Eichenberg totaled 112 tackles with 11.5 sacks.
AP ALL-AMERICA FIRST TEAM
Offense
Quarterback — Caleb Williams, USC
Running backs — Blake Corum, Michigan; Quinshon Judkins, Mississippi.
Tackles — Joe Alt, Notre Dame; Olu Fashanu, Penn State.
Guards — Cooper Beebe, Kansas State; Zak Zinter, Michigan.
Center — Sedrick Van Pran, Georgia.
Tight end — Brock Bowers, Georgia.
Wide receivers — Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State; Rome Odunze, Washington; Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State.
All-purpose player — Travis Hunter, Colorado.
Kicker — Joshua Karty, Stanford.
Defense
Edge rushers — Jared Verse, Florida State; Bralen Trice, Washington.
Interior linemen — Jer’Zhan Newton, Illinois; Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati.
Linebackers — Harold Perkins, LSU; Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Georgia; Tommy Eichenberg, Ohio State.
Cornerbacks — Kool-aid McKinstry, Alabama; Kalen King, Penn State.
Safeties — Kam Kinchens, Miami; Malaki Starks, Georgia.
Defensive back — Cooper DeJean, Iowa.
Punter — Tory Taylor, Iowa.
Ohio State opens its season on Sept. 2 against Indiana in Bloomington. The college football season does begin Saturday with “Week 0” games. No. 13 Notre Dame, who will host Ohio State on Sept. 23 on NBC4, will open its season in Dublin, Ireland, against Navy. The Fighting Irish’s opener can be seen live at 2:30 p.m. on NBC4 this Saturday.