Master Teague Fueled by Faith, Ready for 2020 Season After Achilles Injury

Teague suffered an Achilles injury in March that put his 2020 prospects in serious question. But he attacked his rehab with his full focus and effort, and now he's primed for a big season.

For those who don't know him or who haven't followed him closely, Ohio State running back Master Teague is a very impressive young man. He is well-spoken, he is clearly more mature than the average college student, his faith is his moral compass and he lives his life with a grateful attitude.

It's part of the reason why it was so devastating to learn that he suffered an Achilles injury back in March, right when it looked like it would be his time to shine as the next great Ohio State running back.

Thanks to an aggressive rehab and a strong spirit, Teague is healthy much sooner than one might expect when they initially hear that someone has ruptured their Achilles and he is anxious to get back on the field to represent the Buckeyes.

"When it happened, I wasn’t excited about that of course. It was an unexpected circumstance that happened, but I had some good people around me. I just had to be disciplined and do everything I was told to do by the athletic trainers. It was another chance for me to grow as a person, man, and player.”

Ohio State Athletics

Ohio State Athletics

Ohio State Athletics

"One of the struggles I had and something I think a lot of people may have experienced at the time was the frustration that you don't really know what's ahead and you don't really have a clear insight to where you're going," he continued, as he talked about trying to work through the challenge of rehabbing during the pandemic. "There was no clear direction for the season with CoVID. I think I handled it well for the time that we were locked down and I was really on my own. But going back to last month, I was struggling with not knowing what was going on and where we were headed. I had to really pray over that and ask the Lord to give me patience. Ultimately, this is a gift to be here at this university, but my identity is ultimately in Christ. I had to trust in the Lord that it's all going to work out for His greater good."

Teague is in a unique position. He's been in the Ohio State running back room longer than any other player in the room, although new teammate Trey Sermon has played more college football after transferring from Oklahoma. Teague is returning from an injury to start the season on-time and he's had essentially two additional months to rehab because of the late start to the fall for the Big Ten. And he's been able to watch one of the all-time great Buckeye backs in J.K. Dobbins perform at a high level and learn what it takes to succeed.

“I’m extremely confident that Master is up to the task of replacing J.K.," said Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford on Tuesday. "Now is he going to rush for 2,000 yards? I’m not going to say that. But this is college football - replacing good players is the world we live in. At one point in time we had Carlos Hyde, then Zeke (Ezekiel Elliott), then J.K. (Dobbins). When it’s their turn and they get that tap on the shoulder, they'll do the job at a high level. If those goes couldn’t play winning football for us we wouldn’t bring them here. It’s that plain and simple”.

Teague is coming off an impressive season, especially considering he was a backup. There can't be many second string running backs in America that finished with numbers like his last year - 135 carries for 789 yards and four touchdowns. How many non-starters at skill positions earn an All-Conference selection? It has to be an extremely short list. Teague was third team All-Big Ten last year.

Good news for Ohio State fans - Teague said he thinks he is going to be a “way better player” this year than he was last year. 

“I wasn't my full self as a running back, even though I did decent” last year. With his injury, he's tried to rebuild himself in a different way, and he believes he'll have more agility. 

“That's one of the things I felt like I was missing a little bit last year - I was able to do more agility work and footwork and different things after rehabbing. I feel better, more well-rounded, in that aspect of my game."

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