COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — It’s been a long, strange trip for Joe Bauserman, from baseball phenom to Buckeyes quarterback.
A prized baseball and football star in Virginia and Florida high schools, he spent three years in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization as a pitcher. When that path seemed to fade, he walked on at Ohio State to play football.
Now he finds himself as the starting quarterback for the nation’s No. 15 team, the focal point of 105,000 fans each Saturday.
A hardy outdoorsman — his college major is Fisheries & Wildlife — the 25-year-old Bauserman isn’t overwhelmed by how long it took him to become an overnight sensation. He doesn’t have regrets and he accepts what comes his way.
No wonder his maturity is one thing that won him the job at Ohio State.
