Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Jacoby Boren Takes Center Stage for Ohio State Football

(JTA) — Ohio State may not be know who will be starting at quarterback as its season opener approaches, but the Buckeye who will be snapping is a sure thing: Jacoby Boren, the football squad’s Jewish center and newly named co-captain.

Boren, a senior, was named one of six co-captains last week by coach Urban Meyer for the defending national champions. He joins John Frank, an All-Big Ten Conference tight end who went on to a stellar career with the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers before becoming a doctor, as a Jewish co-captain in the rich history of OSU football.

The 6-2, 285-pounder, an Ohio native, will be anchoring an offensive line with four returning starters, including himself. Boren no doubt picked up a few pointers from his older brothers Zach and Justin; both excelled in recent years along the Buckeyes’ offensive front.

READ: Meet the Jewish 300-pounder from Hobart College heading to the NFL

Boren, who is majoring in sustainable plant systems, with an eye toward taking over the family landscaping business, is performing well in the classroom, too. He was named second team Academic All-America last year and is a two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.

So who will he be taking his snaps for Monday’s Labor Day opener against Virginia Tech?

Meyer has yet to settle on J.T. Barrett or Cardale Jones, last year’s third-stringer who led the Buckeyes to victory in January’s national championship game against Alabama. Barrett also is a co-captain.

With Boren and his guys on the line blocking as expected, either should have success as OSU aims to break the plethora of school records set last season on offense.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.