Ohio State senior offensive lineman Billy Price (54) prepares to snap the ball in the fourth quarter of the B1G Championship game against Wisconsin on Dec. 2 in Lucas Oil Stadium. Ohio State won 27-21. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Photo Editor
Ohio State is one step closer to having a Rimington Trophy winner in the middle of its line for the second year in a row.
Redshirt senior Billy Price on Monday was named one of three finalists for the award, which is given to the nation’s most outstanding center. Last year, Ohio State center Pat Elflein won the award. Price would be the third Buckeye to win the award, following Elflein and LeCharles Bentley, who won it in the second year of its existence in 2001.
Alabama’s Bradley Bozeman and LSU’s Will Clapp are the other two finalists for the award.
Last year, Price was honored as a second-team All-American and was named to the first-team All-Big Ten team by both coaches and media. He was also named a third-team All-Big Ten member in 2015.
A two-time team captain, Price is the most experienced player on Ohio State. Earlier this season, Price set the record for most starts by a player in program history. He currently has started 54 games and, with his start in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 29, Price will set the record of 55 starts. In that game, he will also tie Elflein’s program record of 55 games played. Elflein and Price both made transitions from guard to center for their redshirt senior seasons.
The winner will be announced during a presentation Thursday night.
