When Ohio State takes the field this weekend in Southern California, there will be two players on the opposing sideline who could have been fan favorites rather than foes.
USC boasts a pair of former top prospects that spurned the Buckeyes in favor of the Trojans, one who was actually committed to Ohio State and another who very nearly was before ultimately taking his talents out West.
Those two are wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt and defensive lineman Luke Wafle, both of whom are now key players in Lincoln Riley's program.
Dixon-Wyatt was the No. 6 WR and No. 54 player nationally in the 2026 class, and had committed to Ohio State in May of last year. The Mater Dei prospect seemed sold on the idea of joining five-star Chris Henry Jr. in Columbus to play under position coach Brian Hartline, who was churning out first round NFL Draft picks like nobody else in the country.
Then, on National Signing Day, news broke that Hartline was taking the head coaching job at USF. Despite losing the architect of the wide receiver room, Ohio State managed to hold on to both Henry Jr. and fellow top-100 prospect Jerquaden Guilford. KDW, however, decided to flip his commitment to the in-state Trojans.
That move has proven beneficial for Dixon-Wyatt, at least from a personal standpoint. The freshman leads USC this season with 443 receiving yards on 32 catches with four touchdowns, and is likely playing far more than he would have in year one at Ohio State.
The Trojans are 6-2 this season with a 3-2 mark in Big Ten play, but those two losses are not the fault of KDW. In fact, the California native's best game this season came in the team's loss to Oregon, wherein he hauled in a career-high seven catches for 114 yards and a touchdown.
Riley's team has its share of issues on defense, which has been a staple of the head coach's programs both at Oklahoma and USC, but the passing offense has been one of the best in the country, and Dixon-Wyatt has been a massive beneficiary.
On the other side of the ball, Luke Wafle leads the Trojans in both tackles for loss and sacks. With Ohio State's defensive line struggling to generate a pass rush this season, he is someone position coach Larry Johnson would really love to have on the roster right now.
Wafle was among the best prospects in the country in the 2026 class, ranked as the No. 1 EDGE and No. 7 player nationally by 247Sports. The New Jersey native had been viewed as an Ohio State lean for a large portion of the recruiting process, but USC reportedly upped its NIL offer down the stretch and the Buckeyes were unwilling to match, so Wafle ended up across the country instead.
Wafle's 7.5 tackles for loss are 3.5 more than any defender on Ohio State's roster this year, and his three sacks tie Kenyatta Jackson's for the Buckeyes' lead. No other OSU defensive lineman has more than one sack through seven games, and with a pretty clear drop off at the position after Jackson and Qua Russaw, Wafle could have been a key piece on Matt Patricia's defense this season.
Those two players' decisions have not completely changed the trajectory of either of these two programs. At 4-0 in the Big Ten, Ohio State will have a good chance to compete for a spot in the conference title game, while USC is treading water in the middle of the pack with a head coach on the hot seat.
That said, both Dixon-Wyatt and Wafle will have a chance to play spoiler this weekend when the Trojans host the Buckeyes, and Ryan Day would much rather have them on his side than be going up against them.
Ohio State has not had a receiver step up as a clear WR2 behind Jeremiah Smith this season. Guys like Devin McCuin and Chris Henry Jr. look like they have the potential to do it, but they have not seized the opportunity like KDW has at USC.
In addition, the Buckeyes' passing defense has been suspect at times, and will be a real concern if Jay Timmons is unable to play on Saturday. Dixon-Wyatt will have a huge opportunity to make an impact against the program he was previously committed to.
Wafle, as previously mentioned, is a guy who could be starting at Ohio State right now. The Buckeyes' pass rush has been anemic to say the least, and Wafle is a potential game-changer off the edge for USC — especially with the status of tackle Austin Siereveld still not fully clear and the offensive line's performance in general a bit hit-or-miss.
This is a huge game for both sides, with the Trojans needing a win to keep their season afloat and the Buckeyes looking to find out if they can still be a national title contender with a backup quarterback.
If Ohio State is going to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and walk out with a victory, they will have to do so by defeating two guys who easily could have been donning Scarlet and Gray instead.
