Ohio State Kicker Former Lake Braddock Soccer Star

BURKE, VA — Former Lake Braddock soccer standout Tyler Durbin is having quite the season so far this fall.

Thing is, he hasn't scored a goal, stopped a shot or been productive on defense.

But there's a simple reason for that. Durbin plays football — American football — these days, and he does so for third-ranked Ohio State.

This despite having played in all of two football games in his life, including Saturday's 48-3 Buckeyes win over Tulsa in which he booted a pair of short field goals and converted six extra points.

This a week after he converted 11 extra points in the season-opening 77-10 win over Bowling Green.

Durbin, per his Ohio State player bio, played two seasons of soccer at James Madison University after graduating from Lake Braddock with a perfect grade-point average.

According to Associated Press, he left JMU in part because of playing time but mostly because he wanted to attend a school with a quality civil engineering program. So he transferred after dabbling with community college.

And now this.

''I don't really know how all this happened, but it's been an incredible ride,'' Durbin told the AP.

Jokingly added Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer last week: "I don't know where the hell he came from."

Durbin told the Washington Post that once he considered giving college football try, he approached Virginia Tech mainly because of its highly rated engineering program but was persuaded to look elsewhere because of the Hokies' depth at the position.

So he walked on at Ohio State, and drew raves during preseason workouts that included him kicking a 62-yard field goal. And when the Buckeyes' incumbent starter, Sean Nuernberger suffered a groin injury before the opener, Meyer tapped Durbin as the replacement.

Worked out OK.

Photo: Ohio State Athletics