Okudah started all 14 games and garnered first-team Associated Press All-American, first-team All-Big Ten, and Jim Thorpe Award finalist honors. Okudah led the Buckeyes with three interceptions and nine pass breakups as a junior, also posting 35 tackles and two forced fumbles. Despite not starting a game in 2018, he tied for the team lead in pass breakups with eight while also recording 34 tackles. Okudah enrolled in Columbus a semester early as a five-star recruit and the top cornerback prospect in the country out of Grand Prairie, Texas. He played in all 14 games in 2017 as a true freshman (19 tackles, one pass breakup) but underwent shoulder surgery after the season. Okudah's mother, Marie, passed away in 2017 after a long battle with lymphoma.