By MITCH STACY
COLUMBUS – For the Ohio State Buckeyes, the window to the national championship is wide open again.
Zero money helped fill the locker with returning starters and lured other key players from the transfer portal. New sporting director Ross Bjork said it cost about $20 million from donor communities and brand partners to put together that roster of players.
With everything coming together, including an experienced starting quarterback, Will Howard, who transferred from Kansas State, things couldn’t be better for coach Ryan Day. The AP Top 25 voters recognize that, ranking the Buckeyes No. 2 in the preseason poll.
With TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, who transferred from Ole Miss, Ohio State has one of the most impressive running back duos in college football.
Emeka Egbuka is poised to become the top receiver after spending the past two seasons in the shadow of Marvin Harrison Jr. He had 1,151 receiving yards in 2022, but an ankle injury that required surgery limited his performance in 2023.
“It’s the same expectations that people have of Ohio State every year,” Egbuka said. “It’s just more of the same. We try not to take it to heart. We try to stay down and keep working and realize that you have to put it all together on the field.”
The unit had the second-best defense in the country last season and could be even better this time around, with seven starters returning and the addition of safety Caleb Downs, a transfer from Alabama, bolstering the experienced secondary.
Talented QB room
Howard, Day and new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who left his job as head coach at UCLA to join the Buckeyes, have a glut at the quarterback position. They won’t be able to make everyone happy.
Howard is Mr. Right Now. He’s been through it all and thrown for nearly 5,800 yards and 48 touchdowns in four years at Kansas State.
“I would say I don’t feel like I have to be a hero here,” Howard said. “And I feel like I have the guys around me that I just need to help, pass them the ball and make good decisions. At the end of the day, I don’t have to go out there and do anything superhuman.”
Other quarterbacks on the roster include Devin Brown, who was a candidate for the starting position in his third year and will again begin the season as the No. 2. Lincoln Kienholz, a sophomore, and promising newcomers Julian Sayin – he transferred to Ohio State after a brief stint at Alabama – and Air Noland will still be waiting for their chance.
Last year’s starter, Kyle McCord, transferred to Syracuse.
The team in the north
The Buckeyes have lost to their biggest rival Michigan for the past three years, the first time in nearly three decades.
Ohio State has been dominated by Jim Harbaugh-led teams of late, making Buckeye Nation uneasy and raising thorny questions for Day. Michigan won 30-24 last November without Harbaugh, who was serving a suspension for a sign-stealing scandal.
The subsequent sluggish 14-3 loss to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl only made the bad mood in Columbus worse. Harbaugh has since moved on to the NFL.
“I’d be lying if I told you it didn’t light a fire in us,” said Jack Sawyer, a fourth-year defensive end growing up in suburban Columbus who decided he didn’t want to leave without beating Michigan. “It’s definitely something we think about, and we know what’s at stake when we play these guys. All of our goals and hopes for the season hinge on that one game in November. They hate us, we hate them. That’s the way it has to be. That’s the way we want it to be.”
Players in focus
No Ohio State receiver – not even Harrison, who was later selected in the first round of the NFL Draft – has generated as much hype as freshman Jeremiah Smith. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound receiver from Miami Gardens, Florida, is the top prospect of the class of 2024 and is considered a generational talent who will be in the spotlight immediately.
The schedule
With the addition of USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon to the Big Ten this season, the schedules had to be rearranged.
The Buckeyes play Akron on August 31st and then have a few preseason games against Western Michigan and Marshall. Important games are Iowa (October 5th), Oregon (October 12th), Penn State (November 2nd) and Michigan (November 30th). On November 16th they play Northwestern at Wrigley Field.
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