It’s no secret that Ohio State football has three goals each season. Beat the team up north, win the Big Ten title, and win the National Championship. While the last couple of seasons haven’t gone their way, head coach Ryan Day knows this season is a fresh start with a new chapter. Coach Day returns for a 6th season as the leader of the Scarlet and Gray with an impeccable 56-8 record, 39-3 in the Big Ten conference. Now that the new season is here, Day is focused and ready for the annual expectations of his team along with the players that forewent the NFL draft and decided to return for another year. “They came back for a reason. We are thinking big, they are thinking big, we know what’s at stake and we want to do everything we can to have them leave a legacy and a bunch of hardware.”
Coach Day is referring to players like Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimolau, Tyliek Williams, Lathan Ransom, Sonny Styles, and Denzel Burke on the defensive side of the ball. Add to that, guys like Donovan Jackson and TreVeyon Henderson on the offense, this creates a tremendous amount of depth on both sides of the ball for the 2024 squad.
In addition to the returning players, the Buckeyes were busy this offseason with the transfer portal, bringing in former Ole Miss standout running back Quinshon Judkins to join Henderson in the backfield. Caleb Downs, Seth McLaughlin and quarterback Julian Sayin bring a ton of depth from Alabama. Caleb Downs has an opportunity to become an All American as a sophomore while sharing the secondary work with Denzel Burke and Lanthan Ransom. Perhaps the biggest addition during the past spring was former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard, who now will lead the silver bullets this Saturday in their opener against the Akron Zips. Howard replaces Kyle McCord, the now Syracuse QB, under center. At Kansas State, Howard threw for over 2,600 yards and 24 touchdowns last fall. Needless to say, Howard will fit in just fine with this already loaded offense that features a slew of talented receivers. Emeka Egbuka, Brandon Inniss, Carnell Tate and incoming five star recruit freshman, Jeremiah Smith will definitely be electric weapons to throw to.
“I don’t need to be a hero here. I feel like I have the guys here to be able to facilitate and get them the ball and make good decisions. I don’t have to go out there and be super human. I just have to be myself, trust the guys around me”, Howard said in a preseason interview.
With the Big Ten conference expanding to 18 teams this year, Oregon, USC and Washington pose as immediate threats and stand in the Buckeyes way towards a pursuit of a Big Ten title and a CFP berth. Something new this year is the 12 team playoff format that does create even more competition towards the dream of winning a National Championship for the Buckeyes. Time will tell all as the season unfolds, definitely grab your popcorn folks, it’s going to be a fun season of college football.
The depth this team shows on paper will finally be seen in action on the field at Ohio Stadium Saturday afternoon at 3:30pm when the second ranked Buckeyes host the Akron Zips on CBS.