Emeka Egbuka ignited the crowd with a one-handed, fingertip grab for a big gain. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
Head coach Ryan Day and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly didn’t say whether Will Howard has won the starting quarterback job and didn’t say who will be the fifth starting offensive lineman. But they talked about the need for more depth in the 12-team playoff era and the benefit of athletic quarterbacks who can run.
Columbus, OH – The most clearly stated expectation after Ohio State’s spring game Saturday reflected the new era of college football.
The need to build depth.
Not depth for the sake of depth. Not depth for the fourth quarter of blowouts. But depth for the expectation that the Buckeyes plan to play 16 or 17 games because of the 12-team playoff. Ryan Day didn’t predict a national championship – didn’t dare say the words – but he mentioned an expected longer season, almost in passing, and said depth will be necessary for a 16- or 17-game season.
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New offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chip Kelly also used the words 16 and 17 when he talked about his top five running backs, all by name.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State Football and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
“We’re very cognizant of the fact that the playoff situation has changed, so you have to develop that depth,” Kelly said. “Used to be maybe you have a pair and a spare. But you may have to have more than that.”
No question the Buckeyes expect to be one of the few teams in play for a national championship. And no question that the defense is loaded and expects to dominate even more than it did last year. And no question that the running backs and receivers are elite groups.
But … will maybe the best defense in the nation and multiple playmakers be enough? Last year’s team, with those same strengths, couldn’t overcome questionable offensive line and quarterback play. Yes, we leave 15 spring practices expecting those positions to be better in 2024 because of the line’s experience and the presumptive starting quarterback’s experience.
QB and heir-apparent Will Howard tosses a quick hitter in the flat during the Spring game. But with a stable full of talented quarterbacks chomping at the bit, he’ll have to prove his worth.
But the questions that still need honest answers – queries that can’t fully, even partially, be answered under a bright sun in April – are how well will Ohio State’s offensive line and quarterback play football on September 28?
All the bright and shiny football displayed at Ohio Stadium on Saturday in front of 80,012 fans created a bright outlook for most of the team, especially the secondary. But the two aspects of the team that created consternation last year continue to be works in progress. And progress is the key word.
Maybe the Big Ten opener on that final Saturday in September at Michigan State won’t be all that measurable. But the next Saturday against Iowa’s defense? The data that day will matter. And the trip to Oregon the week after that? That is likely to be the first full, true measurement of the Buckeyes as a whole.
Until then, coaches will grade films and talk about the fierce competitions for playing time.
Dublin Jerome’s David Adolph turned a few heads in the Spring game with a couple of impressive catches including this one despite being harassed all afternoon by cornerback Aaron Scott, Jr.
Clearly, the decision on who the five best offensive linemen are needs further consideration. The left side of Josh Simmons at tackle and Donovan Jackson at guard is set in granite. Seth McLaughlin, the Alabama transfer, started at center, and Carson Hinzman, last year’s center until he didn’t start the Cotton Bowl, was the right guard. Josh Fryar played left tackle just as he did all last season. Tegra Tshabola played some right guard with the starters, and Hinzman also played center. Who the fifth starter is will likely come down to Hinzman or Tshabola.
“You’re going to get tested, especially in this big playoff format – you really have to think that way,” Kelly said. “You’re not looking for five starters. You’re really looking for 10 starters because you’re probably going to have to play 10 guys if you want to get through a 16-, 17-game season.”
Quarterback depth, however, is something coaches only want to be necessary in case of injury. They want one guy to own the position and leave no doubt that he is the man.
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Quarterback play, as it often does, generated mixed reviews Saturday. But Will Howard, the senior transfer from Kansas State, started and completed 9 of 13 passes for 77 yards against the first-team defense. How good was he? Probably as good as any quarterback will play against that defense in the first half of any game. And he showed the pocket presence of a veteran, a presence that will likely earn him the job of starter.
Alabama transfer Caleb Downs (2) dials in on Mississippi transfer Quinshon Judkins (1). Both former SEC players are expected to have a huge and immediate impact on the Bucks in the fall.
“He stands in there – you can see that,” Day said. “Overall he had a good comfort level for the first drive in the Shoe.”
Day and Kelly declined to speculate on the outcome of the quarterback competition. Nothing major stood out and nothing obviously disqualified anyone. The transfer portal opens Tuesday, and by the end of the week the coaches will have met with every Buckeye and told them where they stand on the depth chart.
That depth chart, of course, will be locked away deep inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Don’t expect any declarations of any kind. Portal entries, or a lack thereof, will be the only evidence of any of those conversations.
Howard moved the offense early in the second quarter and displayed a connection between himself, freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith (have you seen videos of the one-handed catches he’s made in practice?) and top returning receiver Emeka Egbuka.
On one play, Egbuka made a one-handed catch along the sideline as if to say, “I can make one-handed catches, too.”
Ryan Day knows that Ohio State fans have high expectations and he’s pulled out all the stops to bring a BigTen and CFP National Championship back to Columbus.
Then Howard found out just how good the Buckeyes’ secondary is and how hard it is to put passes on their hands in one-on-one coverage in the red zone.
From the 14-yard line, Howard threw three straight passes to the end zone – two to Smith and one to Egbuka – while three different defenders – Jermaine Mathews, Davison Igbinosun and Jordan Hancock – broke them up.
The old coaching line about “we go against the best defense every day in practice that we’ll see all season” might actually be true this time.
What also will be true next season is that the quarterback(s) will tuck the ball and run more than Kyle McCord ever thought about doing last season. Of the 57 rushes Saturday, 18 were by the five quarterbacks. Freshmen Air Noland and Julian Sayin ran five times each. Howard ran it once. That says something about which quarterbacks surveyed the field and found open receivers the best.
“Air” Noland delivers a pass into the flat during the Spring Game on April 13, 2024.
Most of the quarterback runs were not called plays, which is the way Day and Kelly like it. They want unplanned quarterback runs to stress defenses and open up play-calling options.
“It’s going to be a weapon for us this year because all of our quarterbacks are athletic enough to do that,” Day said.
An offense that gets mileage out of a running quarterback, that blocks more consistently, that makes big plays more often than a year ago could be true for this team. What won’t be true is that the Buckeyes will ever open a series in the old Woody Hayes Robust T formation. Unless a series starts near the goal line. Kelly used the formation last year at UCLA and will use it this year in short-yardage situations.
But on Saturday it was the first play he called.
Kelly said Friday’s practice in the Horseshoe was his first time in the historic stadium. But the legacy and legend of Hayes wasn’t lost on him. So with Howard under center, the Buckeyes motioned into the T with running back Quinshon Judkins on the left, tight end Patrick Gurd in the middle and running back TreVeyon Henderson on the right.
Diante Griffin steps in front of a pass at the goalline that was intended for TC Caffey and takes it to the house to end the Spring Game.
Henderson took the handoff and ran through a hole created by Gurd. The only thing that wasn’t Hayes-like was no tackling allowed against the first-teamers. Henderson was touched for a gain of a few yards, but he had momentum and room for more.
“There’s a looming figure around this whole program,” Kelly said. “We get to go to work every day in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. It was good enough for Woody. We’re going to do it.”
A bigger thing and another thing Coach Hayes did a lot of was win national championships. The 2024 team might get to put another trophy on display in the Woody. We know they expect to do it. Many of you expect them to do it.
The real answer to, “Is it possible?” will be answered if Kelly’s offense is soaring by Iowa and Oregon.
Then it will be a question of depth. At least that’s what the coaches are saying.
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