From every position group to quarterback leadership to play calling, the Buckeyes won’t look like the 2023 unit that that sputtered through a season of inconsistent performances that ended in disappointment.
Columbus, OH – No one in scarlet and gray uses the words “new offense.” But that’s what Ohio State is about to unleash this Saturday against a 50-point underdog.
The nation won’t really notice. It will see the lopsided score, a couple highlights and chalk it up to a weak opponent. Outsiders will acknowledge the talent and the coaching talent, but they won’t see past that. Because, really, who outside of Ohio State and Akron fans are going to watch much of this game?
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Watch closely. The changes aren’t radical. Certainly, more nuanced than that. But this offense will not resemble the 2023 version than never realized its potential, if it even had much of one. So much is new, and new things always means change.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State football and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
And no team in the nation enters the season with more positive change than Ohio State. Or maybe more hype. They are ranked No. 2 behind Georgia, the defense is loaded with future pros and expectations are high even for a place like Ohio State.
“You’re not allowed to have a bad day around here – it’s just not allowed,” head coach Ryan Day said. “For all the work we put in and all the time and effort we put in, you get 12 opportunities.”
How good the offense is will require patience. After they, fans and other TV viewers are done being bored with Akron, Western Michigan and Marshall, the real Buckeyes will be known when Big Ten play begins, especially on an October visit to No. 3 Oregon.
The Buckeyes, as they should, make no predictions or promises about this Saturday or any other. But unlike a year ago, Day hasn’t talked this preseason about how many points the Buckeyes should average or how many yards they should rush for every Saturday. He doesn’t need to try to speak those things into existence. He knows what he has, and it’s better.
Most importantly, Day speaks like a coach who knows what he has in his quarterback far more than he did a year ago. The evidence? Kyle McCord won a close competition with Devin Brown, but he never won over the fan base or ultimately, Day. When McCord was informed he would have to win the job again this year, he left before the Cotton Bowl and landed in Syracuse. Enough said.
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This year Day has Will Howard, the senior transfer from Kansas State, to quarterback his team. And it’s clear that Day believes in Howard, saying he clearly won the job over Brown. Day and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly have talked about how much Howard progressed from being a ‘newbie’ in spring practice to playing and leading like a veteran in preseason camp.
Howard came to Ohio State because he wanted to be coached hard and put himself in a position to be an NFL Draft choice. Coaches have praised him for his accuracy and running ability. Sound at all like 2023?
Transfer quarterback Will Howard ‘is not in Kansas, anymore’…will start for the Buckeyes against Akron on Saturday.
Howard takes over a team with higher expectations and goals than he experienced at Kansas State. But Day said he doesn’t expect any wide-eyed “I’m not in Kansas anymore” moments.
“He knew what he was getting himself into here at Ohio State, and not to speak for him, but I think there was only maybe a couple places he would have considered other than going to the NFL,” Day said. “He wanted to be here, and I think a big part of that is he knew what came with it.”
Howard embraces his role as the team’s leader. And he’s ready to lead them Saturday in his first game at the Horseshoe.
“I can’t overstate how excited I am,” he said. “The thing I’m most excited for is running out in front of 110,000 and just taking that in. I only get so many opportunities here. I want to make sure I soak it in before we go out there and get to business, strap it up and play.”
How the offense operates, the play-calling, and maybe the run-pass ratio, will all be different and better because of Kelly. His teams have historically ranked highly in rushing yards. He has Howard, who has shown the ability to break off long touchdown runs, and he’s tasked Howard with being the run-game coordinator.
Because of how Kelly likes to operate his offense and give players the freedom to make decisions, he leans on his quarterbacks more than most. Howard will have to be good at knowing when to hand off or when to keep, when to pass or when to run, when to change the play to a different run lane or from pass to run or vice versa.
The incumbent…Tre-Veyon Henderson will be running back option 1A, with Ole Miss transfer Quinshon Judkins (1B) waiting in the wings.
“Rarely in this offense do you just take the ball, hand it off and move on,” Day said. “He’s got to be an expert. He’s got to be the best in the country at that.”
When coordinating the run game, Howard will have 1A and 1B to hand off to. TreVeyon Henderson is a senior, the team’s top rusher the past three seasons, and one of 12 players who came back to win a championship instead of going to the NFL. Quinshon Judkins is a junior transfer and two-time 1,000-yard rusher at Ole Miss.
Day doesn’t know who will take the first snaps Saturday, but it didn’t seem to matter to him. He sounded as if he hadn’t even thought about it. He said that decision belongs to new running backs coach Carlos Locklyn.
“You have an idea of how many carries you’d like to see for each guy, but you don’t know how it’s going to shake out,” Day said. “But I’m excited to see these guys run.”
When the Buckeyes throw the football, there’s nothing new about having All-American and future first-round draft picks making catches and scoring touchdowns. But there’s a new wrinkle this year. His name is Jeremiah Smith. He’s a true freshman who looks like a senior. And he’s starting on Saturday. He will be the first to do so under receivers coach Brian Hartline.
Receivers coach Brian Hartline will have an embarrassment of riches at wide receiver…with All-Americans and future first-round picks, including freshman Jeremiah Smith, who will start on Saturday.
Day’s announcement of Smith starting wasn’t what you could call an announcement. He talked about the receivers and how several will see the field. Then he was asked: “You think Jeremiah will be out there at the beginning?”
“Yes.”
And that’s all Day said, keeping with his earlier statement that he wouldn’t say much about Smith until he played in a game. That changes Saturday.
That leaves the line. No satisfaction was found in that unit last season. The Buckeyes struggled to consistently run the ball and protect McCord. But this year’s group has another year of experience, Seth McLaughlin transferred from Alabama to play center, and Tegra Tshabola has won the right guard position. Last year Day worried about depth. This year he talks confidently about the depth.
Kelly’s direction of the offense will be manipulated from the press box. He will have time and space to figure out how to attack the defense on the next possession. That’s an advantage Day didn’t have when he was calling plays from the sidelines and was tasked with more than play calling.
Still, with the specter of last season’s offense not obliterated from memory, Day continues to talk a cautious approach. He’s not into predictions. He wants to see a couple games before he begins to claim anything about this offense.
And many, if not all, fans are with him on that. Prove it.
“We’ll see … we’ll see,” Day said. “We’ve had some really good days of practice, we’ve had a couple really good moments in some scrimmages – still looking to be more consistent.”
But Day likes something unmeasurable he sees when he looks at his new quarterback.
“He’s got a good look in his eye this week,” Day said.
That confidence might prove to be this offense’s most positive new thing.
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