Tressels, Fickells, Urbans, Days, Johnsons and Days,

Archie dotting the "I." James Laurinaitis on the sideline. Tress now retired and at the game. Chip Kelly up in the box.

...and our first look at a highly anticipated 2024 Buckeye squad.  My first impressions from section 25A:

• Will Howard is a rich man's JT Barrett. He was better than I thought he would be. Got the ball out on time and on target. Good pocket presence and can make plays. His stat line would have been even better without the three drops and the incorrect replay call negating Emeka's TD catch.
• TreyVeyon is even better than I thought he would be and could be special this season. He looks extremely powerful and focused. If he can get his feet to the line of scrimmage without disruption, Trey is very dangerous and playing with bad intentions.
• Whenever OSU got into a rhythm and started to run tempo about to bury the Zips, an Akron defender was suddenly "hurt" stopping play.  OSU may see this a lot this year. Opponents will try to limit OSU offensive snaps and slow them down, each OSU snap has the potential to go all the way.
• Akron seemed to be picking on CJ Hicks.  He was the weak link in the OSU defense, typically out of position allowing Akron to extend drives. Once Arvell Reese came in for Hicks, Akron had a much harder time gaining yards. OSU was much more gap sound and Arvell finds the ball quickly.
• Sonny Styles was in a tough spot and played admirably.  He's new to linebacker, and without notice thrust into the middle linebacker spot with Cody Simon out. Sonny became the captain of the defense, trying to learn the new helmet comms on the fly.  Also, Akron played a tricky 2-quarterback system that caught OSU off guard occasionally.  Despite all of that, Sonny did a pretty good job.  Sonny and Arvell paired with Cody back at MLB should be very disruptive this season.
• Jeremiah Smith appears to be one of the best wide receivers in College Football, and he's only 18 years old.  One of the best OSU freshmen I've seen in a long time; you probably have to go back to Maurice Clarett to find an OSU freshman that dominant.
• The offensive line might still be OSU's achilles heel. I'll try to withhold judgement until Donovan Jackson is back in the lineup.  The Buckeyes had two guards playing their first meaningful snaps ever, and a combination of five lineman that may have very few practice reps together. Also, Akron played an 8-man box last Saturday, so it was tough to keep things clean.  We will want to see dramatic improvement from the O-line the moment D-Jack is back in the lineup.
• Special teams look special, finally.  Brandon Inniss had nearly as many punt return yards last Saturday as all of last season combined.  The coaching changes Ryan Day made related to special teams is off to a good start.
• Something you couldn't see on TV, Ryan Day was all over the refs. In the past, Day had his head buried in the play sheet and was always too busy for anything else.  With Chip Kelly calling plays now, Day is able to focus on the bigger picture. I like it.
• Something you couldn't see on TV, part 2. Lathan Ransom and Caleb Downs are very smart football players.  They did a great job with communication on the back end of the defense and were continually in the right position.  Both will shine this year because of one another.  And, Downs playing up on the line of scrimmage will be a nightmare for opponents.
• Too many missed tackles, including two by Caleb Downs. I'm assuming that is just part of getting back into game speed and they'll right the ship.  The missed tackles extended Akron drives and kept the ball away from Will Howard, JJ Smith and Trey. With the new clock rules, each first down eats about 3 minutes and limits OSU offensive snaps.
• Freshman RB James Peoples from Texas reminds me of another recent OSU RB from Texas - JK Dobbins. Peoples appears to be a fantastic third RB.  He could be special.
• Jack Sawyer makes life miserable for an opposing QB. Eventually, they won't want to drop back to pass.
• OSU is very deep.  One position where that was very evident -- defensive line. The Buckeyes rotated d-linemen continually throughout the game with little to no drop off.
• Jayden Fielding crushed his kickoffs. OSU should kickoff a lot this season.  It's great to see the ball in the back of the end zone every kick. Don't give opponents a spark of hope.
• Year 1 of Jim Knowles defense = too aggressive. Year 2 of Jim Knowles defense = too conservative. Year 3 of Jim Knowles defense = just right. 10 TFLs, 3 takeaways, 2 defensive TDs and no explosive plays in Week 1.

Lots of great stuff from Game 1 vs Akron, and plenty to work on for Game 2 vs Western Michigan.  We will see if the Buckeyes make a jump from week 1 to week 2 as they play under the lights for this next chapter.

Touchdowns:  TreVeyon, Quinshon, James Peoples, Emeka, Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss

OSU 49 Western Michigan 0

Go Bucks!  Beat Western Michigan!  Harry Miller and Tyleik Williams for Heisman!

Puffy Padre