It's time to watch some football in Ohio Stadium again.
No, the spring game isn't quite a real game, but it's the closest we'll come to watching Ohio State play actual football until the Sept. 2 season opener at Minnesota – so we'll take what we can get while we can get it.
And with no shortage of intriguing storylines entering this year's spring game, from a three-way quarterback competition to a loaded class of new freshmen taking the field at Ohio Stadium for the first time, there's a lot we're looking forward to watching today.
So just as we did before each of Ohio State's games last season, our Last Call series is back for our final thoughts, questions and predictions going into Saturday's exhibition at the Shoe, which begins at noon and will be televised on Big Ten Network.
Final Thoughts
Don't expect perfection from the QBs
Given that none of the three quarterbacks competing for Ohio State's starting job have ever thrown a pass in a college game, there's no question that the quarterbacks' spring game performances will be analyzed extensively, as it's the only time we'll get to see them throw in a game-like setting before the season opener. But it's also important to keep things in perspective.
Two years ago, Justin Fields completed just four of his 13 passing attempts in the spring game. He went on to complete 18 of 25 passing attempts for 234 yards and four touchdowns in his actual Ohio State debut against Florida Atlantic, and was a Heisman Trophy finalist in his first year as a starter.
One year before that, Dwayne Haskins went just 9-for-19 in the spring game. He proceeded to complete 22 of his 30 passing attempts for 313 yards and five touchdowns in his first game as Ohio State's starting quarterback against Oregon State, and would also go on to be a Heisman finalist while breaking just about all of Ohio State's single-season passing records.
So if C.J. Stroud, Jack Miller and/or Kyle McCord has an underwhelming showing on Saturday, be careful about jumping to any conclusions about their potential to be a successful starter this season. Given that players will be substituting in and out of the lineup all game – and that the Ohio State defense will be trying to make plays too – you shouldn't expect to see perfection from any of them, just flashes of their potential.
– Dan Hope
It might not be pretty
In the same vein that Dan talked about the quarterbacks’ potential to not look terrific given their inexperience, I’m not sure the entire team will look as smooth as you would want a national championship contender to be.
And that’s OK.
Spring ball is exactly about development, working out kinks and figuring out where weaknesses are as we head into the summer and eventually the fall. Obviously, we should come to expect Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson to look like themselves, but it’s not imperative that the defense looks like a gang buster.
Of course, with the Buckeyes not tackling in the spring game, that lessens the opportunity that there’s noticeable sloppiness. Which, aside from the obvious of minimizing the chances for injuries, is probably by design and one of the main reasons the Buckeye coaching staff only wants to go “thud.”
– Zack Carpenter
We Don’t Know A Thing About Many Of These Guys
Usually, we’ve at least seen an in-game glimpse of most Ohio State players before a spring game. A flash. A blunder. Something.
A lot of these Buckeyes who’ll play a bunch on Saturday haven’t done much of anything – for totally understandable reasons.
There’s a 15-man class of early enrollees about to put on pads for their first-ever Ohio State game. There’s also a second-year group of 24 players wrapping up their first full spring after experiencing an unconventional (to say the least) freshman season. The truncated regular season with minimal blowout victories also left many of the older backups on the roster with less in-game experience than usual.
The 2021 spring game will offer us a first chance to see a lot of these Buckeyes.
– Colin Hass-Hill
I'm going to watch, but I'm prepared to be disappointed
It doesn't take much to convince me to watch Buckeye football, even if it's a glorified practice, and I'm absolutely going to watch every second of today's “game.” That said, I'm fully prepared for this to feel like a gigantic waste of a Saturday afternoon.
We're looking at a non-contact scrimmage, likely mostly devoid of star players that they're essentially totally abandoning in favor of just standard offense vs. defense practice in the second half.
God bless anybody who paid $100+ for tickets to watch this in person.
– Kevin Harrish
Questions
How will the defense line up?
We certainly shouldn't expect to see a lot of exotic looks from Ohio State's defense on Saturday, as Kerry Coombs and Co. are likely to keep things vanilla to avoid giving secrets away. What Ohio State uses for its primary defensive alignment, though, could still be telling.
In the spring game two years ago, Ohio State primarily lined up with three cornerbacks and one deep safety in its base defense, and that foretold what the Buckeyes' defensive philosophy would be for the 2019 season.
So if the Buckeyes roll out the 4-2-5 defense they've been showing in practices this spring as their primary defense on Saturday – and the fact that Craig Young and Ronnie Hickman are listed as bullets on the spring game rosters suggests they will – that could be worth reading into, though Ohio State's hand is also somewhat forced by the fact that it's currently shorthanded at linebacker due to injuries.
– Dan Hope
Who will flash?
As I said, it might not be the cleanest football you’re going to see, but what really matters is this question. The best aspects to glean from the spring game is who has the explosive plays and who shows that they really have something special, even if it’s just one or two plays.
We might not see beautiful football all around, but will we at least see one or two plays that make you go “damn?” Here’s predicting we will.
If I was setting betting lines on who was the most likely to flash and show something explosive, the non-quarterback favorites would be TreVeyon Henderson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Zach Harrison, Paris Johnson Jr., Lathan Ransom, Cameron Martinez, Emeka Egbuka and Josh Proctor. And my dark horse would be Cody Simon.
– Zack Carpenter
What Do We All Overreact To?
You know it’s coming.
Maybe it’s a spectacular Cade Stover touchdown reception. Or it could be Miyan Williams housing a carry. Perhaps Taron Vincent owns somebody on the line of scrimmage. Without a doubt, everybody watching will overreact to something. Why? Because it’s the only Ohio State football between mid-January and early September.
– Colin Hass-Hill
Quarterbacks?
Let's be real – there's one reason you're watching this game and it's to watch these three quarterbacks in action. Come fall, one of these guys is going to be Ohio State's starter and we haven't seen any of them throw a single pass in a live game situation. This is as close as we're going to get.
I'd caution everybody against overreacting to what you see today (remember the fine folks suggesting that Matthew Baldwin was better than Justin Fields?) but all eyes are going to be on the quarterbacks no matter what.
– Kevin Harrish
Predictions
Marvin Harrison Jr. will catch a touchdown pass
Anyone who listens to Real Pod Wednesdays knows I've been buying stock in freshman receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. this spring, and I'm going to double down with a prediction that he will score a touchdown in his debut on the Shoe on Saturday while continuing to make his case that the Buckeyes need to find a place for him in their loaded wideout rotation.
– Dan Hope
Cameron Martinez houses a pick-six
Wouldn’t this be awesome? It’s just too fun not to predict this so I’m riding with it. Wanted to pick a sack fumble-touchdown for Harrison if the quarterbacks were allowed to be hit and want to predict a circus catch for Smith-Njigba, but I’m going with Martinez to be one of the guys we’re all talking about this week.
– Zack Carpenter
The Bullet Will Excite Us All
It exists. It really exists. (At least, I think it does)
– Colin Hass-Hill
Demario McCall snags an interception
Give the people what they want.
– Kevin Harrish
