Josh Fryar sat almost speechless in Ohio State’s locker room, cigar in hand, overcome with joy, relief and exhaustion with a light smile and dried sweat caked to his face.
While the Buckeyes' right tackle answered a question about the sweet taste of his victorious bundle of tobacco, Carson Hinzman walked up to the microphone.
“I’m gonna stop you right there. This dude, big 70 (Fryar) the bear, is the nastiest, stinkiest, dirtiest (expletive) dog I’ve ever met in my whole life,” Hinzman yelled with an emphatic growl. “He’s a (expletive) champ. A national champ. A national (expletive) champ. And he’ll be a national champ forever.”
“I’m gonna interrupt him again,” Fryar said as he hopped back on the mic. “Big 75, Carson Hinzman, the things he’s done this season, the adversity he’s gone through, it makes him a stronger person and I know for a fact in my heart, next season when he comes up he’s going to be the best center in college football. I know that in my heart.”
“They (expletive) wrote him off, but he didn’t (expletive) write back,” Tegra Tshabola chimed in.
If it wasn’t clear from that exchange, Ohio State’s offensive line has been through war with each other this season. As with many soldiers, they emerged with an unbreakable bond with one another.
The story of the Buckeyes’ 2024 offensive line is a microcosm for that of its team. The most maligned unit on the roster since 2023 overcame overwhelming adversity and some heart-crushing outings to push Ohio State through to a national championship despite its lineup shuffling several times over.
“We just had to thrive in adversity, that’s the end of it,” left guard turned left tackle Donovan Jackson said. “We faced a lot of flack, a lot of stuff, we faced a lot of injuries, a lot of guys playing positions that they weren’t comfortable with. But we just had to figure it out in the end.”
No position group faced more criticism this offseason than the Buckeyes’ front five.
Ohio State rushed the ball for just 4.2 yards per carry in 2023, the team’s worst mark since 2004, and the unit’s struggles against Missouri in the Cotton Bowl were one of the main factors that led to a 13-3 loss. There were some calls then for the firing of offensive line coach Justin Frye, especially as he continued missing on some major recruits. However, for the first five-and-a-half games of 2024, OSU emerged as one of the best offensive lines in college football.
The Buckeyes averaged more than fve yards per carry in each of their first five games and won each contest by at least 28 points, then rushed the ball for 122 yards in the first half of their top-three showdown with Oregon. Then, in the second quarter of that game, star left tackle and midseason AP All-American Josh Simmons suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Ohio State picked up just 19 yards on 12 carries in the second half against Oregon as Zen Michalski filled in at left tackle and managed a season-low 2.1 yards per carry the following game against Nebraska before Michalski suffered his own injury toward the end of that game. But that catalyzed perhaps the greatest individual effort of the Buckeyes’ offensive line this season, that of Jackson.
“We just had to thrive in adversity, that’s the end of it.”– Donovan Jackson
Jackson kicked out from his stalwart spot at left guard to left tackle as Hinzman stepped into his former place and suddenly the slobs were slobber-knockers again. Jackson surrendered two sacks to likely first-round NFL draft pick Abdul Carter in his first career start at tackle but also mauled Carter in the running game as the Buckeyes picked up a 20-13 win at Penn State. The offensive line cleared the way for an 11-play, 58-yard drive exclusively on the ground to seal the victory in a statement performance for the unit.
“I feel like it worked,” Jackson said of his move to LT. “At the beginning, of course, I wasn’t too thrilled about it, starting at guard for two years now. So when I moved to tackle, I was like, ‘Why? I’ve been a guard this whole time.’ But having the opportunity to win (a national title), they said, ‘You need to move out to tackle.’
“Having the belief Coach Day put in me, I mean, the first team meeting after (I switched) he told me, ‘Donovan, you’re fine. I’m not even worried about you. You’ll be just fine at tackle.’ And so just having that belief in the head coach and my teammates, and then the support group, my family, everything like that when I moved out, it just made it all worth it.”
“Worked” might be an understatement from Jackson. After that Penn State game, he quietly emerged as one of the best offensive tackles in college football despite his complete lack of experience at the spot.
Facing a murderer’s row of elite defensive ends including Indiana’s Mikhail Kamara, Michigan’s Josaiah Stewart, Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr., Oregon’s Jordan Burch and Matayo Uiagalelei and Texas’ Colin Simmons, Jackson didn’t allow a single sack the rest of the season. Per Pro Football Focus, he allowed two total quarterback pressures during the entire College Football Playoff.
“Donovan Jackson, I could talk about him for 45 minutes,” Ryan Day said. “What he did this past year and the unselfishness and the play – he went from guard to tackle and became one of the best tackles in the country. He was going to the NFL, and then at the last second decided he wanted to come back and play.”
Just when it appeared all might be solved for Ohio State’s offensive line, Seth McLaughlin tore his Achilles before the Buckeyes’ 11th game of the season against Indiana. McLaughlin later won the Rimington Trophy as the best center in the country.
Now down two All-American-caliber starters, the offensive line showed cracks against the Hoosiers before a devastating outing against Michigan in the team’s gut-wrenching 13-10 rivalry loss. Hinzman had slid back over to center where he started in 2023 but struggled as new starting left guard Austin Siereveld and regular starting right guard Tshabola were also overwhelmed by star Wolverine defensive tackles Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant.
All hope seemed lost that the unit could be what Ohio State needed for a redemptive title run without two of its best pieces. But that wasn’t the feeling behind closed doors. Once more, the offensive line scooped itself from the cold, unforgiving ground.
It’s what Fryar said makes the position room special.
“All the adversity we’ve been through,” Fryar said, pausing a while as an emotional overflow rushed to his face again before he continued. “They counted us all out after the team up north loss. And we just said, ‘We’re gonna stick together.’ Through injuries, through everything – especially injuries – it’s amazing what this offensive line has done.”
Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame ranked No. 46, 14, 4 and 14 in sacks this season. They combined for four sacks in Ohio State’s four CFP games. The Volunteers and Ducks didn’t record a single one. While there were some dry spells running the football for the Buckeyes during their run, they averaged 4.9 yards per carry, more than respectable considering the defenses they played.
“They counted us all out after the Team Up North loss. And we just said, ‘We’re gonna stick together.’”– Josh Fryar
One resource Frye pulled out of his back pocket ahead of the CFP was Luke Montgomery. The sophomore began rotating at guard with Siereveld and Tshabola before taking over at left guard full-time in the semifinals against the Longhorns. Siereveld and Tshabola continued rolling at right guard, helping to keep each other fresh. Hinzman's play also picked up at center.
All of it is a massive credit to the way Frye developed his position room during the season.
“He’s taken so much shit, but at the end of the day he puts us in the right position to succeed,” Jackson said. “It’s all you want in a coach isn’t it? To put you in a position to succeed. Just seeing Justin Frye, national champion, as an O-line unit we’re so proud of him.”
It wasn’t just the Simmons and McLaughlin injuries that the front five had to overcome. Fryar played through an undisclosed ailment all playoff and Siereveld was limited by a lower-body injury.
“I was kind of mad about two plays, so I knew that was gonna be all over Twitter,” Fryar said. “But I don’t really care now. We’re national champions. And just the injuries that I’ve gone through too – this season especially, I just wanted to tough it out with these guys so we could be here smoking cigars in the locker room.”
One final time, head coach Ryan Day and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly were willing to lean on the offensive line to seal the CFP national championship game. Rather than call a conservative play with time dwindling and an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter, on 3rd-and-11, they dialed up a deep shot to Jeremiah Smith up the sideline. As gorgeous as Will Howard’s ensuing throw was, the offensive line had to keep him upright to deliver the pass.
“I got to protect my balls off,” Jackson said of his thoughts before the play. “I knew that we’ve got a freak of nature on the edge, I knew if we gave Will enough time to try and get it to him he was gonna get open. So Coach Frye and the rest of the offensive line was like, ‘We’ve got to protect.’ We knew they were going to twist, we knew they were going to stunt, but we knew we protected the outcome.”
The story of Ohio State’s 2024 football team is about overcoming adversity for the ultimate triumph. And ultimately, no part of the team overcame more adversity than its offensive line.
