Ohio State’s quest to right the results of the past two seasons and capture the program’s first national title in a decade begins with a single step against one of the dregs of the MAC on Saturday.
Akron
zips
The Buckeyes’ first challenge isn’t much of one. Of the teams on Ohio State’s schedule, Akron had the worst record last season at 2-10 with one of its wins coming against an FCS opponent. The Zips were 130th in scoring and 129th in total offense across college football’s 133 teams in 2023.
When one aims for national championship heights, however, every week has to be taken as a chance to improve. That’s been the message echoed from Ryan Day on down through OSU’s players.
“If it’s truly not about our opponent and we embrace that, then it shouldn’t matter,” Day said on Wednesday. “We have to respect everybody we play against. We have to respect the game. We have to respect the fact that we only have 12 Saturdays in the regular season in a given year. These are precious opportunities.”
Thus, Akron presents a chance for the Buckeyes to continue developing, building confidence and hopefully remaining healthy for bigger challenges ahead.
The Headlines
Start Fast
While Ohio State can afford to stall out a few drives early and still beat Akron handily, it’s important to set the precedent of building a lead quickly for when the Buckeyes face opponents they can’t afford to fall behind.
“It's not easy, but it's simple,” Day said of what he will consider a success against Akron. “You want as many guys to grade out a champion as possible, 80% or more. You've heard me talk about that before, but sometimes the best answers are the simple ones. You grade it out, either you did your job or you didn't, 80% or higher. And then that we are the hardest-playing team in the country.”
Too many of Ohio State’s games in 2023 saw it start slow. Rutgers led the Buckeyes 9-7 at halftime. Penn State kept them to 10 points through three quarters, Missouri held them to three the entire game and Michigan went up 7-0 after kicking to start the game following an interception from Kyle McCord.
If the Buckeyes build a big lead by halftime, they could optimally take their starters out early in the third quarter and provide needed rest and a shield from injury in preparation for what they hope will be another 15 games in their season. Handle business quickly and they’ll be able to bank their bodies for down the road.
Eyes on the Offense
Ohio State’s defense is expected by those in Columbus and many national prognosticators to be the nation’s best. That hypothesis, short of the goal of a shutout, isn’t getting tested by a Zips offense that returns little production from an anemic 2023 unit. OSU’s offense is a different story.
Quarterback and offensive line are the two position groups that will draw the eyes of Buckeye fans, ultimately. Will Howard will certainly see better secondaries than what Akron trots out onto the Ohio Stadium turf, but accurate throws are accurate throws regardless of how tight the coverage is. Coaches have praised his precision in preseason camp, and putting it on the field Saturday would build some confidence for him and those around him.
“We want him to run the team and be clean,” Day said. “Get us in and out of the huddle, get us up to the line of scrimmage, be sharp, take care of the football. You've heard me say the term, ‘Make the routine plays routinely.’ Play well on third-down, red zone and two-minute, that's what we're looking for out of our quarterback. But in particular in that first game, it's run a clean operation. That's ball security, that's cadence, that's communication.”
| Ohio State | Pos | Akron |
|---|---|---|
| OFFENSE | ||
| WILL HOWARD | QB | BEN FINLEY |
| TREVEYON HENDERSON | RB | JORDON SIMMONS |
| CARNELL TATE | WR | ADRIAN NORTON |
| JEREMIAH SMITH | WR | JARVIS RUSH |
| EMEKA EGBUKA | WR | ALEX ADAMS |
| WILL KACMAREK | TE | JAKE NEWELL |
| JOSH SIMMONS | LT | DAYNE SHOR |
| DONOVAN JACKSON | LG | LAURANCE SEYMORE |
| SETH MCLAUGHLIN | C | TYHLER WILLIAMS |
| TEGRA TSHABOLA | RG | KEYLEN DAVIS |
| JOSH FRYAR | RT | DA'QUAN THOMAS |
| DEFENSE | ||
| JT TUIMOLOAU | DE | BENNETT ADLER |
| TYLEIK WILLIAMS | DT | LAMA LAVEA |
| TY HAMILTON | DT | NATHAN KAPONGO |
| JACK SAWYER | DE | CJ NUNNALLY IV |
| SONNY STYLES | WLB | BRYAN MCCOY |
| CODY SIMON | MLB | ANTAVIOUS FISH |
| JORDAN HANCOCK | NB | DARRIAN LEWIS |
| DENZEL BURKE | CB | JOEY HUNTER |
| DAVISON IGBINOSUN | CB | DEVONTE GOLDEN-NELSON |
| CALEB DOWNS | FS | AMAN GREENWOOD |
| LATHAN RANSOM | SS | PAUL LEWIS III |
Up front, the Buckeyes are eager to rewrite the narratives of their struggles last season and answer their question marks entering this one. It’s a group with twice the experience in terms of games started (91 against 43) as the offensive line had to enter last year, with only one face that hasn’t started previously in right guard Tegra Tshabola. The entire offensive line will face scrutiny all season until its mettle is proven in big games, but most intriguing for Saturday might be to see how Tshabola performs and if he can lock down his starting job.
“We always have a chip on our shoulder,” right tackle Josh Fryar said on Aug. 22. “I think (center) Seth (McLaughlin) talks about it best – I think it's what drives us. Seth's supposed to be the worst center in the country. People don't like me at right tackle. Tegra (Tshabola)'s slow, Donnie's supposed to be gone to the NFL, Josh Simmons doesn't know what he's doing. Like everybody has an opinion about us. I can't say the metaphor to that, but it's an opinion, so I don't really care about it.”
Here’s to Archie
Ohio State will cap a month dedicated to celebrating Archie Griffin – it's the 50th anniversary of his first of two Heisman Trophies with the Buckeyes – by making him the second former player and 15th non-band member overall to dot the ‘i’ in Script Ohio. The only other former player to be bestowed the honor is Earle Bruce, and that was more to recognize Bruce’s nine-year tenure as the Buckeyes’ head coach.
It’s also the first game fans entering through the Horseshoe’s rotunda will pass by Griffin’s new statue. A street sign dubbing Tuttle Park Place “Archie Griffin Drive” where the road adjacent to Ohio Stadium intersects with Woody Hayes Drive will serve to display Griffin’s legacy into the future. Griffin also had a statue unveiled at the Rose Bowl earlier in August.
Hes a better man than he is a football player - Woody Hayes pic.twitter.com/36tBAdhl86
— Ohio State Buckeyes (@OhioStAthletics) August 17, 2024
Keep an Eye On These Guys
Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith
The hype train has run its course and docked at the station. Ohio State’s star freshman, the No. 1 prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, will start from day one in Columbus. He’s achieved new heights for a first-year Buckeye before even taking the field, becoming the earliest-ever freshman black stripe removal and the first freshman ever named an “Iron Buckeye” for his dedication in offseason workouts by the program’s strength and conditioning staff.
“He’s been very workmanlike since he’s been here,” Day said. “He’s played strong and physical in the run game but he’s shown he can be a deep threat down the field. Mature beyond his years, and he’s embraced special teams when asked there. So I’m excited to see how he looks on Saturday.”
Akron LB Bryan McCoy
The only unit on Joe Moorhead’s outfit that feels notable is his linebacker corps. The Zips’ two leading tacklers from last year return at the position, with Antavious Fish collecting 95 tackles and McCoy piling up 94. McCoy played one less game, however, and had more tackles for loss with six to go with a sack. He also had a 13-yard scoop-and-score.
Game Week Talk
“I think we feel really good. I think we're in a really good spot, and we're all just chomping at the bit to get on the field this Saturday. And we can't wait to put our product on the field. It feels like a long time coming.”– Jack Sawyer
Every preseason camp is a long grind for a group of players eager to prove what they can produce on the field, but the pressure to perform makes that especially pertinent this season. With as vaunted as Ohio State's defense is, Sawyer and company are clearly ready to hit someone other than their teammates.
“Coach Day's done a fantastic job. Chip Kelly, Jim Knowles. They're talented, they're deep, they're well-coached and people (are) talking about them being a legitimate contender to win a national championship. And they're right.”– Joe Moorhead
Moorhead has a history with the Buckeyes, play-calling Oregon to a win over Ohio State while he was offensive coordinator there in 2021 and splitting one win against one loss while offensive coordinator at Penn State in 2016 and 2017. He had no qualms with calling OSU a contender for college football's ultimate crown in 2024.
“You have to prove yourself every week. Okay, maybe statistically we played okay, but we didn't win every game. They are determined that if we have to win the game 3-0 (we can). Could have won the bowl game 3-0. I mean, that's on those guys. And they get it.”– Jim Knowles
There are no weeks off for Ohio State's defense as it tries to prove it's the best in the country and prepare to do what must be done to win every game. That includes going so far as to get a shutout if the offense needs one for a victory, as the unit is still willing to shoulder some of the blame for the Buckeyes' 14-3 Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri.
Get Smart
- Billy Fessler, who joined Ohio State’s staff as a program assistant this summer, was the offensive coordinator at Akron last year.
- Akron kicker Garrison Smith started his career at Ohio State as a walk-on in 2021. He spent two years at McNeese State before transferring again to Akron this offseason.
- Akron’s roster includes 33 players from Ohio. Ohio State’s roster, by comparison, features 55 players from the Buckeye State.
- Ohio State is 8-1 all-time against Akron. Its only loss to the Zips was a 12-6 defeat in 1894. The Buckeyes won 59-7 in the most recent meeting between the two teams in 2021.
- Ohio State has won its last 46 consecutive games against in-state teams and is 51-0-1 against teams from the Buckeye State since it lost 7-6 to Oberlin in 1921.
- Ohio State has won its last 24 consecutive season openers.
- Shawn Lodge, a wide receiver who joined the Buckeyes this summer as a walk-on transfer from Presbyterian, is Ohio State’s only current player from Akron.
- For the second year in a row, Ohio State’s season opener will be televised by CBS with Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson and Jenny Dell on the call.
How it Plays Out
Line: OSU -48.5, O/U 58
More Ohio State vs. Akron Coverage
This should be the ultimate cruise control game on Ohio State's schedule with the Buckeyes building a big lead by halftime and protecting their starters in the second half for the long haul of the season.
Chip Kelly could look to get Will Howard in a rhythm early, building some chemistry between Howard and Emeka Egbuka, Carnell Tate, Smith and Brandon Inniss. The running game with TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins should get looks, too, though neither man is going to get as many touches as they otherwise would in a big game.
Every member of the Eleven Warriors expects Ohio State to win this game by at least 35 points; collectively, we’re forecasting a dominant performance on both sides of the ball that results in Ohio State covering the seven-score spread.
| Eleven Warriors Staff Prediction | ||||
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56 | 3 |
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