There’s not much surprising about the return on investment from Ohio State’s roster one game into the 2024 season.
The Buckeyes’ defense is expected to be elite and it made big plays in a 52-6 win over the Akron Zips. Jeremiah Smith was expected to be a breakout star as a freshman and he broke out to star as a freshman. The offensive line is the biggest question mark for Ohio State and it played that way without one of its anchors in left guard Donovan Jackson.
There were some revelations for the Buckeyes at linebacker and on punt returns, though. Elsewhere, it was a great start to the season for USC and the Big Ten as a whole while Clemson, Florida and Florida State all got off to a rough start.
Stock Up
Jeremiah Smith
Smith is an easy choice to top Eleven Warriors’ stock report following the season opener. Six catches for 92 yards and a touchdown with some spectacular grabs sprinkled in was a great way for the first-year receiver to respond to an early drop in his debut. He seems destined to soar to heights few freshmen, at Ohio State or otherwise, have ever reached.
“He's built different. He is,” Ryan Day said after Saturday’s game. “Just the way his approach is, you can see his size and speed and all that, but typically somebody with that type of talent doesn't have the discipline and focus that he does.”
Defense Creating Chaos
Ten tackles for loss, five sacks, three turnovers and two touchdowns. Those were the big plays generated by Ohio State’s defense against Akron. With the top-three yardage numbers the Buckeyes put up on that side of the ball a year ago, more aggression, negative plays and turnovers were a point of emphasis this offseason and the Buckeyes got each of those in bunches against Akron.
A defensive touchdown?
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) August 31, 2024
You love to see it.pic.twitter.com/BSK9eaVmMK
Arvell Reese
Cody Simon’s absence from the starting lineup seemed to clear the way for C.J. Hicks to show what he can do at linebacker finally, and while Hicks did get a sack, it was Arvell Reese who turned the most heads coming off the bench. His athleticism flowing sideline-to-sideline was on full display as he collected four tackles with one tackle for loss.
Punt Return
Brandon Inniss is shifty. It’s refreshing to see an Ohio State punt returner who attacks the ball and is aggressive about trying to shake loose for yardage. He had 60 yards on four runbacks Saturday. It feels like a matter of time before Inniss houses one to score Ohio State’s first punt return touchdown since 2014.
USC
Few wins over the weekend were more impressive for any team in college football than No. 23 USC’s 27-20 last-second defeat of LSU. Running back Woody Marks ran in a go-ahead 13-yard touchdown with eight seconds remaining, relevant as the Trojans’ kicker had already missed a short field goal in the game. And to hold a top-15 opponent to just 20 points, it’s clear the addition that Alex Grinch’s subtraction as defensive coordinator was.
The Big Ten
How about 17-1 for the first weekend of the 18-team Big Ten? Every squad except Minnesota handled business in the conference, with the Gophers falling to North Carolina. No. 8 Penn State joined USC in picking up a Power Four win, knocking off West Virginia on the road, 34-12.
Stock Down
Run Blocking
Ohio State quarterback Will Howard didn’t take a sack against the Zips, even if he came under pressure a few times. There were also no tackles for loss recorded against the Buckeyes. However, the team lacked consistency on the ground, finishing the first half at 4.8 yards per carry before finishing with 170 rushing yards at 5.2 per attempt. Jackson will hopefully return next week and offensive lines often take time to jell, but it’s still the top thing OSU needs to address early this season.
Nick McLarty
The 6-7 Australian was dubbed Ohio State’s starting punter on Aug. 22 by Ryan Day but was overtaken by walk-on and fellow Australian Joe McGuire in the week of practice leading up to the Akron game. McGuire averaged 47.7 yards on three punts against Akron.
“Going into last week, I felt like Nick was ahead of Joe,” Day said. “Joe had a much better week of practice leading up to (the game), significant. We felt like Joe's experience in the program, being here for a year, was better. We probably could have given Nick one down the stretch there. In hindsight, we probably could have done that, should have done that. But we wanted to go with the experienced guy in week one.”
Clemson
Yes, Georgia is ranked No. 1 in college football, but for the Tigers to lose by such a margin as 34-3? With each day it feels like longer since Dabo Swinney’s program was a national championship contender.
Florida
Billy Napier could be coaching for his job in 2024 after two seasons below .500, and a 41-17 rivalry shellacking by Miami (Fla.) isn’t the performance his employers are looking for. A brutal SEC schedule is still ahead for the Gators.
Florida State
The Seminoles entered the season ranked 10th in the AP Poll. They won’t be ranked at all after falling to Georgia Tech in Week 0 and following that up with a 28-13 loss to an unranked Boston College squad at home on Monday night. Many pundits’ favorite to win the ACC will now likely need to win out to keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive.
