2024 At First Glance: Week 13 Ohio State Buckeyes

Written by: TJ Inman

Our second to last preview is IU’s toughest test, at Ohio State. The Buckeyes are the preseason favorites to win the Big Ten and lock up a top four seed in the College Football Playoff.

Week 13: Ohio State Buckeyes

Date & Time: Saturday, November 23 - TBA

Venue: Ohio Stadium in Columbus, OH

TV: TBA

Buckeyes at a Glance

Head Coach: Ryan Day

Entering his 6th season (plus 3-0 as an interim in 2018) as Ohio State head coach

Record at Ohio State: 56-8 (39-3)

Overall Record: 56-8 (39-3)

Last Season: 11-2 (8-1)

Buckeyes Returning Leaders

Passing: Devin Brown – 16 for 28 for 217 yards with two touchdowns

Rushing: TreVeyon Henderson – 156 rushes for 926 yards with 11 touchdowns

Receiving: Emeka Egbuka – 41 receptions for 515 yards with 4 touchdowns

Tackles: Davison Igbinosun – 59 tackles including 39 solo

Buckeyes Preseason Predictions

Athlon: 1st in the Big Ten

Lindy’s: 1st in the Big Ten

Phil Steele: 1st in Big Ten

SP+: 2nd Nationally

Impact Newcomers for the Buckeyes

-Will Howard – QB from Kansas State

-Jeremiah Smith – Freshman WR

-Quinshon Judkins – RB from Ole Miss

-Caleb Downs – Safety from Alabama

Biggest Questions Facing the Buckeyes

-Will Ohio State beat Michigan and take back the Big Ten?

Ohio State has had three straight seasons spoiled by the Michigan Wolverines in the last week of the regular season. After years of dominance of the Maize and Blue, Jim Harbaugh and Michigan turned the tables and knocked off the Buckeyes three straight times. That led to winning the Big Ten three straight times and then capturing the national title last season. Ryan Day has been incredibly successful but if he loses for a fourth straight time to the rebuilt Wolverines, it will be mighty uncomfortable around Columbus for him.

-Is Will Howard a major upgrade at quarterback? If not, do the Buckeyes turn to a freshman? 

Ohio State clearly believes Will Howard was an upgrade on Kyle McCord as they let McCord walk to Syracuse without putting up a fight to keep him. They hunted for an upgrade and settled on Kansas State’s Will Howard. Make no mistake though, Howard was going to be the backup to Avery Johnson in Manhattan. Is Kansas State’s would-be backup quarterback good enough to orchestrate the Ohio State offense to a national title? With an amazing surrounding cast and a remarkably strong defense, that seems very possible. If Howard is struggling at all though, the Buckeyes have a deep bench including five-star freshman Julian Sayin, that they can turn to. 

-Does Ohio State have the nation’s top defense?

In short, I think so. The Buckeyes were number two in 2023 as they gave up only 11.2 points per game. That was .8 points per game behind Michigan’s dominant defense. Ohio State now returns a number of defensive stars that could have gone pro but opted to stay for another season. On top of that, they add in more elite high school recruits ready to make a splash. As a cherry on top, they landed Caleb Downs. Ohio State giving up more than 10 points per game will feel like an underachievement.

Program Preview

Ohio State is one of the best programs in the nation. They are a blue blood in every sense of the word. The tradition is there, the NIL resources are there, the elite recruiting continues, the on-field success is nearly unparalleled. Accordingly, the expectations are sky-high in Columbus. Ohio State has not won a national championship since 2014 under Urban Meyer and there is a feeling that 2024-2025 is the program’s best chance to remedy that. With arch-rival Michigan just having won a title, there is a real sense of urgency around the program to get it done this season. The most games the Buckeyes have lost in a season since 2011 is two and the 2024 win total is posted at 10.5. Anything less than beating Michigan and at least playing for the national title will be deemed unacceptable this season for Ryan Day and the Buckeyes.

Offensive Preview

Ohio State’s 2023 offense was very good but it would be fair to say they fell short of expectations. Ohio State averaged 30.5 points per game but they struggled to put up points in contests against teams with somewhat similar talent levels. The game at Notre Dame was a 17-14 slog. They were unconvincing in a 20-12 win over Penn State and came up short at Michigan 24-30. Of course, the Cotton Bowl was an ugly showing as well but it is difficult to hold that against them given the opt-outs that lessened the available squad. Ryan Day knew alterations were necessary and the two biggest changes were at quarterback and coordinator. Chip Kelly wanted out at UCLA and Ohio State pounced on the opportunity to bring him in. Having the sitting coach of a now conference foe leave to be a coordinator at another conference school is basically unprecedented. It was a massive flex but what does it mean for the 2024 Ohio State offense?

The general assumption is that Ryan Day and Ohio State made this move in an effort to become more physical on offense. The addition of Kansas State’s Will Howard is another step in that direction. Howard is very capable of using his mobility and size to run some “QB Power” plays and pick up tough third and shorts. The skepticism surrounding Howard is warranted though. He completed only 61.3 percent of his passes in 2023 and just 59.8 percent in 2022. It would be fair to say that he was outperformed by Adrian Martinez in that season at Kansas State and he was going to be the backup to Avery Johnson if he opted to stay in Manhattan for this season. If Will Howard struggles at all in October games against Iowa or at Oregon or in early November at Penn State, will the Buckeyes make a move to a five-star freshman? It is unlikely but possible that Howard is not the starter come November 23. 

That is pretty much the only question mark about the Ohio State offense and even that is a first-world problem. The offensive line must be more physical but the pieces are in place to become a very good unit. Seth McLaughlin is in from Alabama as a starter at center. San Diego State transfer Josh Simmons might be good enough to push Josh Fryar into a more natural spot at guard and the left side is great with guard Donovan Jackson and Carson Hinzman or Luke Montgomery at tackle. They won’t be quite as good as Georgia or Alabama on the line but this should be a top-level group that is now tasked with being more physically imposing.

The running back room is as good as any in the country. TreVeyon Henderson returns and he should be fully healthy heading into the 2024 season. Henderson is one of the best in the nation and he’s now joined by Ole Miss transfer Quinshon Judkins to lighten the load. Judkins is a tough runner that could be an excellent 1B to Henderson’s 1A and they should be able to keep each other fresh as they pound defensive fronts. It would not be surprising to see Chip Kelly get creative and place them on the field at the same time with some multi-back sets. Wide receiver is more of what is now expected every season in Columbus: excellence. Emeka Egbuka and Carnell Tate are back but it is five-star freshman Jeremiah Smith that could be the top target by the time the Buckeyes take on IU in November. There will be more weapons than nearly any defense has answers for.

Defensive Preview

Jim Knowles is a truly elite defensive coordinator and Ohio State has an elite personnel group. This defense could put up historic numbers. They have seven starters returning, several of those seven could have been drafted early in the NFL Draft had they chosen to go. The four other spots in the starting lineup are going to elite recruits or elite transfers. Put simply, there are no question marks or weaknesses in this group. 

JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer are back at defensive end and stud recruits like Eddrick Houston, Kenyatta Jackson and Caden Curry should see plenty of snaps. Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton are fantastic on the interior and Ohio State has guys behind them that would start for 95 percent of teams nationally. The secondary is unbelievable. Each and every guy that starts has the talent to play in the NFL this coming season. Denzel Burke and Davison Igbinosun will be the starting outside corners while Jordan Hancock can play in the slot or just as a third cornerback. The starting safeties will be the returning Lathan Ransom plus Alabama transfer Caleb Downs. Downs is a freakish athlete that could end up seeing time as a punt returner, kick returner, safety and running back in certain packages. He was, possibly, the most talented player to ever enter the transfer portal and he’s still just a sophomore. 

The only remote “weakness” comes at linebacker and it’s really just uncertainty that should be quickly remedied with experience. Steele Chambers and Tommy Eichenberg are gone so Ohio State figures to start Cody Simon and CJ Hicks. Both have the talent to rack up tackles in the middle of the defense. Sonny Styles is a long athlete that could become a star as a hybrid defender that figures to primarily be used to generate additional pass rush from the linebacker spot. 

Special Teams Preview

Jayden Fielding returns as the placekicker after going 16-20 on field-goal attempts in 2023. Fielding was 49-50 on extra-point attempts. He’s a solid option for the Buckeyes and he’s pretty good on kickoff duty as well. Joe McGuire is going to be the starting punter after Jesse Mirco’s departure. The more interesting part of the special teams unit will be how Ohio State handles return duties. They did not really get much explosion from punt returners or kick returners but that did not really seem like an emphasis for them. There are significant rumblings that they will put uber athlete Caleb Downs on punt return duty and he could be a game-changer in tight games against Penn State, Oregon or Michigan.