COLUMBUS, Ohio — After I went right down to the sector for the ultimate six minutes of Ohio State’s 14-7 win in opposition to Texas, I might barely hear myself speak, not to mention the particular person subsequent to me. Final 12 months’s dwelling Faculty Soccer Playoff sport in opposition to Tennessee was the loudest I’d ever heard a stadium, however Saturday at Ohio Stadium felt about the identical.
Ohio State followers have been annoyed with Fox for years over the truth that the Buckeyes have been the precedence alternative for its “Massive Midday Saturday” video games. That was the case once more when it was introduced that the third-ranked Buckeyes would play No. 1 Texas at midday to open the season. Ohio State can be anticipated to play Penn State at midday on Nov. 1 and can finish the 12 months within the conventional midday slot at Michigan, placing at the very least three of Ohio State’s 4 video games in opposition to preseason ranked opponents within the early time slot.
There are respectable causes to be annoyed by that, together with the affect it will probably have on recruiting and prospects coming to go to. However take it from any individual who completed the day on the sector on Saturday afternoon: The stadium was nonetheless rocking.
Ohio State is experimenting with some gameday adjustments, one in all which is the expanded scholar part. The band was initially in entrance of the coed part, however it moved to the north finish zone, giving the scholars the whole south finish zone. It made a noticeable distinction.
I’m not saying that midday kickoffs are higher than evening video games. There’s only a totally different vibe that comes when the lights are on. However Saturday was a reminder that Ohio Stadium has an elite ambiance, it doesn’t matter what time the sport begins.
“Once we got here out for warm-ups, there weren’t many empty seats. For a midday kickoff, to have that many individuals within the stadium was superb,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day mentioned of the gang of 107,524. “For an environment like that Week 1, it was nice for our group and I believe made an enormous distinction within the fourth quarter.”
Listed here are eight different Buckeyes takeaways from the sport:
Sayin did what Ohio State wanted
The numbers gained’t soar off the web page, however quarterback Julian Sayin’s first begin was an excellent one. Ohio State didn’t wish to put lots of strain on Sayin on this sport, so he threw the ball simply 20 occasions. Nonetheless, when Day and first-time play caller Brian Hartline wished him to throw, he did nicely.
Sayin accomplished 13 of 20 passes for 126 yards and a landing. I assumed he was higher than Texas quarterback Arch Manning, who threw for 170 yards, a landing and one interception.
Sayin, a five-star recruit too, was unfortunate that his group struggled with drops early on. Tight finish Max Klare dropped a fourth-down go and Jeremiah Smith, who dropped one go all of final season, had two within the first two drives. They each settled in, and so did Sayin.
Even when Texas obtained strain on him, Sayin discovered methods to get the ball out, lengthen performs and provides his receivers an opportunity to make a play. A Texas protection with top-of-the-line edge rushers within the nation in Colin Simmons didn’t file a sack. That’s partly due to the offensive line, however Sayin did a pleasant job scrambling away from strain, as nicely.
He made good choices, which was a very powerful factor for him in his beginning debut. In contrast to Manning, who threw an interception that led to an Ohio State landing, Sayin took care of the ball and was fairly correct when requested to throw it.
Ohio State didn’t want Sayin to be a famous person to win. It was nonetheless an excellent exhibiting, and with time to settle in in opposition to Grambling and Ohio the subsequent two video games, he ought to give the teaching employees confidence he can deal with extra the subsequent time the Buckeyes play in a ranked matchup.
Persons are going to like what Sayin can do in a month or two.
A particular begin for Mathews
Fox Sports activities analyst Joel Klatt hosted a present in Columbus on Friday and had former security Lathan Ransom as a visitor. Ransom mentioned he attended a apply within the spring, watched cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. and advised co-defensive coordinator Tim Walton, “This is perhaps top-of-the-line corners I’ve seen since I’ve been right here.”
Mathews lived as much as that hype and began his sophomore 12 months off with a bang, intercepting Manning, deflecting one other go that was then almost intercepted by Sonny Types and tallying three tackles. Every thing folks rave about once they see Mathews confirmed up on Saturday — in the beginning his ball-hawk capacity.
His interception got here off a nasty ball from Manning, as he was late on a submit in opposition to man protection, however Mathews did a pleasant job turning his head and breaking on the ball quicker than receiver Ryan Wingo might. That play modified the sport, as Ohio State scored what turned out to be the successful factors on the next drive.
Picked off 🙌@OhioStateFB’s Jermaine Mathews Jr. learn this one.
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/kaS5o4KcaP
— Massive Ten Soccer (@B1Gfootball) August 30, 2025
The Cincinnati native is without doubt one of the best gamers on the sector and doesn’t shrink within the second. Trash speak typically follows, which looks like it helps him: The extra he might be his outgoing self, the higher he performs. Ohio State has little interest in taking that edge from him.
Ohio State misplaced Denzel Burke on the skin and changed him with one other potential lockdown nook in Mathews, who’s extra versatile. Burke was an out of doors nook his complete profession. There have been occasions on Saturday when defensive coordinator Matt Patricia moved Mathews inside and gave five-star freshman Devin Sanchez some enjoying time on the skin.
Ohio State can do lots of various things due to security Caleb Downs’ versatility. Mathews permits much more flexibility. And with quite a few NFL scouts and basic managers in attendance, Mathews certainly put himself firmly on the minds of these on the subsequent degree.
He wasn’t alone, both. Davison Igbinosun had 10 tackles and a vital go breakup ultimately zone, and he didn’t get known as for a penalty — a significant win after final season’s go interference issues.
Reese is popping right into a famous person
NFL scouts needed to even be drooling over Arvell Reese after his efficiency.
The third-year linebacker already appears to be like like he was created in a lab at 6 ft 4 and 243 kilos, and he impressed everyone along with his versatility in tallying 9 tackles and a sack.
It might’t be understated how essential a man like Patricia, along with his NFL background, is for Reese, as a result of he’s getting a have a look at what he can anticipate on the subsequent degree. Reese is simply too proficient and bodily gifted to be a field linebacker all sport. Patricia is aware of that and utilized him in a wide range of methods.
He began at linebacker however performed inside defensive position within the “Rushman” package deal, blitzed up the center, delayed blitzed, performed in protection and was a key participant within the run sport. He groups with Sonny Types to type some of the proficient and athletic linebacking duos within the nation.
Ohio State wants extra from operating sport
There are a ton of positives to take from a gap win over the preseason No. 1 group, however it wasn’t all good on Saturday. The largest downside was the operating sport.
With Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson gone, Ohio State ran the ball 34 occasions for 77 yards, averaging 2.3 yards per carry. The Buckeyes leaned on their run sport in hopes of taking strain off of Sayin however couldn’t get something from it persistently. West Virginia switch CJ Donaldson confirmed some promise, tallying 67 yards on 19 carries, and was an enormous a part of the Buckeyes’ first landing drive within the first half. James Peoples carried the ball 10 occasions for 20 yards and struggled to get to the second degree with a future of 6 yards.
A few of the struggles needed to do with Texas and its stout defensive position. Between the road and the proficient linebacker corps led by Anthony Hill Jr., the Longhorns made issues troublesome for the Buckeyes. And when Ohio State wanted its run sport essentially the most within the fourth quarter, it tallied 17 yards on 10 carries, giving Texas an opportunity to stage a comeback.
It’s nonetheless early and I believe Ohio State will get issues fastened, however that’s going to stay a priority for some time.
Subsequent two weeks are essential for the offense
It’s onerous to be too crucial of the offense, however totaling simply 203 yards is a bit worrisome, even with a quarterback making his first begin in opposition to an elite protection.
Ohio State has been held below 250 complete yards simply twice since 2017; the opposite time was the Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri when Ohio State didn’t have a quarterback or offensive line. The Buckeyes totaled 203 yards in that sport, as nicely.
On this case, Ohio State performed extraordinarily conservative soccer, leaning on a protection that was stifling Manning and the Texas offense. That was Ohio State’s sport plan — it’s not like Hartline went rogue in his play-calling debut and determined to get conservative on his personal, which is why I’m not able to be overly crucial of him right here.
Day mentioned all week the Buckeyes simply wanted to do sufficient to win the sport. That’s what they did.
Ohio State now has two nonconference video games through which it will likely be a heavy favourite in opposition to Grambling and Ohio to iron out its identification on offense and let Sayin throw the ball round. I anticipate the playbook will open up much more subsequent week and it’ll be the primary time we see what this offense is meant to be.
Issues do have to get cleaned up all over the place, from the operating sport to the acclaimed playmakers on the skin needing to catch the ball. Three drops, two by Smith, is a uncommon sight.
However by the point Ohio State makes the journey to Washington on Sept. 27, we must always see a a lot totally different offense and we’ll have a much bigger pattern measurement to know what this offense will appear like below Hartline.
Regulate tight finish utilization
The Buckeyes performed 5 tight ends on Saturday, all in a wide range of roles: Purdue switch Klare, true freshman Nate Roberts, Jelani Thurman, Bennett Christian and Will Kacmarek. As we search for the operating sport to increase, the continued use of them in movement nearly as pulling guards can be fascinating. Greater than that, I believe we noticed the beginnings of how versatile this tight finish group might be.
Klare will get lots of the love due to his pass-catching capacity, however on Carnell Tate’s landing, Kacmarek was requested to dam Simmons one-on-one and held up. Roberts was requested to play fullback on Donaldson’s landing and adopted Christian, who got here in movement as an additional lead blocker, springing Donaldson into the top zone.
Anticipate to see much more of this group going ahead after Saturday’s robust exhibiting.
Was the protection underestimated?
It was early in preseason camp once I started to suppose that this protection was going to be higher than folks anticipated. As camp went on, I started to listen to an increasing number of in regards to the excessive potential.
Typically it may be onerous to decipher what’s coach communicate and what’s actual, however by the top of camp I assumed, “OK, this protection goes to be actually good.”
The defensive position did a very good job in opposition to Texas. Caden Curry was all over the place, and he jogs my memory of Jack Sawyer due to his relentless motor. Beau Atkinson, Kayden McDonald, Tyleik Williams, Kenyatta Jackson and C.J. Hicks had been very disruptive on Saturday too. They didn’t get a ton of rapid strain, however they moved nicely, stopped the run and saved Manning within the pocket.
The linebackers are stars, and the secondary might be the perfect within the nation. Downs is the perfect defender, interval, and Patricia is utilizing him to his full versatile potential. Igbinosun and Mathews had been nice, and security Jaylen McClain performed nicely too with eight tackles and no large performs allowed. I used to be actually impressed with Lorenzo Types Jr., who changed Jordan Hancock within the slot. Types performed some security, as nicely, identical to Hancock. I have a look at Types as one of many X-factors of this protection. If he continues to enhance and might restrict explosive performs, he’s going to present Patricia a lot extra freedom with Downs.
I’m not able to name this the perfect protection within the nation — what LSU did to Clemson on Saturday evening was extraordinarily spectacular — however the protection can shoulder the load for a Playoff contender because the offense finds its footing.
Talking of the Playoff: In line with The Athletic’s projections mannequin, the Buckeyes’ national-best odds to make the bracket improved from 82 p.c to 91 p.c after Saturday. That’s 15 proportion factors greater than second-best Penn State.
Keep in mind when Day couldn’t win the large one?
Ohio State has gained seven consecutive video games in opposition to AP top-10 groups since shedding to Oregon final October. It beat No. 3 Penn State in State Faculty final November, then beat No. 5 Indiana at dwelling earlier than its Playoff run in opposition to No. 7 Tennessee, No. 1 Oregon, No. 4 Texas and at last No. 3 Notre Dame within the title sport. The Buckeyes have now began this season with a win over No. 1 Texas.
What a turnaround this has been for Day, who has flipped the narrative that he can’t win the “large sport.” Day has a 17-8 file in opposition to AP top-10 groups as head coach.
I perceive he nonetheless must beat Michigan, however this was a coach who was criticized nationally after each loss as a result of he couldn’t get it finished within the greatest moments. Now, not solely did he go on the title run, however he then regrouped with a roster that misplaced 14 NFL Draft picks, together with eight defensive starters, and beat top-ranked Texas at dwelling.
As spectacular because the nationwide championship was, that group was essentially the most proficient group within the nation final season. To place this group collectively, after the attrition it noticed within the offseason, and be prepared for a Texas group many thought would win the nationwide championship was spectacular.
It’s unimaginable to argue that Day isn’t top-of-the-line coaches within the nation. Actually, if the record of coaches forward of him was solely Georgia’s Kirby Good, I don’t suppose I’d disagree.
(Prime picture: Joseph Maiorana / Imagn Pictures)
