Folks, we finally made it to the real opening week of the college football season (sorry Florida State fans) and the Buckeyes will take the field on Saturday against Akron with a 3:30pm kickoff on CBS.
We at Buckeye 50 are starting a new article for Mondays, which we will title Monday Musings, where we will take a look at the top 5 questions leading into this weeks game or things we would like address for the bye weeks.
To start, we had what felt like the longest offseason after a loss the last two games of the season against the Team Up North, and Missouri in the Cotton Bowl, (and we won’t talk about the playoff games) but now that the season is upon us, these are the top 5 questions we have for the Buckeyes as they start their 2024-25 campaign.
1. How much of a difference will Will Howard look compared to Kyle McCord?
Not to knock Kyle, whose poise help the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame on the road last season, but there felt like a bit of a disconnect or trust between Ryan Day and Kyle McCord compared to what we saw with Justin Fields and CJ Stroud. Will Howard brings with him a lot of experience, and he is a bigger body that might be more involved with the run game, but can we see a better connection with reading the field and connecting with receivers than we saw last year. The Buckeyes were close to beating Michigan last year, and part of it was due to the quarterback play.
2. Will we see more rotation with the linebackers?
With Jim Knowles stepping back as more of just a defensive coordinator role, and James Laurinaitis taking over as full-time linebackers coach, the question is will we see more rotation than we did last year with Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers due to the talent in that room. Sonny Styles and Cody Simon have already been names starters, but CJ Hicks and Arvell Reese have had great camps to not see the field. Especially with the goal for the Buckeyes in playing 16 to 17 games this season including the post season, health and experience will be key.
3. Is this a championship caliber offensive line?
One of the knocks against Ohio State, and why they had a drop off from 2022 to 2023 in the offensive production could have been a result of the inconsistent offensive line play. We say it against Indiana at the start of the season where the Buckeyes could not more the ball consistently, and again against Michigan which had the best defensive line they saw all season. we can ignore the Missouri because that line was not the same starting 5, but they couldn’t move the ball that game either, and those games are the lasting impressions for Ohio State heading into this season. News has been around strong progress with Josh Simmons and Josh Fryar, and the only hole felt was at right guard with Matt Jones leaving for the NFL.
4. How long will the starters play?
On The Podcast show, they had discussed an over/under of 9 series for the starters against Akron, and if the Buckeyes are up 50 points or more going into the second half, that should be enough of a reason to pull them and let the back ups play. The counter argument is giving Will Howard more time and game reps with the 1s but they have a good chance to do that against Western Michigan and Marshall.
5. Will the defense post a shutout?
Shutouts in college football are difficult, especially with the spread offense and weird gadget plays that happen when there is a difference in talent level in the game, but this starting defense is arguably the best defense in the country, and will want to prove themselves to kick off the season. If they can pitch a shutout against a Joe Moorhead offense, that will pay huge confidence and momentum for the season.
What are your top questions entering the game?
-Josh Watson
Photo Credit – 10tv.com WBNS | AP