There’s still one more college football game to go to cap off the 2019 season, but with all but two teams done for the year, we’re starting to get the extremely early lookaheads for the next season. One of those publications — Athlon Sports — has come out with its Way Too Early Top 25 for 2020 and Ohio State is among one of the top teams projected.
According to Athlon, it has Ohio State all the way up to No. 2 in the country, just behind the Clemson Tigers. Here’s what it says about the prospects of what the Buckeyes could be next season.
The Buckeyes didn’t miss a beat in the coaching transition from Urban Meyer to Ryan Day and were a couple of plays away from a shot at the national championship. Ohio State will be back in the mix once again in 2020, as quarterback Justin Fields directs one of the nation’s top offenses after throwing for 3,273 yards and 41 scores to just three picks and running for 484 yards and 10 touchdowns in his first year in Columbus.
Fields won’t have J.K. Dobbins (2,003 rushing yards), but Master Teague (789), Marcus Crowley (237), and Steele Chambers (135) will keep the ground game performing at a high level. Binjimen Victor and K.J. Hill depart the receiving corps, but there are plenty of targets in place thanks the emergence of Chris Olave (12 TDs) and Garrett Wilson (30 catches) in 2019. The Buckeyes will have a strong foundation in the trenches thanks to the return of left tackle Thayer Munford, center Josh Myers and guard Wyatt Davis. Day has to replace co-coordinator Jeff Hafley, and a defense that limited teams to just 13.7 points a game loses end Chase Young, tackles Jashon Cornell, Robert Landers and DaVon Hamilton, along with linebacker Malik Harrison and standout defensive backs Jeff Okudah (CB), Damon Arnette (CB), and Jordan Fuller (safety).
While those losses are hefty, Ohio State still has a ton of talent on that side of the ball to lean on, including breakout candidates in defensive end Zach Harrison and cornerback Shaun Wade. A Sept. 12 showdown at Oregon and an Oct. 24 game at Penn State highlight the 2020 schedule for the Buckeyes.
The college football season may not be over yet, but it's never too early to think about the next season. We’ve got four SEC teams in the top eight and five Big Ten schools in the top 13. https://t.co/tUwhKRvodQ
— Athlon Sports (@AthlonSports) January 10, 2020
Of course we tend to agree. We’ve already laid out what OSU has coming back in the cupboard. With Justin Fileds directing what should be an explosive offense, and with the athleticism that’ll be on the field on the other side of the ball, the Buckeyes really should be able to make a run at some pretty special things once again.
Besides Ohio State and Clemson, Athlon’s top ten for 2020 consists of Alabama (3), LSU (4), Oklahoma (5), Penn State (6), Florida (7), Georgia (8), Notre Dame (9), and Wisconsin (1).
The annual overinflation of Michigan seems to be wearing out too. Athlon has the Wolverines projected at No. 12.