Tag: Ohio State Football

Ohio State football could get key weapon back in time for Indiana matchup

Ohio State football has one of the most lethal offenses in the country, and it may get a key weapon back for its battle with Indiana.

The Ohio State Buckeyes will welcome the No. 5 Indiana Hoosiers to Ohio Stadium on Saturday for a top-five showdown, and they are likely getting back a key tight end who should amplify their offense.

Ryan Day said that Will Kacmarek is likely to play Saturday in the primetime battle. Kacmarek has been out since sustaining an upper body injury against Oregon several weeks ago.

Day said with some kind of certainty via Eleven Warriors’ Chase Brown.

The 6-foot-6, 240-pound tight end transferred from Ohio, where he spent the last three seasons.

He totaled over 240 receiving yards in both the last two seasons and had five receptions for 58 yards prior to his injury against Oregon. In that game, he did have a pivotal catch for 32 yards.

With the offensive line being banged up, having another big body in there that is capable of blocking and also being a safety net for Will Howard will be helpful.

The Buckeyes battle with Indiana kicks off at noon ET and will be on FOX. ESPN’s College Gameday will also be present in what should be the banner matchup for college football this weekend.

Black Stripe Alert! Ohio State freshman Garrett Stover sheds black stripe

Welcome to the Brotherhood #GoBucks

The brother of Ohio State fan favorite Cade Stover has lost his black stripe. Linebacker Garrett Stover was officially welcomed to the Brotherhood earlier on Wednesday.

While the elder Stover starred on the offensive side of the ball as a tight end and is now catching passes in the NFL with the Houston Texans, the younger Stover plays on the other side of the ball. Garrett comes to OSU as a highly touted recruit, ranked as the No. 19 linebacker in the 2024 class according to 247Sports. Stover plays fast and physical and we can only imagine is country strong just like his brother.

Stover becomes the 16th member of the freshman class to lose his black stripe this year.

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‘College GameDay’ announces Week 13 location

ESPN’s “College GameDay” will host from a Big Ten campus for the fifth time this season

ESPN’s “College GameDay” has announced that it will attend the Indiana Hoosiers at Ohio State Buckeyes game in Week 13 of the 2024 college football season.

Indiana’s road trip to face Ohio State has some serious College Football Playoff and Big Ten championship implications. Indiana enters Saturday undefeated and ranked No. 5 in the playoff rankings. Ohio State is 9-1 and ranked No. 2 behind Oregon.

No school has hosted GameDay more than Ohio State. The Buckeyes have  hosted the premier college football pregame show 23 times.

GameDay has already attended one Indiana and one Ohio State game this season. The GameDay crew went to the Indiana-Washington game on Oct. 26 and the Ohio State-Oregon game on Oct. 12, so they are familiar with both teams.

This will be GameDay’s fifth time on a Big Ten campus this season. Only the SEC (seven) has hosted GameDay more. GameDay has not gone to a Big 12 campus all season and it has only attended one ACC game.

Last week, GameDay attended the Tennessee at Georgia game. Georgia won to solidify their playoff hopes and to keep the Dawgs in the SEC championship hunt.

Other top Week 13 games include Ole Miss at Florida, Penn State at Minnesota, BYU at Arizona State, and Army at Notre Dame. Georgia plays against UMass in a Saturday schedule that does feature some lackluster games across the SEC.

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GameDay will begin coverage at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday. Nick Saban, Kirk Herbstreit, Rece Davis, Desmond Howard, Lee Corso and Pat McAfee serve as college football analysts for GameDay.

Ohio State football missing pivotal chance to recruit Class of 2026 No. 1 QB due to noon kickoff

Ohio State football won’t be able to bring in Jared Curtis, the No. 1 QB in the Class of 2026, on Saturday due to the noon kickoff start.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are a powerhouse college football program, and they have the ability to bring in some of the best of the best high school athletes, not only to visit in Columbus but to play there as well.

The talent pool for the next generation is always a top of conversation for collegiate programs, and having incoming prospects and recruits to high-energy games is immensely beneficial for all parties as they get to see the type of environment that a college can have on the brightest stage.

However, when it is a noon ET game and high school football playoffs are still ongoing, it makes matters a bit tougher, and the Buckeyes are figuring that out the hard way as they will miss out on a chance to have No. 1 overall Class of 2026 quarterback Jared Curtis to Columbus.

Curtis is the No. 1 quarterback, the No. 1 player from Tennessee and the No. 4 overall prospect from the Class of 2026 per 247Sports Composite scoring.

Per On3’s Steve Wiltfong, Curtis won’t be able to make the game due to having a third-round playoff game and logistics just won’t be able to work themselves out.

The game was announced as FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff several days ago and will also have ESPN’s College Gameday prior. It is a big deal as the regular season college football slate only has so many top-five games.

With Indiana No. 5 and Ohio State No. 2, it is bound to be the most high-profile battle this weekend.

Why Indiana should be the No. 1 team in the country if it beats Ohio State

The Ohio State Buckeyes will welcome Indiana, a top-five team, to Columbus. If Ohio State loses, the Hoosiers should jump to No. 1.

One senior writer for The Athletic, Chris Vannini, brought up a good point on Sunday via Twitter/X, and that is, that if Indiana beats Ohio State in Columbus, it should have a claim to be the team in the country.

There have been a handful of upset wins in college football this season, but few of been where a top-five team is at home and fails to come out on top. Both Georgia and Alabama have lost multiple games, and all those defeats came on the road.

It isn’t easy to go on the road in any environment and win, as the Buckeyes saw earlier on in their season against Oregon. It especially isn’t easy to do that against another top-five team in November.

Despite a weak non-conference schedule, Indiana has proven it is the real deal, having yet to lose a game this season. The Hoosiers don’t have a top-25 win though, so downing Ohio State would be the icing on the cake.

While Buckeyes fans, myself included, hope to see a resounding victory on Saturday, if that’s not what they get, then there’s no doubt Indiana would be leaving with the most impressive win in college football this season.

Ohio State delt potentially devistating blow with another offensive line injury

Tough news to hear #GoBucks

Multiple reports are coming out of Columbus that starting center Seth McLaughlin tore his Achilles tendon at practice on Tuesday and will be sidelined for the remainder of the season.

The news could not come at a worse time for Ohio State as the team is preparing for the stretch run against 10-0 Indiana and arch-rival Michigan with hopes of a rematch against Oregon in the Big Ten Championship. The Buckeyes already had to reshuffle the offensive line once this year after Josh Simmons went down with an injury suffered in Eugene. The line has seemed to come together in recent weeks, but the coaching staff will now need to act quickly before Saturday’s matchup with the Hoosiers.

While the news is devastating and we feel for McLaughlin, we know injuries are part of the game. Depth has been an issue on the offensive line, but someone is going to have to step up. The most likely scenario is moving Carson Hinzman who has been playing left guard back to center where he was a starter last year and inserting Austin Siereveld at left guard where he started the first two games of the season while Donovan Jackson was injured.

No official word has been given from Ohio State on McLaughlin’s status, but it feels like there are too many reports saying the same thing for it not to be true. Time for the next man up as the Buckeyes look to finish the season strong.

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Betting odds favor Ohio State football more than the national polls

Are the Ohio State Buckeyes the best team in the country? While the polls say no, the betting projections say yes.

The Ohio State football is the No. 2-ranked team in the country per both the AP and Coaches Polls.

Because of the fact that the top four conference champions get a bye in the College Football Playoff, the Buckeyes sit 5th in the CFP rankings. The betting odds do not share the same sentiment about the Buckeyes chances to win the CFP National Championship.

BetMGM Sportsbook has the Buckeyes No. 1 in the country in terms of likelihood to take home the championship, sitting at +320, which means a $100 wager would return $320 for a full payout of $420.

Oregon is No. 2 and then Georgia and Texas are tied at No. 3. Alabama is the only other program with odds within +1000 to win it all this season.

Simply put, the riff is created because the polls have to favor the undefeated Ducks while the betting trends can look past that and see how teams are playing throughout November and following the regular season.

Here’s a more analytical approach to the Buckeyes being the favorite to win the National Championship.

The Buckeyes have the best defense in the country, and their receivers are among the most talented as well.

Will Howard is going to be a key question mark. He will have to step up when the lights get the brightest. That said, the odds think he will do that time and time again as the CFP nears.

Ryan Day has high expectations for Ohio Stadium against Indiana Saturday

Ohio State football plays in front of a rowdy Ohio Stadium often, but Ryan Day wants it to hit a never-before-seen level on Saturday.

Ohio State football will welcome the undefeated Indiana Hoosiers to Ohio Stadium on Saturday.

One of the few places in the country that can sit six figures worth of people, Ohio Stadium should be a rowdy environment for the No. 5-ranked Hoosiers. It will easily be their most hostile environment this season.

Ryan Day is hoping fans can make it the “loudest” it has ever been.

Given this will be their only top-ten battle at home given how weak Michigan has shown to be this season, the Buckeyes’ faithful should come with ample energy.

“Let’s make it the loudest Ohio Stadium’s ever been. That’s what you want in November. You want it all on the line, you want a top-five matchup at home in November,” Day said via Eleven Warriors’ Andy Anders.

Coming off a win over Northwestern, Ohio State has looked like the best team in the country over the past few weeks, and it has a chance to continue to cement itself in that discussion on Saturday.

Oh, and if you had any concerns about Jeremiah Smith, he’s set go on Saturday.

Let’s hope all the stars can take the field as this is poised to be one of the most entertaining battles of the season. Kickoff is at noon ET, and the game will be aired on FOX.

Zahir Mathis, a five-star prospect, decommits from Ohio State football

Ohio State football had one of the best defensive ends in the Class of 2025, but it no longer does as Zahir Mathis has decomitted.

Zahir Mathis has decommited from Ohio State. He announced his decision on Monday and still appears to have the Buckeyes as a top school despite opening back up his recruitment.

Penn State seems to be the strong favorite as Mathis is from Philadelphia, but there could be many teams eyeing the four-star prospect. He had multiple people recruiting him from Alabama, so there is potential the Crimson Tide are able to scoop up the four-star defensive end.

Mathis is ranked as the 16th-best edge rusher in the Class of 2025 per 247Sports. That said, here’s his decision via Twitter/X.

The Buckeyes don’t have many incoming options for the Class of 2025 on the defensive line, so having Mathis decommit should sting some.

Mathis could’ve been alongside Alabama native Zion Grady, the 9th-best EDGE rusher in the class who is committed to Ohio State. Grady committed to Ohio State in June.

The Buckeyes still do have numerous four-star commits coming to Columbus next season with a class spearheaded by quarterback Tavern St. Clair, a five-star prospect and the top-rated Ohio State recruit. Ohio State will have a slew of talented players returning on both sides of the field as well.

Where’s Ohio State in latest College Football Playoff bracket? Full playoff picture after Week 12

Ohio State remained at No. 2 in the latest College Football Playoff Rankings. Here’s a playoff picture for the Buckeyes. #GoBucks

We’re now 12 weeks into the college football season and that means we have an idea of where Ohio State when it comes to the landscape of the 2024 season. The Buckeyes beat Northwestern on the road — in Wrigley Field no less last week and remain right in the thick of things, even after the loss to now No. 1 Oregon a few weeks ago.

Ohio State debuted at No. 2 when the first College Football Playoff rankings were announced a couple of weeks ago, so even another loss would seem to have OSU in good shape with getting an invite to the inaugural 12-team playoff we’re all about to witness at the end of this season. The Buckeyes stayed in that spot last week and now, this week when the latest CFP rankings were announced Tuesday.

The format is an interesting one, and since it’s the first year of all the fun, we thought we break down where Ohio State would be in the playoff bracket if it were to end before any further games are played. This is merely a projection and things will change based on results on the field.

So … here we go.

College Football Playoff bracket: Who’s in, who’s out

First-round byes as conference champion automatic qualifiers

No. 1 seed – Oregon Ducks (Big Ten Champion)
No. 2 seed – Texas Longhorns (SEC Champion)
No. 3 seed – Miami Hurricanes (ACC Champion)
No. 4 seed – Boise State (Mountain West Champion)

Latest CFP rankings

Ohio State’s projected CFP opponent – Boise State

How many teams in College Football Playoff 2024?

For the first time, there will be 12 teams participating in the College Football Playoff. There are five automatic bids for each of the Power Four conference champions and one to the highest-ranked Group of Five champion. The remaining seven slots are given to the seven at-large teams.

When next College Football Playoff rankings come out

  • Tuesday, Nov. 26: 8 p.m. ET
  • Tuesday, Dec. 3: 7 p.m. ET
  • Sunday, Dec. 8: Noon ET

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