Ohio State faces its toughest schedule in years
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A dozen preseason predictions for Ohio State and the rest of the Big Ten this college football season:
• 1. Ohio State will lose at least one game.
Ryan Day has called the Buckeyes’ schedule "a monster" and he’s not wrong. He’s also not afraid of that schedule. Calling it a monster is part of his plan
OSU’s toughest road games probably will be at Texas, at Iowa, at Indiana and at USC. The sternest tests at home will probably come from Oregon and Michigan.
• 2. Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin has a better chance to win the Heisman Trophy than his teammate and favorite target Jeremiah Smith.
The tendency of many Heisman voters to favor quarterbacks is real. Sayin finished fourth last season and appeared on 298 ballots Heisman ballots, which ask voters for their top three choices. Smith, after two seasons as the best receiver in college football, was on only 58 ballots and finished sixth.
• 3. Chris Henry Jr., the next great receiver at Ohio State, will catch at least 30 passes, three or four of them for touchdowns, in his first season of college football.
• 4. New Ohio State kicker Connor Hawkins will make a field goal from 50 yards or longer. He was 3 of 4 from that distance last season at Baylor.
The last time an Ohio State kicker made a field goal of 50 yards or more was Blake Haubeil’s 55-yarder in a 52-3 win over Northwestern in 2019.
• 5. Bo Jackson and Isaiah West (or whoever is Ohio State’s the No. 2 running back) will combine for 1,500 yards rushing or more.
• 6 . With UCLA, Maryland and Wisconsin on the schedule, Purdue has a chance to win a Big Ten game for the first time since 2023. Not a good chance, but still a chance.
• 7. A Big Ten football coach will be fired before the season is over. It has become almost a yearly thing.
Last year Penn State fired James Franklin after it lost three of its first six games and UCLA fired DeShaun Foster after an 0-3 start. Michigan State fired Mel Tucker during the 2023 season for non-football reasons. Wisconsin fired Paul Chryst early in the 2022 season and Nebraska fired Scott Frost during that same season.
• 8. No Big Ten team will go undefeated.
Oregon plays at Ohio State and at USC. Indiana plays Ohio State and USC. The Buckeyes, Ducks and Hoosiers all play Michigan. Ohio State’s schedule has already been discussed earlier in this column.
• 9. Great idea or just as silly as Iowa’s tradition of painting the visitor’s locker room pink?
Northwestern’s new stadium, which is scheduled to open with a game against Penn State on Oct. 2, will have a 2,000-seat student section with no permanent seats or bleachers.
The hope is that keeping the undergrads on their feet will add to the home field edge. The idea reportedly came from some European soccer stadiums. Don’t expect it to spread rapidly to other stadiums.
• 10. Penn State will win nine or more games in former Iowa State coach Matt Campbell’s first season if it starts fast against a schedule that begins with non-league games against Marshall, Temple and Buffalo. Then the Nittany Lions start Big Ten play against Wisconsin and Northwestern.
Also, they do not have to play Ohio State, Oregon or Indiana.
• 11. Thinking Wisconsin could win seven games and take the heat off coach Luke Fickell after three disappointing seasons is not ridiculous.
The Badgers went on a bit of a spending spree in the transfer portal to restock an offense which
ranked 133rd nationally in scoring and in total offense and they had a decent defense.
Former Old Dominion quarterback Colton Joseph transferred to Wisconsin as did five offensive linemen, five wide receivers and three running backs.
And like Penn State, Wisconsin’s schedule does not include Ohio State, Oregon or Indiana.
• 12. Julian Sayin will throw more than the 32 touchdown passes he had for Ohio State last season and Jeremiah Smith will catch 15 or more of them.