by A Band of Brothers
Brotherhood. As I was watching a recap video from practices at the fall training camp sessions, this is a word that was echoed by multiple players and coaches throughout the interview process. As a fan, I have heard numerous players and coaches describe what the brotherhood is at Ohio State and what it truly means to them. When referring to the brotherhood, these players and coaches do not use this word lightly, and this is a cultural aspect that everyone on the team buys into. Whether it was TreVeyon Henderson or Jack Sawyers, the players returning for their final year instead of pursuing the NFL all had one thing in common when talking about the reasons why they came back: They did not want to let the brotherhood down and miss this opportunity to come back and finish business as a class in terms of winning a Big Ten title, beating that team up north, and winning a national championship.
- Chip Kelly (ex-head coach at UCLA, 1st year as OC)
- CB Caleb Downs (Transfer from Alabama)
- RB Quinshon Judkins (Transfer from Ole Miss)
- QB Will Howard (Transfer from Kansas State)
- OL Seth McLaughlin (Transfer from Alabama)
- DB Keenan Nelson Jr. (Transfer from South Carolina)
- DE Jack Sawyers
- RB TreVeyon Henderson
- DB Denzel Burke
- DT Tyleik Williams
- DE J.T. Tuimoloau
Offense
The 2024 Ohio State Buckeye offense is an offense that arguably has the most firepower on offense in all of college football—coming off a season last year with an offense that was 45th in the country scoring 30.5 points per game (Sports Reference).
The offense will have some new faces in key positions for the 2024 season; The Buckeyes were able to obtain key transfers Will Howard and Quinshon Judkins this past offseason.
Howard, a quarterback from Kansas State, is coming off a season where he threw for 2,643 passing yards and 24 touchdowns, along with showing off his mobility by rushing for 351 yards and 9 touchdowns for the Wildcats last season (Sports Reference). Howard will have a lot of weapons around him this season, including Emeka Egbuka, Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate, and the many other great receivers that the Buckeyes have on the roster. I believe that his play and ability to command this offense will be one of the main reasons why this offense is successful in the 2024 season.
Quinshon Judkins, a junior running back transferring from Ole Miss, is coming off back-to-back 1,000+ rushing yards and 15+ rushing touchdowns seasons in his first two years in college football (Sports Reference). Judkins is a very talented player and was in the conversation as the best offensive player in the transfer portal this offseason. The Buckeyes were able to create a two-headed monster in the backfield featuring Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, a man who had a chance to get drafted but realized that his ultimate decision was to return to Columbus and finish business with the brotherhood.
The addition of Chip Kelly to the coaching staff as an Offensive Coordinator is a major pickup for the Buckeyes. The addition of Kelly speaks volumes about the coaching staff and the culture of the team as Kelly is a coach that has the caliber to be head coach but chose to work with coach Ryan Day and the rest of the staff. When interviewed after a practice session of training camp, Kelly said that the offense is aiming to have a healthy balance of rush and pass plays as there are weapons all over the field that able to be used to their fullest potential.
I believe that this offense has the potential to be a top-5 offense in the country and can make plays throughout the year that no other offense can.
Defense
This is a Buckeyes defense that is coming off a season where they finished 2nd in the country in terms of defensive scoring per game at 11.2 points per game (Sports Reference). When talking about senior leadership, the majority of the players that are returning are on the defensive side. This defense returns 9 starters from last season, bringing a lot of familiarity and cohesiveness to this side of the ball.
The players who returned on the defensive side had different reasons as to why they returned. Cornerback Denzel Burke had a chance to go get drafted to play in the NFL but he wanted to come back to win the “Gold Pants”. Senior defensive end Jack Sawyers explained that he was not a fan of watching the team up north beat them the last 3 years and wants to avenge those losses at home this season.
This past offseason, the Buckeyes were able to land Caleb Downs; Downs, a defensive back transfer from Alabama, is a freshman standout from the 2023 season. Downs played in 14 games and had 70 solo tackles and 2 interceptions, along with a forced fumble as well last season (Sports Reference); along with Judkins, Caleb Downs was touted as the best player in the transfer portal on their respective sides of the field. Senior defensive end Jack Sawyers says that he is a great asset to the team as he is a young guy but has played like a veteran so far in camp because of the amount of experience he was able to gain last season.
When asked about what are some things that the Buckeyes have been working on defensively in training camp, Defensive Coordinator Jim Knowles said that he wants to accomplish two things throughout this season: run a creative package of defensive sets that are able to free up the blitzing defensive linemen and linebackers, and to create turnovers whenever possible. Knowles understands that the team who wins the turnover battle in most cases has the best chance to win the ball game. Knowles will look to make this defense a team that will always be on the hunt of making that game changing turnover that could give the Buckeyes momentum when its most needed.
To wrap it up, This is a Buckeyes roster that has true potential to be a historic team. With An offense that has weapons all over the field and an experienced quarterback, and a defense that is returning almost all of their starters, Ohio State has the capability to do some great things this season.
