It’s amazing how long these streaks lasted — or are still going.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about the numbers that will be most important for the Buckeyes this college football season. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all our “Most Telling Stat” articles here.
When you think of the Buckeyes’ incredible run to the national championship last season, there’s one stat that makes what they did even more impressive.
With 13:57 remaining in the second quarter of the College Football Playoff National Championship, Notre Dame’s Charles Jagusah was called for a holding. We see holdings get called seemingly every game… or do we?
That’s because that holding call was the first one drawn by the Ohio State defense, against an opposing offense, since the middle of the first quarter against Marshall on Sept. 21. Meaning, Ohio State went over three quarters against Marshall, the next 12 games and over one quarter of the CFP National Championship without drawing a holding penalty from the opposing offense.
In other words, the Buckeyes went 728 consecutive snaps without an opposing offense getting flagged for holding.
Holding penalties are huge momentum swings. An opposing offense being backed up 10 yards is advantageous for any defense, especially one as good as Ohio State. The fact that the Buckeyes didn’t draw a holding for nearly four months worth of games, including the first three Playoff games, makes what they did defensively last season even more impressive.
Ohio State led all of college football in scoring defense at 12.9 points per game this past season and fewest yards allowed at 254.6 per game. Eight players from the Buckeyes defense, including Tyleik Williams in the first round, were selected in the NFL Draft this past April.
Being able to draw penalties by the opposing offense is something that is taught by defensive coaching staffs. That makes it even more unfathomable Ohio State’s defense went 12 straight games and 728 straight snaps without drawinng one holding penalty.
Williams, JT Tuimoloau, Jack Sawyer and Ty Hamilton were all ferocious players this past season. How does one of them, let alone how do all of them, not draw one holding penalty in nearly four months?
Even longer of a streak is the Buckeyes going the last 14 seasons with returning a kickoff for a touchdown. The last time Ohio State returned a kickoff for a touchdown was on Nov. 27, 2010 against The Team Up North in a 37-7 win. Jordan Hall returned a kickoff 87 yards as the Buckeyes won their seventh-straight game, at the time, over the Wolverines.
They don’t happen often, but kickoff returns for touchdowns are plays that can completely galvanize an entire team. The explosive, exciting nature of these plays can bring a crowd to life, and you can feel the momentum shift when they happen. It’s amazing how the Buckeyes have been able to flip momentum in big games over the last 14 seasons without a kickoff return for a touchdown.
It will be very interesting to see if the Buckeyes can snap that streak of not having a kickoff returned for a touchdown this season. In addition, there should be an emphasis from the defensive coaching staff, now led by three-time Super Bowl winning head coach Matt Patricia, on how to draw holding penalties from opposing offenses.
These are two streaks, and stats, that are worth watching in the 2025 season.