Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
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 most important questions yet unanswered for the season. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content and our ”Burning Questions” articles here.
Following Ohio State’s national championship season, there will be a lot of new faces in scarlet and gray this season, both on the field and on Ryan Day’s coaching staff. With so many new players and coaches stepping into new roles for the Buckeyes this year, there are also a lot of questions that Ohio State fans will have until we have a chance to see them on the field.
Even though we haven’t seen any of the new additions to this year’s Ohio State team on the field or sidelines coaching for the Buckeyes in an actual game yet, there are players we have already seen compete at the college level because they were brought in via the transfer portal. When it comes to the coaches, there is also a track record of what to expect from them because of their previous stops. The biggest unknown when it comes to the new assistants is whether Day will let them coach their own way, or will he want them to conform more to the standards he has set as Ohio State’s head coach.
With it being “Burning Questions” week here at LGHL, today we figured we’d try and answer some of our concerns about the new Buckeyes. Whether it’s a transfer, an incoming freshman, or an assistant coach, every area surrounding the Ohio State football team is going to be heavily scrutinized this year since the Buckeyes will be looking to win back-to-back national titles. Despite the margin for error not being quite as severe with an expanded playoff, Ohio State will need their new pieces to be at the top of their game, starting with the late August clash in Columbus with Texas to open up the season.
Today’s question: How will Ohio State’s new additions impact the team?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: Tight end Max Klare will give Julian Sayin a trusted option in the passing game behind Jeremiah Smith
The only bright spot on Purdue’s offense last year was Max Klare. The tight end caught 51 passes for 685 yards and four touchdowns for a Boilermakers team that was 1-11. Overall, Purdue quarterbacks completed 189 passes for 13 touchdowns over the 12 games, so it’s obvious that Klare was the main target in their passing attack.
The only game where Klare failed to reach at least 30 yards receiving came in the 45-0 loss to Ohio State in November. The best two games of the year for Klare came against Penn State and Illinois, when he caught at least six passes in both contests, running up a season-high 133 yards receiving against Illinois, followed by a 91-yard effort with a touchdown against the Nittany Lions.
Klare figures to be in store for an even bigger year this season, since he’ll be part of an offense that will be way more dynamic than at Purdue. The fact that the Buckeyes will be breaking in a new quarterback should help Klare’s production since he should turn into a trusted target for Julian Sayin, or whoever is taking snaps for Ohio State this fall.
Is Klare going to be the top target in the passing attack for the Buckeyes? Since Jeremiah Smith is still on the roster, Klare isn’t expected to see the type of pass volume that Smith will see. What will help Klare is the amount of attention that Smith, as well as Carnell Tate, will receive. Texas put together the perfect game plan in the Cotton Bowl to keep the ball out of Smith’s hands, so expect opponents of the Buckeyes this year to try and do the same.
It wouldn’t be crazy to expect Klare to threaten the school’s single-season receiving records when it comes to tight ends. After years of tight ends primarily being used for pass protection and run blocking, lately, Ohio State tight ends have been given more responsibility in the passing game. Cade Stover made some noise at the position, and I could see Klare seeing similar usage through the air. At worst, Klare will help raise the bar for Will Kacmarek, Bennett Christian, and Jelani Thurman.
Matt’s answer: Defensive coordinator Matt Patricia will keep the new-look defense at an elite level
For all the unrealized expectations around the Jack position and the rumored disagreements with defensive line coach Larry Johnson, I think that we can all say that Jim Knowles’ time as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator was pretty darn successful. As worthy of praise as Will Howard, Jeremiah Smith, TreVeyon Henderson, and the rest of the offense were last year (especially in the playoffs), in my opinion, the defense was what made the 2024 Buckeyes national champions.
Despite that fact, Knowles is now the DC at Penn State, and former New England Patriots coordinator and Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia has now taken over the OSU defense.
Patricia has a tall task in front of him, having to not only replace eight starters, but also having to live up to the expectations set during the championship run a season ago. And while I was (and still am, but to a lesser degree) concerned about Patricia’s track record since being untethered to Bill Belichick, I think that Patricia is going to be able to keep the Buckeye defense at the top of the Big Ten and college football.
Will the Scarlet and Gray lead the country in yards and points allowed per game again, while being in the top three in both pass and rush defense (not to mention a whole host of other important statistical categories)? Probably not, that defense was a once-in-a-decade unit, and a D doesn’t need to be that dominant to have similar success.
While Patricia will only have three returning starters (linebacker Sonny Styles, corner Davison Igbinosun, and safety Caleb Downs) to work with, the rest of the presumed starters join the first-team with plenty of experience. Other than defensive tackle Eddrick Houston and safety Jaylen McClain (both of whom are true sophomores), every one expected to start is an upperclassman, including North Carolina transfer Beau Atkinson. So, there is plenty of experience to draw from for the new D-Cor.
All indications are that Patricia will maintain the 4-2-5 structure that Knowles brought to Columbus. While this is not the type of defense that he employed at his stops in the NFL, Patricia does have a history of running nickel schemes, so it is not completely new to him. This should help with the transition and make it easier for the players to adapt to their new coordinator.
But what has me most excited about what Patricia will most likely bring to the defense is his ability to adapt. During the Knowles Era, there was a lot of conversation in Columbus about whether or not the defense was “multiple” enough to confuse high-level offenses. However, we didn’t see it nearly as much as one would think, given how much Knowles talked about it. But that is not likely to be the case with Patricia.
Throughout his time with the Pats, Patricia showed a remarkable tendency to throw a bunch of new looks at opposing offenses, building off of what his players did best, but also exploiting what their opponents did worst. He implemented a hybrid 3-4/4-3 look across the defensive front, and would work in the nickel package that I mentioned earlier, always trying to find a personnel advantage over the offense.
While there are a lot of differences between college football and the NFL, this has me excited for what Patricia could come up with. While this year’s defensive Buckeyes clearly don’t have a ton of starting experience, we know that all of those guys have a ton of talent and are likely chomping at the bit to finally be able to prove it. So, any opportunity they get, I expect them to make the most of it.
There is no doubt talent on the defensive roster, and when combined with a fresh perspective and flexibility on that side of the ball, I think that Matt Patricia just might be able to keep the Silver Bullets at an elite level.