“THE World Class Ohio State Buckeyes and THE defending National Champions…”, was the opening line from Gus Johnson for Ohio State’s opening battle against the then ranked #1 Texas Longhorns. You couldn’t ask for a higher stakes or a better setting to open the 2025 college football season.
The festivities started early, with Lee Corso completing his final broadcast with College Gameday. He donned the same mascot head as when he started the tradition on October 5, 1996, selecting the Brutus helmet to bookend his now infamous “headgear” pick.
THE Best Damn Band In The Land paid tribute with a very special Corso formation leading up to the pick.
And of course, the stadium was rocking, as loud as it’s ever been with the anticipation of the new season.
And then the ball was kicked off and we are off to the new season. No longer the defending National champions. Heck, not even ranked number 1 (yet), but this team has something to prove. They have something to earn in 2025, much like the playoffs of 2024.
A lot of uncertainty and some hesitation about how good this team was going to be this year. So many stars on offense and defense left for the NFL. Some new incoming transfers and freshman were tasked to fill the holes. Both coordinators were replaced. Brian Hartline was promoted to offensive coordinator, replacing Chip Kelly who left for the NFL. And former NFL defensive coordinator, Matt Patricia, stepped in to replace Jim Knowles who defected to Penn State after a somewhat ugly divorce at the end of last season.
The Buckeyes did return however, the two best players in the nation, with Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs.
Fast forward three weeks and several questions have been answered. So kinda like Jeopardy, I’ll give the answer, you can fill in the question:
1) Ohio State is #1 in the nation. In three games they have a combined score of 121-16. That includes a gritty defensive victory over Texas, an unleash every weapon against Grambling State, and a grind it out game against Ohio.
2) Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs are still, the best in the nation. Smith was quiet during the Texas game, but erupted during the Grambling game including the longest receiving touchdown in school history, for 87 yards. He leads the team in receptions (20), receiving yards (315) and is tied with receiving touchdowns (3). He also has a rushing TD for good measure.
Caleb Downs doesn’t boast the team leading stats on defense as his offensive counterpart. That said, when watching the games, he is everywhere. He may not make every tackle, but he’s disrupting plays. Lining up on the line, lurking with the linebackers or playing a centerfield, opposing teams must account for him on every down (no pun intended).
3) Defensively, this might be the best defense Ohio State has had since the early Tressel Era. Matt Patricia has brought in a scheme that was used to disrupt the likes of Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Matt Ryan, Phillip Rivers and other greats. Now college kids are left trying to figure this out. The key piece is the versatility of Caleb Downs. Think of it this way, you have the Patriots Super Bowl Winning defense but with Troy Polamolu as your safety. Scary, Scary stuff.
4) Julian “Just” Sayin. (Also Julian Super Sayin). If you’ve watched the games, you might think, “yeah, this kid is good, but is he really a superstar?” That’s a perfectly fine critique. I don’t know that a ton has been asked of him yet, and we haven’t seen too many crazy OMG plays. He won’t run much, or have crazy out of the pocket type plays. But, he is crazy accurate and a very good processor. His arm isn’t the biggest, but he has very good accuracy. He has plenty of room to continue to develop into one of those can’t miss, 1st overall draft pick type quarterbacks.
Through 3 games, he’s already thrown for 779 yards, 8 TDs and 3 INTs. His most impressive stat is that he has a 78.9% completion percentage, leading all of college football. That’s insane! And yet, he can still get better. The sky is the limit with these weapons as he continues to develop.
5) Bo knows football. We were spoiled with 2 amazing running backs in TreyVeon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. Replacing these 2 was a bigger question mark this season. Through the first game and a half it looked like Donaldson was going to be the lead back. A transfer from West Virginia, this bruiser showed his power against Texas. Many were excited to see what an elusive James Peoples looked like beside him, but so far we’ve been a bit disappointed as he can’t break any tackles. However, near the end of the Grambling State game, Ohio State Deployed Bo Jackson (no relation to the former Heisman winning dual sport superstar), on his very first carry as a Buckeye, he busted out an explosive 11 yard touchdown run. Only playing for a little over a quarter, he ended the game with 108 yards on only 9 carries, averaging 12 yards per carry! With a crazy YPC like that, there’s no way he could top it… NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND! The following week against Ohio, he ran for 109 yards, in 9 carries. 12.1 yards per carry! He doesn’t possess the Henderson homerun breakaway speed, but his burst and running style reminds me a bit of Eddie George or Maurice Clarett. Big things expected from this kid, who by the way, is only a TRUE FRESHMAN!
Looking ahead at the next three games, Washington will be a test. It’s the first away game for the Buckeyes as they open Big Ten play. The Husky faithful can get loud for their smaller venue. Sayin will face more challenges as they figure out how to communicate in the environment. They are back home to face a decent Minnesota team then on the road to play Illinois for the forgotten Illibuck trophy. (Fun fact, my college roommate was working in one of the campus libraries when he uncovered one of the Illibuck wooden turtles trophies. It had scores from the games etched on its back from the 1950s.) In the football world, Illinois has shown to have a pretty good defense and be a scrappy team… until they got absolutely housed by Indiana this past weekend.
They could be a challenge, but I expect the Buckeyes to march into Champagne and do their thing.
Ohio Sports Radio 
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