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Ohio State is Wide Receiver U...
Highest graded Ohio State WRs in the PFF era pic.twitter.com/QvvZAXSXoE
— PFF College (@PFF_College) January 25, 2024
..and it's not close.
Have a good Tuesday.
A BUNCH OF OLD HEADS. Ohio State’s 2024 starters could be the Buckeyes’ oldest (and most experienced) collection of talent since Ryan Day took over as head coach in 2019.
Marcus Hartman of Dayton Daily News reached the conclusion when he assigned points based on class for each starter (1 for a freshman, 1.5 for a redshirt freshman, 2 for a sophomore, and so on) and combined them to arrive at an “experience score.”
According to Hartman’s calculations, the 2024 Buckeyes could have an experience score of 80.5 — a number that would surpass Day’s most veteran team (2019) by 3.5 points. The 2024 Buckeyes could also be the oldest Ohio State team since 2001.
Here is a breakdown of Ohio State’s experience score:
*NOTE: The players listed as starters are from Eleven Warriors’ latest depth chart projections for the offense and defense.
Offense
- QB: Will Howard (5 points)
- RB: TreVeyon Henderson (4 points)
- Slot: Emeka Egbuka (4 points)
- Z: Carnell Tate (2 points)
- X: Jeremiah Smith (1 point)
- TE: Will Kacmarek (3.5 points)
- LT: Josh Simmons (4 points)
- LG: Donovan Jackson (4 points)
- C: Seth McLaughlin (4.5 points)
- RG: Josh Fryar (4.5 points)
- RT: Luke Montgomery (2 points)
Total: 38.5 points
Defense
- DE: Jack Sawyer (4 points)
- DT: Tyleik Williams (4 points)
- DT: Ty Hamilton (4.5 points)
- DE: JT Tuimoloau (4 points)
- MLB: Cody Simon (5 points)
- WLB: Sonny Styles (3 points)
- CB: Denzel Burke (4 points)
- CB: Davison Igbinosun (3 points)
- CB: Jordan Hancock (4 points)
- FS: Caleb Downs (2 points)
- SS: Lathan Ransom (4.5 points)
Total: 42 points
Combined Total: 80.5 points
Ohio State’s experience should pay dividends for the Buckeyes in 2024. However, as Hartman wrote, “age is not a prerequisite for winning.”
Tressel’s 2002 national championship team came in right at the average age score of 70, but the ‘03 squad that was his oldest ended up being the only one he coached to not beat Michigan and one of only three not to win at least a share of the Big Ten.
Urban Meyer’s 2014 team started several second-year players and scored just 63.5, making it the second-youngest Ohio State starting lineup of the last 23 years, but that group ended up winning the first College Football Playoff (then falling short of a repeat despite being older in ‘15).
Tressel’s second youngest team also played for a national title in 2007 while his youngest went 8-4 in 2004.
Still, Day’s best Ohio State team has been his oldest and most experienced team in 2019. That season, the Buckeyes also featured a transfer quarterback (Justin Fields), a transfer interior offensive lineman (Jonah Jackson), a loaded defense and more. Could we see the 2024 Buckeyes — with Howard, McLaughlin, a loaded defense and more — replicate that same success (and secure a CFP title)?
One can hope!
QUACK, QUACK. With Jim Harbaugh now head coach of the Chargers and Sherrone Moore now head coach at Michigan, The Athletic's Scott Dochterman (Iowa), Audrey Snyder (Penn State), Cameron Teague Robinson (Ohio State), Jesse Temple (Wisconsin) and Austin Meek (Michigan) see Ohio State as the favorite to win the Big Ten in 2024.
I do, too.
Dochterman, Snyder, Teague Robinson, Temple and Meek also see Oregon as the team that will contend with Ohio State for the conference title.
I do, too.
Here are the reasons The Athletic’s Big Ten staff writers believe in the Ducks:
DOCHTERMAN: If Oregon can successfully navigate the intense travel schedule, the Ducks are ahead of the rest of the Big Ten. If Penn State can rebuild its defensive line, it has a chance to play Ohio State twice. I like quarterback Drew Allar and I think Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen are terrific running backs. But I can’t put the Nittany Lions No. 2 today. I do think some team is going to come from under-the-radar, like Wisconsin or Iowa, to contend for the second spot opposite Ohio State.
SNYDER: Oregon. While this conference will have plenty of new quarterbacks in 2024 — hello, Washington, USC, Ohio State and Michigan, among other contenders — Lanning’s team with its own QB overhaul from the portal led by Dillon Gabriel should be best positioned to push the Buckeyes as the conference’s top team. Mark those calendars for Oct. 12 when Ohio State travels to Eugene.
TEAGUE ROBINSON: Oregon. Gabriel and Lanning together is a scary combo. That’s going to be a major test for Ohio State, especially on the road. It wouldn’t surprise me if Oregon wins that game and the two teams meet again in the Big Ten title game. Lanning made the right decision staying at Oregon, because he could make an immediate impact in the Big Ten.
TEMPLE: I’m joining the chorus and picking Oregon. Adding a transfer portal quarterback like Gabriel, who is coming off a season at Oklahoma in which he threw for 3,660 yards with 30 touchdowns and six interceptions, is a huge win for the Ducks. But Oregon’s schedule highlights why nothing about the new Big Ten is going to be easy (or a guarantee when making predictions). Home games include Ohio State and Washington. Road games include Michigan and Wisconsin. Never before has the league been this good and this intriguing.
MEEK: As everyone is pointing out, the answer here is Oregon. I can’t put Michigan in the top tier of contenders based on everything the Wolverines have lost since the national championship game. But if Sherrone Moore is Michigan’s next head coach, the philosophy isn’t going to change. We know Michigan’s style of play gives Ohio State trouble. I need to see that the Buckeyes have solved that before awarding them the upper hand in the rivalry.
Like Ryan Day and Ohio State, Dan Lanning and Oregon have had a phenomenal offseason.
The Ducks landed Oklahoma transfer quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who earned unanimous first-team All-Big 12 honors in 2023 after leading the Big 12 with 3,660 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, and six interceptions. Before his time in Norman, the 5-foot-11, 204-pound senior spent three seasons at UCF. His 14,865 career passing yards rank second-most among all active FBS quarterbacks.
Oregon then added Dante Moore, the No. 3 quarterback prospect in the 2023 class, as a backup. Moore threw for 1,610 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions at UCLA as a freshman, and he was one of the more coveted players in the portal before the Ducks secured his commitment.
Other notable transfers joining the Ducks include wide receiver Evan Stewart (Texas A&M), defensive tackle Jamaree Caldwell (Houston), cornerbacks Jabbar Muhammad (Washington), Brandon Johnson (Duke) and Kam Alexander (UTSA), safety Kobe Savage (Kansas State) and kicker Atticus Sappington (Oregon State).
Those are phenomenal additions for a top-10 team that lost quarterback Bo Nix, wide receiver Troy Franklin, defensive end Brandon Dorlus and cornerback Khyree Jackson, among others.
While Michigan, Penn State, USC, Washington and some other Big Ten schools have the chance to compete for a Big Ten championship next season, Oregon will be a contender from Jump Street.
That said, circle Oct. 12 on your calendar, folks. Ohio State and Oregon's Week 7 showdown in Eugene could have some serious implications for who wins the conference title in 2024.
ONE OF A KIND. The oldest Ohio State football tickets cannot be found at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, the Fawcett Center, or the Thompson Library. The oldest Ohio State football tickets can be found in Greenville, Ohio, in the possession of Doug Baker.
In a recent interview with Drew Terhall of The Daily Advocate, Baker — a collector of rare items from the Civil War, World War II and other historical artifacts — said he possesses lots of Ohio State memorabilia. The most valuable item is Ohio State football admission tickets from 1898 (featured below) and 1905.
Baker said after three years of owning a scrapbook of different pictures and documents from an auction, he discovered the [1905] ticket. He also said years later, he obtained an Ohio State football season ticket from 1898 from a collector from Pennsylvania.
With everything Baker collects, he started to research the history behind the tickets. With the 1898 ticket, he looked into who Robert E. McClure was and why he would have signed the ticket. It turns out McClure was a manager of the football team in 1898 and 1899 and was a student member of the Athletic Board in those same years.
The ticket also had ‘Complimentary’ written across it and said Press-Post. Baker said at first, he thought it could have been a press pass to a newspaper. He then discovered it was a newspaper called the Press-Post and they had taken an ad out of the Makio yearbook in 1898. Along with the newspaper, the department store Lazarus also paid for advertisement in the yearbook and to have their name on the back of the ticket.
The ticket was also signed by Dr. Christopher P. Linhart, the president of the Athletic Board and the director of the gymnasium. His signature was a sign of approval for giving the ticket to the Press-Post as complimentary.
“I’ve spent a lot of hours researching to try and find more of the history. Who signed it, why they would have signed it, who the newspaper was. It took a lot of time to research it. But, you learn from it and I enjoy that,” Baker said.
Baker [called Ohio State] to find out more about the tickets. He said the oldest ticket in [the school’s] possession at the time was from 1922.
...
The tickets are in good condition, which is rare for the 1905 ticket. Baker said the ticket was supposed to be torn like how tickets are torn today.
It adds to the rarity of the tickets.
“The people I’ve talked to, nobody else has seen one. The 1898 ticket, the collectors and even the dealers I’ve spoken to said there isn’t another ticket like it that exists. To go back 125 years and to find a ticket that doesn’t have a crease on it, no bends, no tears, no damage at all is scarce. To think that anything actually exists that old, the people are surprised,” Baker said.
This kind of stuff fascinates me.
In 1898, Ohio State went 3-5 under head coach Jack Ryder. The Buckeyes beat Heidelberg, Denison and Ohio Wesleyan. They lost to Marietta (twice), Western Reserve (in Cleveland), Case and Kenyon.
Somebody went to six of those seven games.
In 1905, Ohio State went 8-2-2 under head coach Edwin Sweetland. The Buckeyes beat Heidelberg, Muskingum, Wittenberg, Denison, DePauw, Kenyon, Oberlin and Wooster. They lost to Michigan (in Ann Arbor) and Indiana. They tied with Otterbein and Case.
Somebody went to 11 of those 12 games.
Those somebodies held on to their tickets, others have helped preserve them for well over 100 years, and the consistent success of Ohio State football made it all worthwhile.
That's wild!
TRADING CARD DAY. On Feb. 18, Ohio State men's basketball will battle No. 2 Purdue at Value City Arena. Before the Buckeyes face the Boilermakers, the program will host another event at the Schottenstein Center: Trading Card Day.
From an Ohio State press release:
Join Ohio State Men’s Basketball as we host our first Team 125 Trading Card Day with Aaron Craft and CardCollector2. The men’s basketball practice gym at the Schottenstein Center will become a space to trade cards, meet Aaron Craft and CardCollector2, and participate in other interactive elements.
EVENT DETAILS
Trading Card Day opens at 10:30 a.m.
The event will take place in the men’s basketball practice gym at the Schottenstein Center and admission includes a game ticket to Ohio State vs. Purdue at 1 p.m. Tickets start at $17 and can be purchased here.
Fans who attend the event will receive a commemorative 1/500 Aaron Craft trading card, and the Ohio State hoops legend will be available for a meet and greet and photos from 11 a.m. to noon.
I hope the reason Craft plans to leave the event at noon is so he can put on an Ohio State uniform and play for the Buckeyes against the Boilermakers.
A few years removed from professional basketball, I bet Craft could still give the Boilermakers' ballhandlers some trouble as a defender. He could probably collect some points and assists, too.
Put him in Coach!
SONG OF THE DAY. “By and By” - CAAMP.
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