Ohio State will be college football’s defending national champion in 2025. However, Ryan Day sees the Buckeyes as attacking national champions.
“We’re not defending anything,” Day said at Big Ten Media Days. “They can’t take the national championship away. We’re attacking.”
With Texas coming to Columbus on Aug. 30, Ohio State must be on the attack from the season’s opening kickoff. After taking on the Longhorns, the Buckeyes’ march continues with battles against Tigers and Bobcats. Big Ten play offers no breathing room, with brawls against Huskies, Golden Gophers and… Illini? … looming.
In the first half of our two-part preseason Ohio State schedule breakdown, we preview the Buckeyes’ first six opponents — Texas, Grambling, Ohio, Washington, Minnesota and Illinois — examining what Ohio State fans can expect when their favorite team takes the field to face them this fall.
Texas (Aug. 30)
Arch Manning against the Clemson Tigers during the College Football Playoff first round at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. (Mark J. Rebilas – Imagn Images)
Texas, the No. 1 team in the preseason AP Poll and Coaches Poll, enters the fall as the favorite to win the national championship.
The Longhorns are frontrunners for a few reasons, though none are more important than this one: Arch Manning, the prince that was promised, takes the reins at quarterback. If the grandson of Archie and nephew of Peyton and Eli is as advertised, it’s national title or bust for Steve Sarkisian’s program, which has reached the College Football Playoff semifinals in back-to-back years.
Manning’s backfield partners are known commodities. The team’s leading rusher in 2024, Quintrevion Wisner, returns alongside CJ Baxter, who missed all of last season with a knee injury. His pass-catchers also have name recognition, as DeAndre Moore Jr. and Ryan Wingo return to lead a wide receiver room that also features an explosive pair of freshmen, Kaliq Lockett and Jaime Ffrench.
If Texas has a question mark on offense, it’s in the trenches. The Longhorns will replace four starters on the offensive line, including top-10 pick Kelvin Banks Jr., and hope Manning’s athleticism and decision-making can help the position room overcome growing pains.
While Manning provides more than enough star power on offense, Texas has created just as much in the aggregate on defense. Coming off a season with 15.5 tackles for loss, All-American linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. will be Texas’ leader on that side of the ball. The Longhorns also return National Freshman of the Year Colin Simmons and Trey Moore at defensive end, while Malik Muhammad, Michael Taaffe and Jaylon Guilbeau return to anchor the back end.
With less than two weeks until the season opener, Ohio State is a three-point favorite over Texas. Barring significant line movement, the Longhorns will be the first-ever No. 1-ranked team to be an underdog in Week 1, according to ESPN research dating back to 1978.
Ohio State and Texas faced off just seven months ago in the Cotton Bowl, with the Buckeyes beating the Longhorns 28-14 thanks to Jack Sawyer’s scoop-and-score. Before their matchup in last season’s CFP, the Longhorns defeated the Buckeyes in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl. The teams also split a home-and-home series in 2005 and 2006, with Texas winning in Columbus and Ohio State winning in Austin.
Grambling (Sept. 6), Ohio (Sept. 13)
Parker Navarro drops back to pass against the Syracuse Orange during the second half at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory (Rich Barnes-Imagn Images)
We debated whether to include notes on Grambling and Ohio because, no matter how much Ryan Day commends Mickey Joseph, Brian Smith and their programs, the Buckeyes should win both contests without breaking a sweat. (This figurative phrase could be literal because, in a season full of noon kickoffs, these games will start at 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.)
However, this is a schedule breakdown, so let’s examine the Tigers and Bobcats — with brevity.
In his first season at Grambling, Joseph led the FCS school to a 5-7 record with a 2-6 mark in SWAC competition. In 2025, he will lean on three preseason All-SWAC selections – first-team defensive lineman Bryce Cage, second-team offensive lineman Tahj Martin and second-team cornerback Blake Davis – to make the program a conference title contender.
Grambling’s last matchup with a Power Four opponent came against LSU in 2023. The Tigers (the purple and gold kind) beat the Tigers (the black and yellow kind) 72-10, with eventual Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels throwing for 269 yards and five touchdowns, all in the first half.
Ohio will pack more of a punch than Grambling.
Remember when Rufus attacked Brutus and punched him in the face in 2010?
Wild times.
Ohio won 10 games under Tim Albin in both 2022 and 2023, but lost 10 starters, including star quarterback Kurtis Rourke (Indiana) and defensive tackle Kurt Danneker (Baylor), to Power Four schools. Despite the exodus, the Bobcats won 11 games and a MAC title in 2024. Albin leveraged his stellar coaching performance to land a job at Charlotte, leading Ohio to promote Smith to be the program’s next leader.
Dual-threat quarterback Parker Navarro returns to lead Smith’s team in 2025. The second-team All-MAC selection completed 66.1 percent of his passes last season, collecting 2,423 passing yards with 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also ran for 1,054 yards and 18 scores.
Joining Navarro in leadership will be a quartet of proven veterans: left tackle Davion Weatherspoon, running back Sieh Bangura, cornerback Tank Peterson and safety DJ Walker. Ohio also welcomes a handful of transfers expected to contribute: offensive linemen Nick Marianaro (Dartmouth) and Josh Waite (Shippensburg), cornerback Rickey Hyatt Jr. (South Alabama) and safety Ronald Jackson Jr. (Montana).
Ohio State has never faced Grambling, but it has faced Ohio seven times. The Buckeyes’ 7-0 record against the Bobcats features wins in 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1999, 2008 and 2010.
at Washington (Sept. 27)
Demond Williams Jr. smiles after throwing a touchdown against the UCLA Bruins during the second half at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium. (Steven Bisig-Imagn Images)
With no game scheduled on Sept. 20, Ohio State will enter its Big Ten schedule traveling 2,420 miles to Seattle for a road test at Washington.
After Washington’s loss to Michigan in the 2023 national championship game, Kalen DeBoer left for Tuscaloosa, replacing seven-time national champion Nick Saban and becoming the 28th head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Then forced to search for its next program leader, Washington pursued and landed Jedd Fisch, a coach with almost 30 years of experience, including three years as head coach at Arizona from 2021-23.
With a retooled roster featuring 14 transfers, Fisch led Washington to a 6-7 record in 2024. Now entering his second season in 2025, Fisch hopes second-year quarterback Demond Williams Jr. can lead the Huskies back to prominence.
Williams started Washington’s final two games last season. He completed 43 of 52 passes for 575 yards, five touchdowns and one interception, adding another 137 yards and one score on the ground, excluding the stunning 15 sacks he took across 153 dropbacks. Unfortunately for Williams, Washington went 0-2 in those games because the Huskies’ defense allowed a combined 84 points.
If Williams’ decision-making and pocket presence evolve in year two, there’s a chance Washington’s offense takes a significant leap in 2025. He has a relatively experienced offensive line in front of him but a skill position corps that includes 1,000-yard running back Jonah Coleman and 6-foot-4 wide receiver Denzel Boston, not to mention Penn State wide receiver transfer Omari Evans and tight end Decker DeGraaf.
Fisch will want to see an equal or better leap from Washington’s defense this fall. According to ESPN’s Bill Connelly, only five of 15 players who played 200-plus snaps last season return. Former Purdue coach Ryan Walters replaces Stephen Belichick, who left to coach for his dad Bill at North Carolina, as defensive coordinator. Fisch aimed to add known disruptors in the transfer portal and found several, including defensive tackles Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei (Arizona) and Simote Pepa (Utah); linebackers Jacob Manu (Arizona), Taariq Al-Uqdah (Washington State) and Xe’Ree Alexander (UCF); and defensive backs Tacario Davis (Arizona), CJ Christian (FIU) and Alex McLaughlin (Northern Arizona).
Fisch generated lots of excitement in his second season at Arizona, taking the Wildcats from 1-11 in 2021 to 5-7 in 2022. He will look for a similar progression to occur during his second year at Washington, hoping Williams and the program’s 19 transfers can put the Huskies back on the map.
Minnesota (Oct. 4)
P.J. Fleck looks on during the first quarter against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. (Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images)
Oddsmakers believe Minnesota will win around seven games in 2025. Don’t tell P.J. Fleck that.
At Big Ten Media Days in July, the ninth-year Minnesota head coach said the Golden Gophers can make the CFP this fall, and he doesn’t believe that’s “a pipe dream.”
“If we were 6-1 in the seven one-possession games (last season), we would have won 11 games,” Fleck told ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg. “We’re not far off. We’re right there. This isn’t a pipe dream.”
The 12-team CFP has created more opportunities for teams like Minnesota, which hasn’t won a Big Ten championship since 1967 — and even then, the Golden Gophers shared the title with Indiana.
“We’re not as far off as maybe what our brand and logo and name think we are, what people perceive that as,” Fleck said. “The reason you stay at a program is to change people’s thoughts, perceptions and ideas of the brand you’re in. That’s why you stay.”
This offseason, Fleck and Minnesota agreed to a contract extension through the 2030 season, which includes an annual retention bonus that begins at $1 million and increases each year.
“Eight years is a long time, but it’s not an eternity,” said Fleck, who has a 56-39 record as Minnesota’s head coach. “We’ve still got a lot of years in this thing, and that’s why we signed a new contract in year nine, is to make sure that we get to be able to see that as we keep moving forward.”
To keep moving forward in 2025, Fleck will lean on 6-foot-5, 230-pound redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Lindsey and some explosive transfers: running back A.J. Turner (Marshall) and wide receivers Javon Tracy (Miami-Ohio) and Logan Loya (UCLA). On defense, Fleck returns sensational sophomore Koi Perich — who admitted at Big Ten Media Days that he almost flipped to Ohio State in December 2023 — and landed another blue-chip transfer in Malachi Coleman (Nebraska).
With the high variance potential of the offense, Minnesota becomes hard to project in 2025. The team’s only unwinnable games are road trips to Ohio State and Oregon, so there might not be a bigger wildcard in the middle of the conference than Fleck and the Golden Gophers.
at Illinois (Oct. 11)
Bret Bielema looks on during the first half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at SHI Stadium. (Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images)
Curt Cignetti and Indiana’s CFP run overshadowed Bret Bielema and Illinois’ impressive season in 2024. The Illini won 10 games for the first time in 23 years, and Bielema rang in 2025 with a 21-17 win over Shane Beamer and South Carolina in the Citrus Bowl.
The No. 16 team in last season’s final AP Poll and the No. 12 team in this season’s first AP Poll, Illinois enters 2025 leading the Big Ten in returning production at 75 percent (78 percent on offense and 72 percent on defense), according to Connelly. In fact, leading the conference undersells it a little bit, as the Illini’s returning production ranks third in the nation behind only Clemson (81 percent) and Arizona State (79 percent).
Outside linebacker Gabe Jacas headlines the returners, as the third-team All-Big Ten honoree led the Illini with 15.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks in 2024. The Illini’s entire secondary is also back, including the safety trio of Matthew Bailey, Miles Scott and Xavier Scott.
On offense, quarterback Luke Altmyer returns to lead the Illinois offense after completing 60.8 percent of his passes for 2,717 yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions last season. Joining him are running backs Aidan Laughery and Kaden Feagin, wide receivers Hank Beatty and Collin Dixon and All-Big Ten left tackle J.C. Davis.
By the end of September, Illinois will have traveled to Duke and Indiana and hosted USC. If the Illini win all three, there’s a good chance Bielema’s squad battles Ohio State for the Illibuck as one of the top-ranked teams in all of college football.
