HORNS DOWN
Ohio State defends the Shoe, beats Texas 14-7 in the 2025 season opener.
Phillip Daniels will be Ohio State’s starting right tackle vs. Texas.
ESPN's Pete Thamel reported on College GameDay that the Minnesota transfer will man the right side of the Buckeyes’ offensive line against Texas. Daniels beat out fellow transfer Ethan Onianwa to win the last available starting job on the offensive line.
Going into preseason camp, Daniels appeared likely to be a backup this season. Onianwa was expected to be the Buckeyes’ starting left tackle, while Austin Siereveld was expected to start at right tackle. After Ohio State moved Siereveld to left tackle, however, the door opened up for Daniels to compete for the starting RT job.
Daniels impressed his coaches and teammates throughout camp to show them he belonged in the starting lineup this season.
“Phillip, he’s going to be a dog,” running back James Peoples said of Daniels earlier this month.
A Cincinnati native, Daniels transferred to Ohio State this offseason after two years at Minnesota. He started the Golden Gophers’ final four games of last season at right tackle.
A three-star recruit out of Princeton High School – the same school former Ohio State star Paris Johnson Jr. graduated from – Daniels is hungry to show the world he was underrecruited out of high school and that he can be a star for his home-state school.
“I'm trying to help this team and be the best right tackle in the nation,” Daniels said last week.
Daniels rounds out a starting offensive line that will otherwise consist of four returning veterans: Siereveld, left guard Luke Montgomery, center Carson Hinzman and right guard Tegra Tshabola. All four of them started games during last year’s national championship run, with Siereveld moving to tackle this offseason – earning Iron Buckeye and captain honors in the process – after rotating in at guard last season.
The surprise omission from that lineup is Onianwa, who was viewed as one of the top offensive linemen on the transfer market this offseason after starting for three years at Rice. Now, however, Onianwa is in line to be the sixth man on Ohio State’s offensive line. He’s been cross-training at guard in addition to taking snaps at both left and right tackle, giving him the potential to be the next man up at any position but center.
