SOTC Update: Ohio State Buckeyes

The National Champions are set to re-load and make another run at the title. They certainly lose a lot of talent from that 2024 team, but Ryan Day and company will get the Buckeyes back to the top.

Feb 19, 2025

State of the Chart™ Recap Edition

Live All-In Ranking: 1st
Offense: 1st
Defense: 2nd
2024 Results: 14-2 (7-2 in Big Ten)

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|||||| STATE OF THE CHART™ SUMMARY

What is there to say about the best team in college football. Ryan Day and the Buckeyes reign supreme over all others when it is all said and done in 2024. It didn’t come easy or without any hiccups. That poorly-timed anomaly against the bitter rivals at the Horseshoe was one of them. Heck, when is the last time you remember a groundswell calling for somebody’s job just five weeks prior to them winning a National Championship? Only in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes were the most talented team and that was certainly helped by a well executed “investment” in the portal to go for it as it was the time to strike. And, strike they did. They ran through the CFP field despite missing out on the Big Ten title game and a bye. The offense, led by one of those strategic additions, quarterback Will Howard, was very good. They unveiled an instant star of the sport in wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and the combination of returning TreVeyon Henderson, joined by portal addition Quinshon Judkins, was a force to be reckoned with. As good as the Chip Kelly-led offense was, the Jim Knowles defense was even better. They dominated from start to finish and didn’t give opposing offenses a chance to get anything going. All three levels were at the top of their game and make life miserable for offensive coordinators trying to find a hole or a weakness. On top of everything else, the discipline can get lost at times but this team was one of the least penalized teams in the nation at just 39.7 penalty yards per game. The leadership (coaches) took a hit quickly following the run to the National Title, but Day moved quickly to secure top-level replacements and while this off-season won’t feature the same level of a spending spree to supplement this roster; there will be plenty of players internally making their debuts and keeping the Buckeyes amongst the elite.

|||||| HEAD COACH AND COACHING STAFF

Ryan Day responded to criticism by doing what any great coach does. He won. He led his team to win it ALL. This time, he even overcame in-season criticism after another brutal loss to bitter rival Michigan. Instead of moping and complaining, he got to work and took this most talented roster and brought home the National Championship. He gets a huge raise and extension to remain as the head man in Columbus for likely as long as he chooses. This is not the kind of guy to take the foot off the gas. Expect more big things in '25 and beyond.

Coaching Staff Notes/Changes:

This staff goes through a massive overhaul so many are in demand:

Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly moves to the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders as their new play caller with Pete Carroll. Day stays in-house and (re)promotes Brian Hartline back to the role, which he held briefly in 2023 and was demoted to “co-offensive coordinator” while holding his wide receivers coach role in 2024.
Billy Fessler is promoted to quarterbacks coach from his offensive analyst role. Kelly held the quarterbacks coach role as well as his duties as OC.
Defensive Coordinator Jim Knowles is lured away from the National Champions to head home to Pennsylvania and take over as defensive coordinator for Penn State. He receives a record ($3 Million) assistant coach salary and will look to now help a new Big Ten school get over the hump. Day moves quickly to hire former Bill Belechick disciple and former NFL defensive coordinator and head coach, Matt Patricia.
Offensive line coach Justin Frye took a job in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals. Day replaces him with Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen. This is another example of situation over title as young coaches see a better career patch aligning with the top programs - even at diminished roles - to set them up for their next gig.

Note: This is a “dynamic” article; meaning we will update any information that comes in this “off-season” and post a note when impactful moves are made or news breaks.

|||||| 2024 SCHEDULE / RESULTS ANALYSIS

Two losses by a total of five points. One of those losses was accepted, even though they really should have won that game in Eugene, Oregon in week seven. The Michigan game was a poorly-timed anomaly and really should have been tossed out. That forced the Buckeyes to miss out on a bye and take the long road to the National Title game through the new 12-team CFP set up. Then, they just generally dominated four very good teams, including a rematch with Oregon, en route to the National Title. There is little doubt that the most deserving team won it all. Buckeye fans can bask in this run…

||||||| POSITION GROUP CHECK-INS

OFFENSE: Chip Kelly’s move from a head coach at a power five school to offensive coordinator here says a lot. He is one of the most respected offensive minds and play callers in the game today. He lived up to that in 2024 with this offense that needed to break in a new quarterback. Will Howard’s progression wasn’t always simple and smooth, but eventually he got it and led this team to a National Championship. It helps to have what appears to be a generational talent on the outside as Jeremiah Smith became in his first season on campus. Unlike some of the better offenses in college football today, they didn’t run at a break neck speed. In fact, they ended up as one of the slowest paced offenses (ranked 120th in seconds/per play). They finished drives with touchdowns at a high rate (86.7%). They ran the ball well, but it was the passing efficiency that is what made this such a potent group (9.2 yards per pass attempt). The offensive line was big and pushy and protective. They allowed just 14 sacks and 41 tackles in the backfield all season long, both metrics easily in the top ten. They were explosive, again, especially in the pass game with 56 plays of over 30 yards. Finally, they were great when entering the red zone, finishing with a 77% touchdown rate. All the makings of a great offense. There is a big changing of the guard coming in 2025 with a ton of talent leaving the program as detailed in the position write-ups below.

||| QB

Will Howard was just what this team needed to get over the hump. The only knock was a few too many untimely mistakes. He leaves as a one-year rental that will go down in history for the Buckeyes. Next up, it’s Julian Sayin-time. The big-time prospect sat behind Howard (and Devin Brown, who is transferring to Cal), this season but all indications are that it’s his time. Tevin St. Clair is coming in the ‘25 class and is likely next up after Sayin, if he’s willing to wait.

||| RB

The addition of Quinshon Judkins to TreVeyon Henderson ended up as a killer two-headed monster that nobody could consistently deal with. Judkins ended up getting more carries, but Henderson was a bit more impactful with his and also chipped in the passing game more. Both are headed to play on Sundays. CJ Donaldson Jr. is coming in from West Virginia to take the lead with talented backups, including James Peoples and Sam Williams-Dixon (who flirted with the portal, but stayed) chipping in. There may be a slight drop in talent, but this group is capable of getting it done.

||| WR

Jeremiah Smith is already a star and the most dynamic receiver in the game today. He has two more years to play here and that is scary (for everybody else). Emeka Egbuka leaves after becoming the Buckeyes’ all-time leader in receptions. Carnell Tate likely takes on a bigger role going forward and former 5-star Brandon Inniss may get his shot to shine as well. They are bringing in four 4-star recruits and they all have a chance to impact this passing game in the future.

||| TE

Gee Scott Jr. was a serviceable lead tight end from a position that Chip Kelly didn’t really involve too much in the game plan. Still, 26 grabs is not nothing. He was a good enough blocker when asked to do that. The backups all chipped in from time-to-time, including Jelani Thurman and Will Kacmarek. Max Klare comes in to take the lead role and could add another dimension to the passing game as he is coming off a 51-catch season at Purdue.

||| OL

This was a really solid group, despite a player-level rating that came in a little lower than we would anticipate. Players like guards Austin Siereveld and Tegra Tshabola aren’t highly rated on their own, but they all seem together well. Or, is it that the crazy athletes at the skill positions make them look better? Either way, they didn’t allow many sacks or tackles for loss, so they did their job. And they won a National Championship. Three of the starters are heading to the NFL (both tackles, Donovan Jackson and Josh Fryar, along with center Seth McLaughlin). They are sure to find replacements and put together a similarly productive group in the trenches.

DEFENSE: This may have been the single most dominant unit in all of college football. Looking at the numbers that Jim Knowles’ group put up, it’s quite impressive. 12.2 points per game allowed is laughable and the best in the land. They allowed the fewest yards per game (251.1) and yards per play (4.12) as well. They simply did not allow big, chunk, explosive plays. In fact, opponents only managed 16 plays all season that went for over 30 yards (our idea of an explosive play). When opponents did find themselves in the red zone, which was limited to just 2.4 times per game (again, tops in the nation), they didn’t score many touchdowns, only 42% of the time. That helps. Just like the offense, and not a new situation for this group is that a lot of star players are moving on to the next level and/or run out of eligibility. They will have a new defensive coordinator with Knowles’ moving on to Penn State. Matt Patricia has a similarly impressive background and experience and can be trusted to get the most out of what’s here in 2025.

||| DL

This is just mean. The top four here are going to easily play on Sundays and will be missed. JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer headlined the group, wreaking havoc all over the place and making it difficult for any offense to generate any level of comfort. They went seven-deep in the usual rotation and everybody was playing a high level, so there was never a big drop off in production, even when the backups came in the game. Next man up here as some of these other younger players are going to be asked to become the next stars — including Kayden McDonald, Kenyatta Jackson Jr., Caden Curry and true freshman 5-star Eddrick Houston.

||| LB

Another group of complete studs up-and-down this rotation. Cody Simon led the way. He’s off to play on Sundays. They were able to keep Sonny Styles around even though he was sure to be a high pick the NFL Draft. Arvell Reese needs to see the field more, and he’ll get that opportunity in ‘25. C.J. Hicks returns and other younger, high-upside players chomping at the bit to show what they can do. This group should remain a top unit.

||| DB

Out of all the portal “investments” from last off-season, the pickup of Caleb Downs may have been the biggest. He ascended to the top of the sport at his free safety spot and impacted the game in a big way. He was supported by plenty of other talent around him in this smothering group. SS Lathan Ransom and NB Jordan Hancock are both leaving for the NFL and will be missed, while CB Davison Igbinosun was convinced to stay for a final season. Just like other position groups, we will get to see budding stars stepping into important roles internally here. A name to watch is Jaylen McClain, a 4-star from the ‘24 class who saw limited action in ten games and showed well.

SPECIAL TEAMS: So much for that argument that you need the best specialists / special teams to be a Champion. This is more likely the exception to the rule as kicker Jayden Fielding and punter Joe McGuire were both serviceable, but neither was elite or even considered “very good”. They really didn’t have to be. The punt return game was strong with Brandon Inniss taking the majority of the work and Caleb Downs chipping in with his brilliance as a returner from time-to-time. Everybody returns, outside of TreVeyon Henderson, who returned kicks.

Reader feedback is requested and encouraged! Who knows these teams better than their passionate fan bases? We don’t pretend to know it all and would love your feedback. We will update/edit based (and credit) for anything that is brought to our attention. Let’s do this together…

|||||| TRANSFER PORTAL TRACKER

The Buckeyes have so much talent on this roster that a decrease in talent level is almost sure to happen, unless they go “all in” like they did a year ago in the portal. Now, they take a more strategic approach and the two big pickups are former Purdue tight end Max Klare and West Virginia running back CJ Donaldson Jr.. Both will take on starting roles in 2025. They lost a lot more and primarily those talented part-time players looking for starting/leadership gigs elsewhere. That’s the case with defensive lineman Mitchell Melton, heading to Virginia. Same with linebacker Gabe Powers, who is taking off to Manhattan, Kansas to join the Kansas State squad. Overall, this deep roster will be just fine and re-loading through the portal every year is going to be difficult for any program, even the richest of the rich.

Below is a screen shot of the full, live Transfer Portal Tracker over at CFBDepth.com. Click the image or the button below to view it in its entirety…

Live Ohio State Portal Tracker >

|||||| 2025 RECRUITING CLASS

They don’t need the portal when they recruit and develop like they should. This 2025 class is right there at the top (where it should be). They have two five-star players, including cornerback Devin Sanchez, out of Houston, TX. He is viewed as the next true shut-down cover corner and also a dangerous return man, who can contribute right away. They hit the portal to bring in their starting quarterback in Will Howard for 2025. They are also looking to develop their next signal caller and it could be 5-star Tavien St. Clair, an in-state player out of Bellfontaine, OH. He’s a truly rare athlete with good size, athleticism and arm strength. They truly believe he is going to take this job in the near future after Julian Sayin gets his shot. Overall, a top five class for sure and sitting at No. 2 in our unique ratings system at time of publish.

Here is a snapshot of the 2025 Recruiting Class+ with a link to the live page with updates throughout the cycle:

2025 Ohio State Recruiting Class+ >

|||||| 2025 SCHEDULE LOOK AHEAD

How about that opening game in Columbus? The Longhorns come to town to try to ruin any celebrations from the 2024 season. It’s about as tough an opponent you can bring in right out of the gate. It’s also a potential tone setter to show the college football world that the Buckeyes are back and should be considered the favorite once again. That will be a re-match of the CFP semi-final and will get a look at Arch Manning as the new starter for the Longhorns. Easily the biggest game of the early season. They then get to cruise through a couple of cake walk non-conference games, get a bye and then must avoid any let downs against the middle of the Big Ten pack before another bye in week nine. Then it gets real. The final five games include Penn State (in Columbus) and Michigan (at the Big House) to finish it up. Sure, it’s tough. But they should handle this once again with 1-2 losses at the most and get back into the CFP.

There is a lot of movement and decisions to be made throughout the off-season, including more portal moves, winter workouts and spring ball. Get all caught up with the full-on State of the Chart Magazine coming in July. If you missed the ad before, get more information and give us your e-mail to stay in the loop on everything SOTC!

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