COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State opened camp on Thursday with the usual towering expectations but also a heavy sense of urgency built up over the three consecutive seasons blown up by losses to Michigan.
The Buckeyes finished 11-2 in each of those campaigns but failed each time in their primary mission of beating Michigan and advancing to the Big Ten championship game.
The 2023 game was especially hard to swallow. Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord threw an interception in Michigan territory with 25 seconds left. The Wolverines won 30-24 and went on to win the national championship amid a sign-stealing scandal in Ann Arbor.
The expectations for Ohio State are as high as ever. NIL money helped return 16 starters, 11 of whom were eligible for the NFL draft, and to pluck a few potential contributors from the transfer portal.
As he starts his sixth season, coach Ryan Day insisted the urgency isn’t any greater than in any other preseason.
“Every year there’s urgency,” Day said. “If you don’t think it’s important, try losing a game at Ohio State. I say it all the time. Yeah, it’s no different that way, but there are a lot of guys on the team who want to finish the season with some hardware, and that matters.”
Training camp is about getting “the right people in the right seats” and building them to withstand the rigors of the season and get them playing their best football down the stretch in the most important games. That hasn’t always been the case.
“I think when you look at the way the season is designed, at the end of the year, you’re looking at, you know, four or five, six games of probably Top-10 football back to back to back,” Day said. “And so the only way to be ready for something like that is to train at a high level, challenge ourselves to be really good on both sides of the ball, run the ball, stop the run, take care of the football and have some passing yards.
“That’s got to be a physical team, and we got to be able to travel on the road, play physical for longer,” he said.
Newcomers include former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard, who will compete for the starting job with four others; former Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins; and former Alabama safety Caleb Downs. Day brought in his old coach, Chip Kelly, as the offensive coordinator.
Closely watched will be Emeka Egbuka, who slots in as the No. 1 receiver after playing in the shadow of star wideout Marvin Harrison Jr., and running back TreVeyon Henderson. Both are preseason All-Big Ten selections. Freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith, the top-rated high school prospect in the nation, has been described as a generational talent.
“There’s a reason why guys came back this year,” he said. “You heard a couple guys on our team talking about the expectations. We’re not going to talk about that anymore. But there’s a reason they came back. We’ll find out what this foundation looks like as we get into the season, get to some of the storms that are coming our way. They’re coming. We’ve got to be ready to go.”
Returning players are determined to change the narrative of the past three seasons in which the Buckeyes stumbled late and came home emptyhanded.
“This has been a big-time summer for us, a hard offseason,” said fourth-year cornerback Denzel Burke, a preseason All-Big Ten selection. “Just a good momentum we’re heading into fall camp with. It’s our job to take care of the little things and have fun.”
Thursday was the first of 25 practices. The Buckeyes open at home Aug. 31 against Akron.
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