by Kyle Golik
As we all watched the Cotton Bowl, we were all bewildered by Ohio State’s lack of performance in a 14-3 defeat to Missouri. One who took notice was Michigan defensive lineman Kris Jenkins, “I’m a hater, but that ain’t the team we played against on 25th of November.” Ohio State was broken by this new world of college football where opting out of bowl games and entering the transfer portal has become accepted.
Ohio State was missing for the Cotton Bowl the following players:
- Quarterback Kyle McCord, who entered the transfer portal after he was not assured the starting quarterback position.
- Wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., winner of the 2023 Biletnikoff Award is poised to become a Top 10 pick in the NFL Draft.
- Linebacker Tommy Eichenberg, who was the Buckeyes leading tackler and two-time All-Big Ten First Team selection
- The transfer portal wasn’t kind to Ohio State as 17 Buckeyes hit the transfer portal: notably were McCord, running back Chip Trayanum, wide receivers Noah Rogers and Julian Fleming, and cornerback Jyaire Brown
Following the disappointment in the Cotton Bowl, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day spoke about the players who weren’t there and if there is a brighter future for the College Football postseason, “I hope so. I hope there’s something. You have key pieces missing, and it’s just not the same team as that you played with a month ago. But not that that’s an excuse. It’s just the way it is. We have to go win the game. I feel like absolutely. And I think maybe with the playoff that will change things as well.”
Our own Mike Farrell wrote the following on the Cotton Bowl, giving his takes on Ohio State’s lackluster performance, and I feel he was off-base on some of his takes notably about culture:
“It’s nice and all that many of the elite players decided to strap on the pads in the Cotton Bowl and Ryan Day did speak of the culture and brotherhood in the locker room. But is that enough? The young talent on the team that needed to step up with some key players out looked bad and QB development has regressed since CJ Stroud left. This is less about culture, despite the portal entries, and perhaps more about coaching kids up.”
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I would like to ask Farrell, to elaborate more on the QB development since CJ Stroud left – considering Stroud is a frontrunner to be NFL Rookie of the Year, and this season McCord, who was simply not as good as his predecessors, had a good season, but who would have thought the starting quarterback of Ohio State would transfer?
Day indicated in his Cotton Bowl postgame press conference that this season the 1’s and 2’s were taken primarily by McCord and backup Devin Brown. Most programs do that. The timing was bad for Ohio State with McCord’s departure and the Brown injury only spotlighted the inexperience of freshman quarterback Lincoln Keinholz:
“I mean, when you’re a freshman quarterback who comes in during the summer, you don’t have the spring, you really don’t have much of a preseason, and then you get thrown into it with the scouts a little bit here and there. But when Kyle [McCord] was in there and Devin [Brown] was getting reps in the twos, Lincoln didn’t really get many reps. He (Keinholz) did get reps in bowl practice, but that’s not like playing in a game. I think his first few drives were inside the 10-yard line. That’s a tough place to be. What I didn’t want to do is put him in a situation where he’s going to the ball over and maybe see something he’s not used to seeing. And then all of a sudden, we’re really battling uphill. What I felt we could do there was get into halftime, get it settled, and try to get the ball towards midfield. If we did, the defense got us a stop, got us at midfield. We stalled and then missed the field goal. I felt like that was our chance to maybe jump on top a little bit. And just couldn’t quite get it going. But I give Lincoln credit. He got put in a tough spot, and he battled out there and did make some good throws. But that was a tough ask right there. And we need to help more.”
Considering Ohio State quarterbacks have dominated Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and Big Ten Quarterback of the Year awards, I think the take is lazy and simply not true.
To me, as I wrote about the quarterback situation at Ohio State, Day abstaining from the portal will bite him if Brown, Keinholz, or incoming true freshman Air Noland isn’t playing at an elite level we have all grown accustomed to watching Ohio State over the last decade.
What has hurt Ohio State is how they are built, it is predicated on having elite quarterbacks who have the ability to make all the throws and is complemented by dynamic wide receivers who can run NFL route trees and be difference makers in space.
The Ohio State wide receiver room that Brian Hartline cultivated is full of four & five-star wide receivers, who feel they are alpha’s and in this day of NIL, getting touches is extremely valuable.
Ohio State lost two wide receivers in Julian Fleming and Noah Rogers that were highly rated coming out of high school, both rated at the Top 10 at their position, both were often buried on the depth chart, Fleming did have some injuries.
As the new world of college football, both entered the transfer portal as it opened, and when Ohio State needed to leverage their depth, it was depleted for the bowl game.
Day may want to adjust how he builds a roster, in this era, having strategies with the portal, no matter how good your traditional recruiting is paramount.
When you look at why Alabama, Georgia have reigned supreme this decade in college football look no further than the elite athletes in the trenches they possess.
Michigan reversed course of the Big Ten when it began to embrace this, now having defeated Ohio State three times in a row.
In this new world, Michigan and Alabama have added elite offensive line talent that have maintained their superiority in the trenches – something Ohio State has done.
Which leads into the embracing of the transfer portal – something Ohio State hasn’t done well in its infancy.
They are short at quarterback and have apparently moved in late for former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard, will the Buckeyes land Howard is anyone’s guess at this point.
But when you begin to look at how programs have changed their fortune with the portal in Texas, Florida State, Oregon, and Washington. Being able to supplement already Top 5 recruiting classes always helps and Day hasn’t struck gold in the portal.
As we ring in the New Year, Ohio State is broken by the new world of college football. I feel Ryan Day has to make an adjustment at how the Buckeyes build their roster, develop the Buckeye culture, and potentially a philosophical change on offense. Concentration in the trenches will only enhance the passing game and develop a running game, something that in Day’s first season Ohio State averaged 267.3 yards per game on the ground, this year 138.8 yards per game.
Day’s first challenge isn’t beating Michigan, it is to adapt to this new world and adjust, because if he can’t do that, he won’t be around long enough to worry about Michigan.
