This Week in Ohio State Football: Changes on tap?

Vol. 1, No. 9

This week in Ohio State football, we’re wondering what the Buckeyes will look like when we next see them.

They don’t play this week, as you probably know, but Ryan Day’s team will be busy nonetheless.

The most interesting thing I heard at Ohio State on Tuesday

If they want to get back to the top of the Big Ten, win that game at the end of November and, oh yeah, defend their national championship, plenty of work remains to be done.

Day only met with us media heathens for about 15 minutes this week, but he said a lot in that time.

We’ll take a look at some potential changes that could take place, examine some statistics to see what they tell us about how the Buckeyes can improve the rest of the season and review other news items from the week:

Talking about someone being benched is always juicy, but maybe it’s better to look at the guys who are pushing to gain playing time.

I feel terrible for Tegra Tshabola because he’s been the subject of so much speculation this week (myself included) that he could be benched after struggling at right guard, but there is a more positive side of this situation.

Josh Padilla seems to be earning more playing time. The Wayne High School grad has looked good when he’s gotten a chance, and perhaps Tshabola can regain some confidence if he goes to the bench for a bit…

That’s the biggest story this week, but it is followed closely by what’s going on at running back.

Day said they are not in position to establish a hierarchy at that position at this point in the season.

That’s not great, but at least they have a lot of options.

Isaiah West was a sight for sore eyes by the time he found a few creases in the second half at Wisconsin. The fact they put the freshman in the game also signals he was making moves at practice, so his arrow must be pointing up.

The Philadelphia native was a three-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting class so he came in somewhat under the radar.

Bo Jackson, a four-star prospect from Cleveland, is coming off a down game, but he’s a true freshman, too, so some inconsistency is to be expected.

Neither of these guys are exactly the second coming of Maurice Clarett, but they don’t need to be, either.

West’s emergence also begs the question: Has sophomore James Peoples lost his chance to be the starter? Is senior C.J. Donaldson good enough to carry the load if it falls on him?

Beyond that, can Carlos Locklyn effectively juggle carries the rest of the season?

That was never a strength of his predecessor, so it will bear watching.

I loved what I saw from Peoples last season, and he’s actually displayed some make-you-miss when given a chance, but he also seems to have struggled to find or hit the holes as they are blocked.

Whatever the case, the Buckeyes need to both block better and tote the rock more effectively overall…

Not that they are in need of more game-ready receivers, but Day also identified Quincy Porter as a riser at that position.

He’s a five-star prospect in New Jersey and ranked among the top 25 players in the country, but of course there’s a lot of competition at that position.

They’re set at receiver, obviously, with Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith, but those guys could use a break from time to time, and there will be more snaps to go around if they revert to playing more 11 personnel.

That would also create more snaps for Brandon Inniss while sophomore Mylan Graham is still waiting in the wings, too.

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As far as the traditional or counting stats go, Ohio State is elite on defense and pedestrian on offense.

What do advanced stats tell us?

According to CollegeFootballData.com, the Buckeye offense is fourth in success rate (which grades how much progress you made toward a first down on each play) and 128th in explosiveness (which is based on how many of the available yards were gained on a particular play).

The passing game is only 123rd in explosiveness and No. 1 in success rate while Ohio State has the second-least-explosive running game in the country and is only 81st in success rate.

That makes the running game issues seem to be a little more on the backs than the line.

Ohio State-Wisconsin postgame thoughts

The Buckeyes rank 86th in offensive line yards, which attempt to credit the offensive line for how much room they make within the first four yards of a carry, but they are worse in second-level yards (100th) and open-field yards (119th).¹

That means the blocking has been below average, but the backs also aren’t doing anything when they get beyond four yards. (And it is worth noting that a back can have an impact on line yards, too, if he is consistently making people miss or breaking tackles at the line of scrimmage.)

On defense, the advanced stats look as good as the traditional. The Silver Bullets are 11th nationally in success rate and No. 1 in explosiveness.

The only real negative is defensive back havoc rate, which ranks 99th. That means the secondary has not created many turnovers or tackles for loss.

One interesting nugget: The defense is No. 1 in explosiveness on pass plays and 33rd in success rate, but on passing downs those are flipped. They are second in passing downs success rate but 55th in explosiveness. That means on all pass plays overall, they aren’t giving up anything big, but you can get some short gains. However, on passing downs they are protecting the sticks even at the expense of giving up a few more long ones.

(Passing plays are obviously plays when a pass is thrown; passing downs are second-and-7 or third/fourth-and-5 or more.)

After three football commitments last week, the men’s basketball team made a big splash this week by getting a pledge from Lebanon native Anthony Thompson.

He’s a 6-8 wing player who transferred to Western Reserve Academy in northeast Ohio prior to last season and is a consensus top 10 recruit in the country.

Per Buckeye Sports Bulletin, Thompson is the highest-rated prospect to commit to Ohio State since Jarred Sullinger in the 2010 recruiting class (WOW). He’s also the first five-star recruit the Buckeyes have landed since D’Angelo Russell in the 2014 class (DOUBLE WOW).

Coach Jake Diebler now has three commits for 2026, and they are all Ohio natives. Thompson joins four-star point guard Marcus Johnson of Garfield Heights and four-star power forward Alex Smith, an Upper Arlington native who has transferred to Prolific Prep in Florida.

That’s big because there is a perception talent has been down in the state over the last decade or so, and Ohio State has not exactly kept all those best players home, either…

What would it take to bring the fullback back to Ohio State's offense?

Meanwhile, another future Buckeye has been making news despite having another year-plus of high school: Jamier Brown of Wayne High School is part of a lawsuit against the OHSAA for preventing him from profiting off his name, image and likeness.

He was granted a temporary restraining order while the case continues, meaning he and every other high school athlete in Ohio is eligible to receive compensation for endorsements and things like that. The OHSAA responded by scheduling an emergency vote to change its bylaws.

I know this issue strikes a lot of people as icky and unnatural, and it also could open pandora’s box in some ways as far as paying kids to transfer, but it seems inevitable based on precedent.

OHSAA football: Week 9 review/Week 10 preview