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Vo. 1, No. 22
This week in Ohio State football is all about more.
Specifically I mean more about things we’ve been talking about lately as the Buckeyes prepare in earnest for the 2026 season.
More on Ohio State’s schedule (plus a glance at the rest of the Big Ten), more on the new offensive coordinator and more on the transfer portal.
Check it out after our one and only ad break for today (remember, if you click an ad, I get compensation, and you don’t have to do anything else!):
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Could this be the toughest schedule Ohio State has ever played?
That seems to be a possibility.
A few years ago, I studied every Ohio State national champion and another 20-plus teams that were about a loss away from winning it all.
The most ranked wins I found in a season (prior to the expanded playoff) was six in 1954, ’95 and 2018.
The ’95 team also lost to two ranked opponents, so I believe that eight is the most ranked foes an Ohio State team faced until the 2024 squad played nine.
Of course, that included four playoff games that are always going to be against ranked teams, so that will be the new norm going forward whether it is four playoff games or three playoff games and a conference championship game.
Here’s something else to keep in mind from the ’95 season, though: Three of the teams that were ranked when Ohio State played them finished outside the final top 25.
Wisconsin and Boston College ended up having losing records while Washington was unranked at 7-4-1 despite sharing the Pac 10 title.
That is also something that could happen this year, but then again the potential is there to play 10 or 11 ranked games when you factor in the playoffs.
What about the rest of the Big Ten football schedules?
A quick glance finds, yeah, Ohio State seems to have it about as hard as it gets this season.
Of course that sort of depends on who you think will be good next season, but here’s a look at the other teams we expect to be in contention:
Michigan (6) plays Oklahoma in the nonconference and Iowa, Penn State, Indiana, Oregon and Ohio State
Oregon (5) plays USC early then Illinois in Week 8 before facing Ohio State and Michigan back to back. The Ducks then finish with rival Washington.
USC (5) plays Oregon, Washington, Penn State (back to back to back) plus Ohio State and Indiana
Indiana (4) plays Ohio State, Michigan, USC and Washington
Iowa (4) plays Michigan, Ohio State, Washington and Illinois
Penn State (3) plays USC and Michigan back to back in the middle of the season and then Washington in November
Illinois (3) plays Ohio State, Oregon and Iowa
Image via the Big Ten
So we seem to have two clear winners when it comes to schedule roulette in the overstuffed, oversized Big Ten: Bret Bielema and Matt Campbell.
Bielema’s Illinois team has some holes to fill, but they could go 1-2 against ranked teams and make the CFP.
Campbell’s first Penn State squad is a big unknown, but he imported about half his old Iowa State roster so I am fascinated to see how it fuses with the players who stayed after James Franklin was fired. A more talented ISU or a more disciplined PSU (even with less talent) could be a real wild card (or a disaster, but they’ve got some margin for error).
READ MORE:
More on Arther Smith
One way Ohio State can better navigate such a gauntlet is to score more points.
Arthur Smith reportedly is the choice to help make that happen, though his hiring as offensive coordinator has not been officially announced as of this writing.
I wrote Monday I like the move, and it turns out I’m not alone.
Among those who approve is Ross Fulton, the Xs and Os guru at BuckeyeHuddle.com.
He shared his thoughts on a podcast with fellow friend of the newsletter Tom Orr.
You should watch the whole thing, but the gist was Fulton expects Smith to update things “within the usual framework” of Ryan Day’s existing Ohio State offense.
Much like Chip Kelly revamped the running game while Day maintained his core passing concepts two years ago, Smith is likely to be expected to enhance and refine Day’s attack.
Perhaps most importantly:
“Especially I think Arthur Smith’s job will be to bring the Ohio State running game to a point where it functions well without a quarterback run threat. I think that has been an issue for Day where the run game has been less effective whenever he does not have a quarterback run threat. That’s one of the downsides to the shotgun spread looks. So I would expect, just guessing, that there will be further increase in under center looks with Julian Sayin.”
To that end, Fulton expects Ohio State to continue to utilize a lot of two- and three-tight end sets while also potentially reverting back to running more inside and outsize zone for the base of the running game after spending a lot of time last year trying to become a gap team with disappointing results.
READ MORE:
Another transfer joins the Ohio State offensive line
We thought Ohio State might be done adding players from the transfer portal, but they picked up another this week in the from of an offensive lineman from Springfield High School.
Vasean Washington is returning to his home state after four years at Dartmouth, where he was a starter at right tackle last season.
A two-star prospect on a loaded Springfield roster that was runner-up in Division I his senior season (2021), Washington is a success story as he proved he not only could play Division I football at the FBS level but also is set to receive an Ivy League degree.
Ohio State returns four starters on the offensive line, so earning a starting spot will be a challenge, but Washington might be valued more as a veteran presence who can provide depth as he also started games at guard for the Big Green.
Right now Ian Moore is viewed as the favorite in the clubhouse to join the starting lineup at one of the tackle spots. That would necessitate moving Austin Siereveld or Phillip Daniels inside, but both of them might be more suited to play guard anyway.
The Buckeyes also have Wayne High School product Joshua Padilla and Gabe VanSickle as options at guard, so that is a nice pool to draw from overall. Washington gives them eight players in at least their third year who have at least some game action.
With five incoming freshman, they should have 16 scholarship offensive linemen for this fall. That seems like the right number these days, and I like the class distribution. Eight juniors and seniors, three redshirt freshmen and sophomores and five true freshmen.
In a perfect world, none of these guys are playing in their first two seasons unless they are future first-round picks like Paris Johnson Jr. (and even he took some lumps as a sophomore guard).
That’s all for this week. I hope you enjoyed another edition of Cus Words Sports! If so, please remember sharing is caring! I am looking to build up my subscription base, and I need your help! I would love it if you post this edition on your social media pages or send it to anyone you think might enjoy it.