After opening up their season with a 14-7 win over Texas, Ohio State had a much easier time last week, shutting out Grambling State 70-0.
By blanking the Tigers, the Buckeyes recorded their fourth shutout since Ryan Day took over as head coach, with two of those shutouts coming in 2024. Last season, Ohio State held Western Michigan and Purdue scoreless.
Dominating the MAC and opponents from Ohio
Next up for the Buckeyes will be in-state foe Ohio. Saturday night’s game will be the eighth meeting between
the two programs, with Ohio State winning the previous seven. After the Buckeyes shut out the Bobcats in the four meetings from 1899 to 1902, Ohio was finally able to get on the scoreboard against Ohio State in 1999 in a game the Buckeyes would win 25-14.
The last time the schools met on the football field was in 2010, with the Buckeyes recording a 43-7 victory. The win in 2010 was technically vacated by the NCAA as punishment for the “Tatgate” scandal, but Buckeye Nation still knows it happened.
Saturday’s game against Ohio will be the 40th for the Buckeyes against current members of the MAC. Ohio State has won 38 of the 39 previous games, with the only setback coming in 1894 when they were defeated by Akron, 12-6.
Last season, the Buckeyes played their first two games of the season against teams from the conference, beating Akron and Western Michigan by a combined score of 108-6. The last time a MAC school held the Buckeyes to less than 50 points in a game came in 2015, when both Northern Illinois and Western Michigan kept Ohio State below 40 points.
Since then, the Buckeyes have faced MAC opponents six times.
Along with their dominance over the MAC, Ohio State will be looking to record its 48th straight win over in-state opponents. The last time the Buckeyes lost against another team from the state came in 1921, when they were defeated by Oberlin.
Overall, Ohio State is unbeaten in 53 straight games against teams from inside the state, as Wooster was able to earn a tie back in 1924. Ohio State is 195-50-1 all-time against opponents from elsewhere in Ohio.
Next season, the Buckeyes will host Kent State, followed by a scheduled meeting with Bowling Green in 2027.
A well-oiled machine
The biggest story coming out of the win over Grambling State was the outstanding play of Julian Sayin, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week after completing 18 of his 19 passes for 306 yards and four touchdowns. The only blemish by Sayin last week was a red zone interception.
The redshirt freshman completed his first 16 pass attempts of the game, breaking the school record for consecutive completions to start a game, set by Will Howard last year. The 16 consecutive completions by Sayin were the third-most in school history.
While Sayin spread the football around last week, the primary target for the Ohio State quarterback was Jeremiah Smith. After hauling in five passes for 119 yards, the sophomore receiver is now just 23 yards away from 1,500 career receiving yards.
If Smith is able to hit the milestone this week, he will be the fastest Buckeye to reach the mark, passing Michael Jenkins, who needed 20 games to hit 1,500 career receiving yards. The 87-yard touchdown catch by Smith in the first quarter was not only the longest passing touchdown in Ohio Stadium history, but it was the second-longest completion in school history.
Along with Smith, nine other Buckeyes caught at least one pass in Saturday’s win over Grambling State. Not only was Carnell Tate able to match Smith’s reception total by hauling in five passes, but he also caught his second touchdown in as many games, marking the first time in his career that he has found the end zone in back-to-back games.
The junior from Chicago has caught at least one pass in 30 straight games.
The Buckeye tight ends were very active on Saturday. Will Kacmarek got the party started when his 47-yard touchdown catch opened up the scoring in the game. The touchdown was Kacmarek’s first as a Buckeye.
This week’s game will be emotional for Kacmarek, who spent the first three seasons of his college football career at Ohio, catching 42 passes for 507 yards and two scores for the Bobcats before transferring to Ohio State following the 2023 season.
In all, four Buckeye tight ends caught passes against Grambling State. Jelani Thurman also found the end zone, while Max Klare and Bennett Christian each had a reception.
After not finding much running room in the season opener against Texas, Ohio State’s running game was a lot more effective last week. The Buckeyes finished with 274 yards on the ground, their highest total in their last 14 games.
Leading the charge was Bo Jackson, who finished with 108 yards rushing and a touchdown. Jackson became the first Ohio State true freshman since Dallan Hayden in 2022 to eclipse 100 yards rushing in a game. Joining Jackson as freshman running backs to find the end zone against the Tigers were Isaiah West and Sam Dixon.
The reason Julian Sayin and the Ohio State running backs were able to have so much success against Grambling State was because of the work of the offensive line. Through two games, the big uglies up front have yet to allow a sack and have only allowed opponents to record two tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
So far, it looks like the offensive line has really taken to the guidance of new offensive line coach Tyler Bowen.
Not giving an inch
Through two games this season, the Ohio State defense has been dominant, only allowing a touchdown against Texas. After the Longhorns were able to amass much of their 336 yards of offense in the second half, the Buckeyes were stout throughout last week, only conceding 166 yards to the Tigers.
While many were wondering how life for the Ohio State defense would be after defensive coordinator Jim Knowles left for Penn State, Matt Patricia has been even better than advertised so far.
Following the season opener, Arvell Reese was the talk of the town after his performance against Texas. Last week, the Buckeyes didn’t need quite as much out of Reese and fellow starting linebacker Sonny Styles, which allowed Payton Pierce and Riley Pettijohn to see more playing time.
The underclassmen made the most of their time on the field. Pierce led the Buckeyes with six tackles against the Tigers, and Pettijohn not only returned a fumble for a touchdown,but he also broke up a pass and forced a fumble. Reese still is the team’s leading tackler, registering 13 tackles through the first two games of the season.
All-American safety Caleb Downs was able to add to his stat line with the fourth interception of his career in last week’s victory. Much like last season, Downs has seven tackles through Ohio State’s first two games. Last year, Downs really ramped up his play in the first few games of conference play, so it will be interesting to see if that trend continues as he continues to adjust to Matt Patricia’s defensive philosophies.
With some of the exotic looks Downs has been giving opponents through the first two games of the season, the rest of the opponents on Ohio State’s schedule will be in big trouble as they try to solve Downs and the rest of the Buckeye secondary.
The star on the defensive line last week against Grambling State was Caden Curry, who recorded a sack and two tackles for loss in the victory. Zion Grady was the other Buckeye to be credited with a sack in the game, while Kayden McDonald had a TFL, and C.J. Hicks split a tackle for loss.
Hopefully the Ohio State defensive line can build off its performance against the Tigers since the group needs a confidence boost after losing all their starters from last season’s line. A strong game this week against the Bobcats would do wonders with Big Ten games against Washington, Minnesota, and Illinois on the horizon.
Battlin’ Bobcats
Ohio enters Saturday night’s game on a high after taking down West Virginia 17-10. The Bobcats defeated the Mountaineers in front of a Peden Stadium record 26,740 fans.
Prior to the win over their Big 12 opponent, Ohio took Rutgers to the limit in their season opener, rallying from down 31-14 in the second quarter to tie the Scarlet Knights at 31 before Rutgers hit a 26-yard field goal with just over 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Bobcats are coming off a 2024 campaign that saw them win at least 10 games for the third straight season. Ohio went on to beat Miami (OH) 38-3 in the MAC Championship Game, earning its first conference title since 1968.
The program that head coach Tim Albin built in Athens made him attractive to other schools, leading to Albin taking the head coaching job at Charlotte prior to the Cure Bowl.
Offensive coordinator Brian Smith was named the interim head coach for the game against Jacksonville State and was eventually named the permanent head coach prior to the bowl game. The 30-27 win over the Gamecocks gave the Bobcats their first-ever 11-win season.
Prior to coming to Athens in 2022, Smith played center at Hawaii and returned to his alma mater as offensive coordinator from 2016 to 2019 before holding the same position at Washington State in 2020 and 2021.
What to expect from Ohio’s offense
On Saturday night, Ohio State’s defense will be tasked with trying to slow down an experienced dual-threat quarterback. After starting his career at UCF in 2021, Parker Navarro hit the transfer portal following his freshman season.
In his first season as a starter, Navarro not only threw for over 2,400 yards and 13 touchdowns, but he also ran for 1,054 yards and 18 scores.
The graduate student quarterback started the 2025 season with a bang, rolling up 332 total yards and four touchdowns against Rutgers, earning MAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the fourth consecutive time dating back to the end of the 2024 season. Even though Navarro threw three interceptions last week against West Virginia, he shook those miscues off to again total over 330 yards in the win over the Mountaineers.
Entering this week’s game, Navarro is the team’s leading rusher with 180 yards through the first two games. Starting at running back for the Bobcats will be Minnesota transfer Sieh Bangura, who has 152 yards and a touchdown so far this season.
Bangura actually started his career at Ohio, rushing for 1,078 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2022, followed by 811 yards and seven touchdowns in 2023 before hitting the transfer portal. Following a 2024 season with the Golden Gophers that saw him carry the football just four times, Bangura realized the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, returning to Athens to try and rekindle his success from 2022 and 2023.
There’s no doubt who Navarro’s favorite target through the air has been so far this season. After catching 40 passes in 2024, Chase Hendricks already has 17 grabs through two games, totaling 236 yards and a touchdown.
The junior from St. Louis has caught at least eight passes and gone over 100 yards in each of the first two games of Ohio’s 2025 season. Prior to this season. Hendricks had never caught more than seven passes in a game, and the 100-yard game against Rutgers was the first of his career.
While Hendricks is the only Ohio receiver to total at least 100 yards so far this season, wide receivers Max Rodarte, Eian Pugh, and Caleb Gossett each have caught at least four passes through two games. Pugh started his college career at Illinois, but didn’t appear in a game for the Fighting Illini before transferring to Ohio. Gossett will have a bit of a homecoming on Saturday, as he is from Lewis Center.
Tight end Jake Bruno is a red zone threat, catching two touchdown passes to start the season in the loss to Rutgers.
The anchor of the Ohio offensive line is left guard Davion Weatherspoon, who is one of the team’s captains. Weatherspoon has appeared in 25 games, while right guard Trent Allen appeared in 12 games for the Bobcats last year. After left tackle Shedrick Rhodes Jr. started his career at Ohio, he transferred to Rutgers before returning to Athens.
Center Nick Marinaro was also brought in from the transfer portal after being named All-Ivy League Honorable Mention. Jordan Jones rounds out the offensive line at right tackle.
Notes on the Ohio defense
The Ohio defense is powered by its linebackers. After recording seven tackles and a sack and a half in the win over West Virginia, Michael Molnar was named MAC Defensive Player of the Week.
Along with Molnar, Jack Fries also recorded seven tackles against the Mountaineers. Fries leads the team with 15 tackles through two games, one more than Molnar has been credited with. Fries has also broken up three passes this season. Linebacker Cameron Hollobaugh also made a huge play last week, intercepting a pass to help seal the victory with just over three minutes left.
Despite having to go up against some incredible receivers, the Ohio secondary features three veterans. Both Tank Pearson and D.J. Walker were named to the Thorpe Award preseason watchlist. Joining Walker as a captain on the defense is Adonis Williams Jr., who has 14 tackles already this season.
Michael Mack II lines up at the cornerback spot opposite Pearson, while Jalen Thomeson has started at the nickel position in the first two games of the season. Mack started his college career at Wisconsin before transferring to Air Force, followed by hitting the transfer portal again to come to Ohio.
Through the first two games of the season, Ohio has recorded five sacks. After Molnar’s team-leading 1.5 sacks, defensive linemen Anas Luqman, Nehemiah Dukes, and Jay Crable each have a sack. Dukes had the best game of his career in the win against West Virginia, finishing with six tackles.
Luqman is new to the program this year after spending three seasons at Arkansas-Pine Bluff. 325-pound defensive tackle Pius Odjugo will look to take up space in the middle of the Ohio defensive line.
Prediction
With Ohio State’s history against MAC schools, as well as in-state opponents, Saturday night’s contest shouldn’t be close. There are reasons to be wary of the Bobcats, though.
Brian Smith’s team is certainly battle-tested, not only already going on the road and pushing Rutgers to the limit, but also upsetting West Virginia in Athens last week. If the Buckeyes take Ohio lightly, they could be in for a bigger fight than many are anticipating.
As long as Ohio State isn’t already looking ahead to their bye week, they should be in good shape against the Bobcats, though. The Buckeyes are too deep and talented for Ohio to keep pace with. West Virginia is not only readjusting to life with Rich Rodriguez, but the Mountaineers had to go on the road to take on Ohio last week.
The Bobcats might not be ready for the atmosphere they are going to encounter under the lights at Ohio Stadium on Saturday.
Quarterback Parker Navarro is a gutsy player, but he will likely be overmatched trying to deal with the speed of the Buckeye defense. If the West Virginia defense was able to force Navarro into three interceptions last week, just imagine what Caleb Downs, Davison Igbinosun, and the rest of the Ohio State pass defense will be able to do.
If Navarro decides to tuck the football and run, or hand off to Sieh Bangura, they’ll have Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese breathing down their necks.
Just seeing the fire Ryan Day was coaching with late in last week’s game, with his team blowing out Grambling State, should be a warning to the rest of the teams on Ohio State’s schedule this year.
If we are being honest, the biggest question about Saturday night’s game will be whether Brutus can get some revenge on Rufus for the 2010 incident when the Ohio mascot took some liberties on the famous Buckeye mascot.
