Ohio State’s spring football game: 3 things to watch
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Ohio State spring football game is set for Saturday and fans are expected to pack Ohio Stadium to see what the Buckeyes have been working on since March 5.
There are plenty of new faces (Will Howard, Caleb Downs, Seth McLaughlin) mixed in with some familiar, experienced players (TreVeyon Henderson, Devin Brown, Jack Sawyer). And as Ryan Day returns for his sixth season as head coach, there are new additions to the coaching staff, including former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, who comes in as the Buckeyes offensive coordinator.
Kickoff for the annual spring game is set for noon. Here’s a look at three things to watch for on Saturday.
Ohio State offensive line taking shape with Seth McLaughlin seeking a role
The quarterback battle
With Kyle McCord gone, the quarterback room is crowded with returning players and fresh faces, including a transfer out of Kansas State, who’s been considered to be the frontrunner for the starting position this entire spring.
Former Wildcats QB Will Howard has sounded poised and ready to be a leader since his arrival in Columbus. And after winning a Big 12 title with Kansas State, Howard has his sights set on winning a championship with the Buckeyes.
“I’ve got one more year. I didn’t come here to be nervous or to be timid or anything like that. I’m ready to go,” Howard said. “Nothing is too big for me, nothing is too big for this team — certainly not spring ball. It’s going to be a lot of learning across the board. But I’m excited for that. I want to embrace that.”
Challenging Howard for the starting spot is Lincoln Keinholz and Devin Brown. Both rotated with the first team during the “Student Appreciation Day” scrimmage and Brown, who started for Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, is as eager as anyone to compete for the title of QB1.
“I have all the confidence in the world. I’ll never doubt myself,” Brown said. “I’ll never have any waivers or anything like that. I’m always going to think I’m the best quarterback in the room, I’m the best quarterback in the country. So I’m going to attack it like that.”
No matter who takes the first reps on Saturday, don’t expect a concrete answer to who the starting quarterback will be this fall. But we should see significant action from at least Howard and Brown, with Keinholz expected to get in the mix as well.
A first look at Chip Kelly’s offense with the Buckeyes
When Bill O’Brien left to become the head coach at Boston College, it didn’t take long for Ryan Day to make the call to his old friend and former boss, Chip Kelly. Their relationship goes back decades to their time in New Hampshire and now the two are reunited with the goals of beating Michigan and winning a national championship.
Kelly is expected to take over play-calling duties but said that the decision-making will be very collaborative with Day.
“By that I mean if it’s a good play, I called it, and if it’s a bad play, [Day] called it,” Kelly said to a round of laughter from reporters.
Kelly will also be taking over as the quarterbacks coach, a task he got the itch to do again during bowl preparations at UCLA last year after his quarterbacks coach left for Oregon State.
“I just started to think, I hadn’t actually coached a position since 2008. And I think my wife remarked, ‘I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time.’ To me, the best part of football is football,” Kelly said.
His experience speaks for itself with success at both the professional and college levels. Whatever we see on Saturday on the offensive side of the ball, Kelly likely had a hand in creating it.
The starting five on the offensive line
One of the more competitive position battles in the spring, other than quarterback, has been with the unit designed to protect the QB. And among the players vying for a spot on the starting five is former Alabama center Seth McLaughlin.
“He just jumped right in. Unbelievable job both ways. Of him just coming in, shelving the ego. He really had none,” offensive line coach Justin Frye said. “There’s a learning curve there, it’s just circling back to what he had…. So you’re still learning new terminology and you’re learning a new skill set. But he just dove right in and wanted to be a sponge and wanted to learn and he’s improving every day.”
McLaughlin is eager to put his past mistakes as Alabama’s center in the rearview mirror. But he hasn’t viewed the past 14 spring practices as a competition.
“I think the best five guys are going to play whatever that may be and I’m thankful that’s not my decision to make, that’s the coaches. But it’s been good,” McLaughlin said. “We’re getting reps with each different group. Everybody. So that’s not just the centers. It’s every single position.”
Frye promised that he’ll have a good picture of where the offensive line is headed after the spring. Saturday’s game should illustrate that well.
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