×

Buckeyes’ focus has never left football, now shifts to Beavers

Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa runs through a drill during practice in Columbus earlier this month. Bosa is a pre-season all-American is pegged by many as a top draft pick in 2019 if he elects to leave school early.

COLUMBUS — It’s not uncommon that Ohio State football commands a lot of media attention during the month of August.

After all, it’s a brand that’s national in scope that attracts more than 100K people to its home games at Ohio Stadium. So, obviously, there’s some interest there.

This season attracted much of the same attention, but it was for slightly different reasons. Quite frankly, how Dwayne Haskins is coming along at quarterback or who’s going to replace so many key losses on the defensive front hasn’t been talked about.

It’s been all you can eat Urban Meyer coverage. The highly succesful head coach has been on administrative leave since Aug. 1 and will not coach in a game until mid September when the Buckeyes take on Tulane. He will return to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center Monday and be able to re-join his team for practices during the week.

All of this stems from the saga that’s involved former wide receivers coach Zach Smith, who Meyer fired in late July after he was arrested on a criminal trespassing charge filed by now his ex-wife, Courtney.

After a national media report was released just before camp, Ohio State placed Meyer on administrative leave and opened an investigation. A little more than a week ago, the findings of the investigation were revealed and a suspension for Meyer and Athletics Director Gene Smith followed.

So, with that sort of out of the way, the focus of the media went back to where the Ohio State players and coaches had been throughout August and that’s with football.

The season opens Saturday when an Oregon State squad, which limped to a 1-11 season in 2017, comes east for a noon kickoff.

With Meyer benched, Ryan Day has been running the show as the interim head coach.

The Buckeyes are blessed with a very talented roster and most — outside of last Wednesday’s press conference with Meyer, Gene Smith and President Dr. Michael Drake — didn’t pay attention to the coverage and simply dialed into their preparation.

“We have talked about how adversity can reveal character,” Day said during his media conference last Monday. “If we are an average team, the adversity will crush us. If we’re a good team, then we can survive it. But if we’re a great team, then we can actually get better from it.”

How that shakes out remains to be seen in the coming weeks, but when you look at the Buckeyes’ roster it’s littered — once again — with four and five-star recruits in basically every position and plenty of depth.

Haskins is set for his first start at quarterback, taking over for J.T. Barrett, who was a member of the program for five years and a four-year starter.

“Dwayne’s done a great job. Along with a lot of other guys, his leadership had to step up and he’s done that,” Day said. “Throughout practice he’s gotten stronger, especially from the spring and so as we prepare for this week he’s got to have a good week of practice as we go because he hasn’t started a game before and so that’s a big part.”

Haskins will have one of the nation’s deepest receiving corps led by senior co-captains Paris Campbell and Johnnie Dixon. Terry McLaurin, K.J. Hill, Austin Mack, Binjiman Victor and others will all play.

In the backfield, sophomore J.K. Dobbins and senior Mike Weber both return after strong 2017 seasons. Dobbins erupted onto the scene and rushed for better than 1,400 yards, while despite being slowed my hamstring issues, Weber accumulated nearly 700 yards.

The offensive line has gotten a make over. Billy Price is now playing for the Cincinnati Bengals and junior Michael Jordan — a two-year starter — has shifted to the center spot.

“Demetrius Knox will be at right guard. Malcolm Pridgeon will be at left guard. Isaiah Prince will be at right tackle. And then Thayer Munford and Josh Alabi will still be working through the week to see who plays there, they’re still working through that,” Day confirmed.

Defensively, it starts with Nick Bosa at defensive end. Ranked second in most mock drafts, Bosa is a pre-season All-American and was voted a team captain. Chase Young and Jonathan Cooper are ticketed to replace Sam Hubbard, who left early for the NFL.

Tuff Borland, who was injured and missed much of the spring and camp, is cleared and could play this week at linebacker. If he can’t go, the linebacker corps will include Malik Harrison, Baron Browning and Pete Werner.

In the secondary, Kendall Sheffield and Damon Arnette are at corner, while Jordan Fuller and Isaiah Pryor are ticketed for the safety jobs.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today