Ohio State hosts Texas in one month. Here are 5 questions it must answer first

New York Times

3 days ago

Ohio State will begin preseason camp on Thursday, kicking off the start of a new football season and a quest for a second consecutive national title. While the Buckeyes are likely to be a preseason top-five team heading into the Aug. 30 opener against Texas, there are plenty of questions they have to answer over the next month.
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Here are five key storylines to watch as practice begins:
Ryan Day and the Buckeyes are working through a quarterback battle for the third preseason camp in a row. This time, it's with two inexperienced quarterbacks: third-year former four-star recruit Lincoln Kienholz and second-year five-star recruit Julian Sayin.
At Big Ten media days, Day said he expects a 'fierce competition' to find a starter in camp, which seems to confirm that this is as tight a race as we believe.
Sayin left the spring with a slight lead, but now the battle is taking the next step. With just four weeks until the arrival of Arch Manning and Texas, somebody must begin to distance themselves from the other in camp.
These are two young quarterbacks who combined to play just 35 snaps last year. Sayin attempted just 12 passes, and Kienholz hasn't thrown a pass since struggling in relief of the injured Devin Brown in the 2023 Cotton Bowl. That inexperience will lead to some inconsistent days in practice, like we saw in the spring and even two years ago when Kyle McCord and Brown went back and forth until the opener at Indiana.
Ohio State would be better off if somebody took control of this battle early in camp and carried the momentum into the final weeks of August, but that can't be guaranteed. Although most believe Sayin will win the job, the competition is likely to continue through most of August.
Still, even if it could make sense for Day to play both quarterbacks in certain situations this season, especially with Kienholz's athleticism, the Buckeyes need one starter going into Texas.
Last season's national championship run showed how important an elite defensive line with depth is to succeed in this era of college football. And after Ohio State lost all four starters to the NFL Draft, there's still a lot of talent ready to step up.
The defensive ends are pretty deep for a group that lost two former five-star recruits in Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau. The new leader is Kenyatta Jackson Jr., who has been waiting in the wings for his chance to step up and has shown flashes of brilliance, albeit in limited snaps. There will be plenty of competition for snaps between Caden Curry, converted linebacker C.J. Hicks and transfers Beau Atkinson from North Carolina and Logan George from Idaho State. That's five ends who will play this year, with a lingering question of who will start alongside Jackson and how the rotation will work out.
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I'd bet that Curry starts camp out as the second starter, but if Atkinson, who had 7.5 sacks last year as a rotational player at UNC, can adjust to Ohio State's scheme, he could jump into the lineup sooner rather than later.
This is a good group of edge players, and even without a true star, it can put up numbers depending on how defensive line coach Larry Johnson and new defensive coordinator Matt Patricia want to use them.
The bigger concern is defensive tackle.
Kayden McDonald and Eddrick Houston are poised for strong seasons, and I'd bet on McDonald breaking out in a big way, but there's not much depth behind them. Ohio State has to find out who its third defensive tackle is before it takes the field against Texas.
Siereveld has been one of the stars of the offseason.
An offensive lineman might not be as exciting a name as Jeremiah Smith, but this is a sign of great things for an Ohio State team that has had issues with offensive line depth in recent years.
Siereveld was an interior lineman out of high school, a four-star prospect from Lakota East High School just outside of Cincinnati. He battled for the right guard job with Tegra Tshabola early in his career but has since become an important swing player.
New offensive line coach Tyler Bowen moved him around this spring, and he performed well wherever the Buckeyes needed him. With the addition of Rice transfer Ethan Onianwa, though, the left tackle spot became an unlikely spot for Siereveld. The focus has moved to the right side, where Tshabola is the favorite to start at guard and Siereveld seems to have solidified himself as the starting tackle.
Still, there's a bit of a battle going on there when camp begins with Minnesota transfer Philip Daniels. I believe Siereveld will win that battle, but it wouldn't be a surprise if Ohio State still moves him around in camp. I think there will be times where we see Siereveld at guard during some sessions and then move back to tackle in the next one.
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Siereveld gives Ohio State crucial versatility along the offensive line, a position where depth was crucial last year.
This is a question that might not get answered until the season begins, but with the amount of playmakers Ohio State has, could it expand its personnel versatility?
We know Ohio State loves to play in 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end and three receivers) and even uses two tight ends at times. Could it use 10 personnel, with four receivers, this year? And, if so, could it also go heavy and then run some 13 personnel a few plays later with three tight ends on the field?
I think all of that is possible because of the skill-position depth the Buckeyes have.
At receiver, Ohio State has the best player in the country in Smith, plus Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss and Mylan Graham. That's four five-star recruits who could start this year. At tight end, Purdue transfer Max Klare has high expectations, and the Buckeyes also love what they have in Will Kacmarek, Jelani Thurman and Bennett Christian.
Throw in Bryson Rodgers and five-star freshman Quincy Porter at wide receiver, and there's a wealth of potential for options for whomever wins the quarterback job.
Being able to play Klare in the slot opens up more calls for the Buckeyes, which will make defenses uncomfortable. I think by the time October gets here, we'll begin to see more personnel groupings and formations for defenses to scout.
This offense has questions at quarterback, but it has a chance to be an extremely fun group regardless.
We end with the defensive backs, another position of strength for the Buckeyes.
Caleb Downs returns as the best safety in the country, but there are questions about how the rest of the secondary will work out after losing corners Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock and safety Lathan Ransom to the NFL.
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Davison Igbinosun and Jermaine Mathews Jr. seem to have a lock on at least two corner spots, leaving one safety position and one corner open for somebody to grab. Malik Hartford will likely take over the other safety position, although Jaylen McClain has had a good offseason and will push for it as well.
The slot corner position is one of the more intriguing position battles to watch this summer, as Ohio State could go in a number of directions. It might just go in the expected way and put Lorenzo Styles Jr. there and leave Mathews and Igbinosun outside. But co-defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach Tim Walton has room to be creative. Mathews played some slot corner in the spring, which would open up an outside spot for former five-star recruit Aaron Scott or freshman five-star Devin Sanchez.
Ohio State has the option to play a lot of dime this year, too, to get more defensive backs on the field in obvious passing downs. Similar to the receivers and tight ends, camp will be an important time to sort out the main rotation, but there's flexibility to figure out, too.
(Photo of Julian Sayin: Jason Mowry / Getty Images)