Is the Ohio State defense going to really be better? – This was the biggest question surrounding this historic opening game against Ohio State. I will take a mix of those and others to share some thoughts on OSU’s 21-10 win over Notre Dame. I did share a handful of important questions in my pregame column, however. We were not able to post Ten Pressing Questions for Ohio State’s opener against Notre Dame. 12, if ABC plans to slot that as a 3:30 or 7:30 p.m. (Speaking of which, we should know by next Monday, Sept. That’s OK, he’s got bigger fish to fry with the Big Ten opener against Wisconsin coming up on Sept. One player we don’t figure to see will be wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who reportedly suffered a hamstring injury in the opener against Notre Dame. My guess is anybody who figures to play for Ohio State this year will be on the field at some point in this game as it potentially gets out of hand. We didn’t see many young guys in the opener against Notre Dame. This is your opportunity to make somebody’s year and give them the gift of Ohio State football. Your friends from church who always stop you to talk about the Buckeyes, but have never had the chance to get to a game. The father and son you see at the high school game in their OSU gear who have never been inside the Horseshoe. I mean, you have to know somebody, right? Your neighbor who flies the OSU flag, but has never been to a game. But I can’t imagine too much of that will translate to this game against Ohio State – even if there is a less-than-enthusiastic crowd of about 90,000 in attendance. And the quarterback, James Blackman, has experience from playing in the ACC at Florida State.

Yes, Arkansas State played lights out against Grambling. This is one of those games – particularly with a noon start and all that entails with trying to get to the stadium before it starts – where I urge longtime OSU season ticket holders who don’t necessarily need to be at every game to give their tickets to somebody who has never been to an OSU game. * Steve Says: Well, we are going from a game where there were 106,000 people inside Ohio Stadium and another 20,000-40,000 people in and around the campus area to be a part of the party to a game against a Sun Belt team that really has no name value or identity. Obviously, Jones is trying to build a winning culture at Arkansas State, which had been an annual bowl team up until things went off the rails with a 4-7 season in 2020. He logged 11 carries for 37 yards and scored one touchdown for OSU as a freshman in 2018. Snead was an Ohio State signee in the 2018 class, but transferred out after some going through some off-the-field issues. RB Brian Snead had 12 carries for 57 yards and a score. RB Johnnie Lang carried 13 times for 124 yards and a touchdown. He has thrown for 6,989 yards and 53 touchdowns against 30 interceptions in his college career.Īgainst Grambling, Blackman completed 15 of 20 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns. He was the Seminoles starter as a freshman in 2017 and again as a junior in 2019. Quarterback James Blackman is in his sixth college season, having played from 2017-20 at Florida State. The Red Wolves were a dismal 2-10 last year for first-year coach Butch Jones, who was formerly the head coach at Central Michigan, Cincinnati and Tennessee.Īrkansas State opened the season with a 58-3 win over FCS Grambling on Saturday. Next up is OSU’s first-ever match-up with Arkansas State.Īrkansas State is a Sun Belt Conference school based in Jonesboro, Ark. Obviously, the big one is out of the way with the win over Notre Dame. * The Setting: This is the second of five straight home games for Ohio State to open the season. * AP Poll Rankings: Ohio State is second in the AP preseason poll, while Arkansas State is unranked. * Players To Watch: QB James Blackman, RB Johnnie Lang, RB Brian Snead, WR Champ Flemings, LB Jaden Harris, DE Keyron Crawford, S Trevian Thomas, DE T.W. * 2022 Records: Ohio State, 1-0 overall Arkansas State, 1-0 overall. * Date, Time, TV: Saturday, noon, Big Ten Network Here is our First Look at Arkansas State: We hope this gives you some riveting reading each week. With the landmark season-opening game against Notre Dame out of the way, Ohio State will move on to Week 2 and a “guarantee game” next Saturday against Arkansas State at Ohio Stadium (noon, Big Ten Network).Įach week, the First Look column will be our first taste of what Ohio State will face the following week.

Dame 7 lights out