Ohio State Football: What To Expect From Will Howard In His Buckeye Debut

Introduction and Excitement for the Season Opener hello everybody Welcome to the Buckeye weekly podcast I am Tony German here as always with Tom or Tom how's it going oh Tony we are one day away from the first game of the 2024 Ohio State football season it feels like we've been talking about this and thinking about this and podcasting about this forever so it is great that it is finally here because feels like it might be halfway decent one well and yes especially this week nothing like akan week we've been talking about it forever the buildup has been insane uh the players at this point are tired of talking about akan they just want to play like we've been asking asking asking about akan what do you think about their offense what do you think about their defense what scares you about this akan team and so I think now they just want to play the game instead of just continuously talking about it yeah I mean the students spending all week Crossing out all the A's and all the signs around campus it is a tradition unlike every other every year we talk about it we look forward all year to akan week and now it's finally here I'm so so excited so excited um so let's talk a little bit about this game Akron Team Analysis and Key Players I will tell you Tom this akan team like a lot of lower level Max schools are it is loaded with players from Power five schools so I'm just going to read some some school names and give you an idea of what akan is bringing to Columbus North Carolina State Michigan State Minnesota Arizona State Miami Florida Maryland Alabama Cincinnati and in Washington state South Carolina like so these are they they have some legitimate recruits they have players who are once legitimate recruits did not work out for wherever they were or they you know we've seen it at Ohio State years you're you're at a place that's too high for you so you drop down but also doesn't mean you're guaranteed to be doing anything at the next level at the the lower level as well but it is just interesting to see a roster that I'm sure there are guys here that had offers from all over in the Big 10 and throughout the SEC so that just gives you an idea that there there is potential for plays here and there it's just a consistency and the depth that is always going to be the issue well and there's going to be plays here and there but one of the places you're really going to see it I think on Saturday is on the offensive line where just the trenches on the hole on both sides of the ball that's generally a spot where if you can play there is a tremendous amount of demand for you to move up and you're seeing this a lot with a lot of Max schools right now Ohio University I know had lost a huge chunk of their team to you know Nathan RoR for example transferred from Ohio University up to Indiana you see a lot of guys where this the Mac level schools can't hand you know can't bid with the big 10 level schools so you lose a lot of your better players and then you do end up you know that the portal does go both ways and sometimes that turns out to be a Sam wigo who is A walk- on at Ohio State and then a superstar at Ohio University but a lot of times it is a net negative to those those Mac programs and I think you're going to see that in the trenches a lot on Saturday where I think Ohio State's going to develop a generate a pretty good pass rush and be able to generate a pretty good push in the Run game and that can lead to a very long afternoon for an opponent it's interesting you say that because I was just scanning the defensive line for akan and like the the two main transfer schools listed are New Mexico state and New Hampshire to give you an idea that it it is just difficult to bring in defensive lineman from wherever and and you can say the same thing about offensive linemen to a certain certaine at least the elite offensive linemen are very very expensive so they're not going to show up at akan and they're not probably going to stay at akan so it's always a difficult proposition to keep those players there so let's discuss Ohio State's Strategy and Expectations this because as we know this is about Ohio State it's not about akan it's it's as Ryan Day says it's about us so that's kind of where I want to start with what Will Howard's Debut and Performance Goals what is a good day for will Howard in his Ohio State debut because when I asked Ryan day like what what would it look like for you to know that okay this was what we wanted from will Howard and he's basically just said I want it to be clean I want you know no no um no turnovers and just be ahead of the chains be confident in the Huddle have the team just leading the offense and staying on schedule so what what statistically does that look like for you something in the neighborhood of 70ish per completion 70 75% completion I know you picked 80% on our bold prediction show yesterday that would be a very good day if he ends up in that range but if he's anywhere in the range of 70% completions maybe 200 total yards in the first half and no turnovers that's probably a perfectly fine day I know 200 total yards does not sound like a ton they're going to be running the ball with the running backs they're going to and he's going to only probably play roughly a half give or take he doesn't need to have 400 yards total offense in the first half it does not need to look like CJ strout against Michigan State in 2021 it just has to be efficient it has to be just it has to be just ruthlessly efficient to the point that it's almost boring that it's just oh look Ohio State scores another touchdown you you know how by the time like they score the fifth touchdown of the first half it's no longer like this Roar from the crowd it's kind of a little a little closer to spring game like oh well well done yes good well well well struck yes you you want kind of the just sort of boringly efficient first half I think from will Howard and I think those numbers are probably somewhere in the in the neighborhood he um completed over 70% of its passes in just one game last year but that was 15 of 17 against Houston so it is it is there I I would you know throw in there like stay out of third and long which generally means no sacks on first or second down um Escape when you need to I don't expect them to use him much in the running game they shouldn't need to in terms of just but also some of this is going to be his call and what the defense does so I do wonder how how often are they going to call a specific run run option for him we know there are going to be plenty of run pass options for him but if you call a run run option for him and it's just him reading the defensive end there are going to be times where he's carrying the ball and I don't know that they want to do that right now we know they will eventually I don't think there's any reason to do that but I do expect him to scramble here and there so you know I wouldn't be you know three or four rushes something of that nature not including sacks just just because that's what he's going to do and and I know Ryan day has told him if you're you got receivers on one-on-one coverage that means they're open so go go ahead and throw it I am interested to see how aggressive he is and how confident he is in that we know he's been practicing them now with now 40 total practices by the time he actually takes the field with them in a game so that kind of Rapport has been built up but I I I'm interested to see how effective he is at that how confident he is in that and how of that it is just you know what Carell's over there I'm going to throw it I know you know it's it's open if it's one-onone coverage but you've got three starting receivers where they they don't need to be open need to get open to be open but also they're going to be more open than they've been that more open than he than will Howard has ever seen them as well right he spent the last 40 practices watching them going up against den zberg and David osen and Jordan henock Caleb DS and lean Ransom and none of those guys are walking through that door for Akon anytime between now and 3:30 on Saturday so you can certainly say well they just you need to put a safety over the top okay that's fine how many safeties do you have and are you aware that the other team can run the ball so you can't just have three safeties lined up 40 yards across the field on you know the middle of the field and on the numbers that doesn't work so you're going to have to pick your poison if you're akan and that means that someone if someone is going to be single you can't have everyone doubled the three wide receivers doubled and then also not give up 19 yards a carry to the running backs and also not give up 400 yards to the tight end so you're going to have to sort of pick your poison you know that it's interesting you were talking about throwing downfield more I think that is going to be a little an interesting Factor here because if he's just checking down and just playing it safe that may be that may be part of the game plan that they just you know take it take it easy and just don't don't do anything stupid and just you know be efficient and keep the chains moving that's where you get to 70% if he's throwing the ball downfield and he's at 65% or 63% or something like that but he's taking shots down field and they're not going to you know connect on 100% of them but if you're taking shots down field and you're at 63 65% that's a perfectly fine day to you're probably going to see at least some of that I don't know M maybe they just go bombs away and just try and really light things up for week one I just I just feel like this might a little bit more of a measured approach and you you're just sort of stretching you're just kind of getting limbered limbered up and just oh let's let's stretch out the running backs a little bit all right let's stretch out the uh the tight ends a little bit let's run some shallow stuff let's let's keep things efficient let's stay on schedule all the real boring Co you know college football coach stuff that they always talk about wanting to see you might see some of that but I'm sure they will give the fans something to get out of their get out of their seats and cheer about and they'll take a take a shot or two downfield too and if they don't then you just that's the Drew all approach don't don't be crazy with the football don't throw it downfield but you've got the receivers to do it here at Ohio State one of my bold predictions that I didn't use that I would just remembered that I I should have is that uh I think I think there's a possibility that Quin Shan Judkins and trayon Henderson both start this game just because you know where uh they're both very very talented and um it's just something to throw out there I do expect trayon Henderson to start because he's a captain and he's he always starts um so I do expect him out there but it is going to be interesting to see how different Carlos llin is compared to Tony Alford and how the carries are distributed where I think Tony Alfred was pretty much you get a series you get a series you get a series you know you just alternate the series um how how much do you think do you think it's going to be the same or because I think you might see more in-game stuff especially if they're going to be huddling and sending and stuff I think the pace of the game is probably going to impact that a decent amount where like you said if you're huddling between plays and that is very likely going to sort of be it seems like that was sort of the norm for just about everyone during week zero I'm expecting that to sort of be the norm for Ohio didate at least a decent amount of time they may they may go up Tempo at times I don't think they're necessarily going to be showing that or burning that against akan but you you're going to be huddling more which means you're going to be subbing more and you're not NE you're not in a situation where you're going to be trapping people in a Personnel grouping that is disadvantageous to them so if you're on offense and you've got your you know you go to a four wide receiver package and the other team is in a 43 defense and you're running uptempo they can't necessarily sub those guys out and so then you have this real great matchup advantage that's not if you're huddling every play that sort of stops being a thing that's that's as much of a a recurring theme during the course of the game so I do think you're going to see a little bit more free substitution at a lot of positions not just running back yeah Offensive and Defensive Line Insights I with the free substitution let's talk about the offensive line because Ryan Day said they're going to be moving moving guys through I think we might see an offensive line on Saturday that is not the same offensive line we see in four games in terms of maybe some early season uh injuries and some things like that so I am interested to see if this is not the the deao offensive line how free are they with putting guys in different spots or playing Seven guys in the first half something like that or you know do they want to stick with their the Five Guys that they roll out there until it's time to until it's you know 28 nothing or you you've established this offense and now you can do some things because when Ryan Day says we're going to roll guys out there that has many different connotations depending on the the the tone of the words that he's saying depending on the position that is being talked about like when you say we're going to roll guys in there on the defensive line you know exactly what that means when you say we're going to roll guys in there and through there on the offensive line you're like at what point at what point does the rolling begin and I think it could be in the first half but things have to go well I don't think they're going to do it just to do it unless something is going poorly you could yeah you could see that I'm not expecting that many things to go poorly especially along the lines for Ohio State if they do that would be a little bit of an eyebrow razor for me it was interesting the way Ryan Day talked about injuries on Wednesday night basically say TC Cafe is the only long-term injury it's like okay well what about the short-term injury well you know I think they're going to play it rather cautiously and there's no reason if someone's a little dinged up and another week off might give them a a little bit of an advantage to just sort of heal up you lose basically Nothing by swapping in one one of you guys that you feel pretty good about for another so I am I'm definitely with you on I'm not expecting these the I'm expecting to see different versions of the offensive line shall we say in the first half than what we might see against Oregon or even against Michigan State later in the month and then we will have the availability report put out oh what two hours before kickoff and and we'll have that for uh for everybody on the live show at youtube.com/ buuck ey huddle Saturday afternoon around 1:30:00 based on uh based on the way the Defensive Expectations Against Akron Clock Works there so defensively for Ohio State I will remind people Akon's starting quarterback is Ben Finley who was a a starter at has played both NC State and Cal so you know he's been around he's seen some things he is going to be experienced but also he was never super consistent at at his previous stop so there's no reason to think he's going to be consistent at this stop it's just there there is the potential there for some nice throws here and there but like we talked about earli in the show it's always about consistency and just the repetitive consistency of doing it and doing it well and that's probably I would imagine you're not going to see that from Ben Finley on Saturday because the Ohio State defense is going to be raring to go and what starts up up up front like he is going to be he's gonna be running for his life you know quote unquote but it is always interesting to see how quickly the ball comes out against Ohio State's defensive line like they don't want to they don't want him standing back there they're always throwing quick stuff and things like that but also quick stuff against a corner ERS that are going to be this aggressive could lead to some tackles for law for Denzel Burke and Davis OS and frankly like they this season they could be having you know seven eight tackles for loss over the course of a season so I think there's they're going to throw it quickly but I don't think it's going to go all that well for the akan passing game must credit Tony German Buckeye huddle it feels like this is almost the inverse of what we talked about with the Ohio State offense and the akan secondary trying to defend them the Ohio State offensive line should be able to give will Howard time which should allow him to throw the ball downfield and then if akan has to really play conservatively to not get torched by some of the Ohio State wide receivers boy that's going to open up a lot of stuff underneath it's kind of the reverse for the akan offense where you probably don't trust the offensive line to protect for long so you're trying to get the ball out quickly which means you can't run deep routes which means the corn really sit play it play press man really sit right up on that line of scrimmage try and take that away be physical at the line knock knock them off their timing a little bit that all of that just feels like boy I don't think they're going to be able to run the ball well and that feels like you're not going to have a lot of time to throw and if Ohio State Corners are going to play physically and we know they love to play physically then it just feels like where exactly as the offense coming from here you're gonna have they're G to get a first down akan is going to get a first down at some point should have should have saved that one for the Bold prediction show we did too bad but akan will get a first down at some point it will be okay acan may string together multiple first downs in a drive at some point that also will be okay it's this is this is not anything you need to panic and we have seen teams come in and have the first drive that's scripted and very creative and they can move the ball and and everyone freaks out and then it's you know it was 5 nothing Miami at one point in that game in 2019 and then it ended up 76 to5 like you can it's it's not worth freaking out over if if the opponent gets a first down or two I just I don't really see where the offense is going to come from Tony I was just looking through the notes do you know who Akon's wide receiver coaches uh let me let me just answer that for you why would you and the answer is good question uh it's JD brookheart who actually is a former akan head coach he led the Zips to the MAC Championship in 2003 was the aan coach for a lot of the 2000s and then according to his Wikipedia page has been out of coaching for about 12 years and now is back as the wide receivers coach for akan so if you are an old school Maad uh you there's a that will be a familiar face dynamite dynamite dropping Monti um the the offense I'm not expecting much from and I'm just looking back at this is a different team than they were last year but they were held under 100 yards rushing akan in their last six games of the season their best offensive performance last year 263 yards rushing by far their best against Indiana like um no wonder Tom Allen was fired in the one of their best passing performance against Indiana so uh but they still lost the game 2927 so I I think the the the running game is going to be very stifled and the passing game you're talking about the best secondary in America with Ohio State so overall there's not a lot of there there and but we I I do like Joe Morehead the head coach who's one of the you know he's fantastic offensive coordinator at Penn State years ago gave Ohio State fits but he had better Talent there obviously but I do think he can draw some things up uh not quite to the level of Greg shano special teams but I do think you're gonna see they're going to try something but again this isn't something akan is trying to win whereas whereas Greg was kind of trying to win with everything he's doing I think akan knows better I know akan knows better but also Joe Morhead is he's a creative guy he's got some skills as a play caller and a coordinator and things like that so maybe there's some reason for certainly some reason for respect no reason for fear I am not expecting much uh in the way of anything from akan offensively like what is what is an acceptable defensive performance total yards we know is kind of a Croc but say in the in the first half for Ohio State's defense because I would say under 100 yards personally a 100 is exactly the number I had in my mind and if you're going to look at it I always feel like it's smarter to look at on a yards per play basis and if you're looking at in a yards per play basis the last I pulled this up for the Bold prediction show we did yesterday the last three times they have played this kind of caliber of of lowish level Mac team 3.1 yards per play against akan in 2021 2.1 yards per play against Miami in 2019 3.4 yards per play against Bowling Green in 2016 those were 2016 and 2019 were pretty good Ohio State defenses that are probably similar to this one 2021 that akan team was real not good so I think if you're in the three yards per play realm somewhere around there and if it's three point five that's probably fine but if you see as long as they're in that 3ish yards per play realm allowed especially in the first half that's probably a perfectly fine performance I will say AC was held under 3.7 yards per play five times last year is that good that is not good Tom that is very very bad so uh and you should feel bad frankly I I am now look I'm look looking through the the last time section the last time it happened section on the akan game notes uh Tony do you know the last quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards against an akan defense was well let me see the last team they played was Ohio so Curtis War Ro uh well they have these done in a very stupid way so uh this is not a factual thing even though it says it is this says it's Kyle McCord in 2021 but ctis roor did throw perform the last quarterback to throw for 300 yards passing was Kyle McCord in 2021 the last quarterback to throw for 400 yards passing which I believe involves going past 300 yards was ctis R and of Ohio in 2022 so maybe Tony you should be putting together the Aran Game notes no no thank you I am fine where I am at I will say Special Teams and Final Predictions last thing um special teams two things ni Nicko Clardy making his Ohio State debut perhaps well he will be holding we know he'll be holding if State punts he will be punting so I think we're all looking forward to that um Akon's punter listed here in Phil Steel's magazine John McConnell so Columbus Blue Jackets owner John McConnell AAR may have problems on special teams and with hockey apparently too soon Tom too soon anything else before we go oh yes score predictions I set mine in have you uh have you come up with your score prediction and we we can begin by seeing how how close we are I don't want to give you mine if you have not come up with yours yet I I have not come up with mine although my my son was asking me what I thought was going to happen and I gave him a score I think I said 56-3 and somewhere in that range I I'm tempted to dial the Ohio State one back slightly just because we saw all four of the week zero games go have the underdog cover and a lot of them I think went under just with the we have not completely adjusted yet to the slower pace of play and all that kind of stuff that may shorten drives but boy I think akan might have some real short drives and Ohio State might have some real good field position so I'll I'll stick with 56 to three but only because you never predict a shut out okay yeah I went uh 527 so we all had the same number of scores just one score on each side ending up differently so there you go um while you're here go ahead and please hit the thumbs up on this YouTube if you're watching it on YouTube and of course if you're listening on any podcast platform of choice we would appreciate a a festar rating interview we do always thank you for that that will do it there is your score prediction I do think Ohio state will win I know crazy of course we were going Conclusion and Post-Game Coverage to have plenty of postgame coverage starting even before the the Ohio State game is over um go ahead and switch over to us at youtube.com/ buuck huddle then we'll have you covered from U the end of the game to the postgame interviews with Ryan day and Chip Kelly and Jim nolles and assorted players probably will Howard there as well then of course Tom and I will be back with um the postgame instant reaction Buckeye weekly episode for you so a long nice stretch of Ohio State akan recapping for you after the game you can find that at buckle.com also youtube.com/ buuck hudle and also go ahead and join us at buckle.com become a member we would appreciate seeing you there it is now the season no reason not to be there with us so thank you all for tuning in and we'll talk to you guys later