Ohio State 2021 Football Preview

2020 Recap

Ohio State‘s season got off to a late start, but the Buckeyes built big leads against Nebraska, Penn State, Rutgers and Indiana and held off second half rallies to open the season 4 – 0. The Buckeyes were clicking on offense, but the secondary was having trouble with big plays and the defense was giving up too many points. The pass defense wasn’t the only challenge to Ohio State’s playoff chances in 2020.

The Big Ten opened the season in late October, with little room for Covid related delays and required their teams to meet stringent testing requirements. This caused Maryland to cancel their game with Ohio State in Week 3, and then in Week 5 Ohio State had to cancel their game against Illinois. The Buckeyes were still without several starters when they played Michigan State, but won convincingly. Michigan canceled their game against Ohio State as well, but the undefeated Buckeyes played shorthanded against Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship Game and found a way to win.

Ohio State earned a playoff berth for the second straight season and played Clemson for the second straight year. The Buckeyes allowed Clemson to stay close and steal the 2019 game, but in 2020 they would dominate the Tigers. Before the national championship game, Ohio State was hit with Covid again and lost two starters from the defensive line due to the protocols. Alabama proved to be as dominant as they had looked coming into the game and defeated the shorthanded Buckeyes in the National Championship Game. Nonetheless, Ryan Day’s second season at Ohio State ended one step closer to a National Title than his first and the future looks bright for the Buckeyes.

2020 Leaders

Projected Starters

Reasons For Optimism

The WR Room is Loaded

Ohio State lost Justin Fields and Trey Sermon to the NFL, but the team returns a plethora of talent at the receiver position. Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson are both proven stars who can dominate a game and hold the top two spots in our WR rankings coming into 2021. In addition to the dynamic duo, Ohio State has a wave of top ranked recruits ready to begin to make their mark in Columbus. Jaxon Smith-Njigba was a five star receiver in the 2020 class who flashed during the 2020 season and will likely start in the slot for the Buckeyes. His classmate, Julian Fleming was the #1 WR recruit in the class and had a solid showing in place of Olave against Northwestern. Fleming and true freshman Marvin Harrison Jr will provide depth as outside receivers. Meanwhile the #1 WR recruit in the 2021 class, Emeka Egbuka, shined in the Spring Game and will likely be the backup in the slot this season. Ohio State’s two deep is stacked with proven stars and top recruits, giving the new quarterback every chance to succeed.

The Strong Offensive Line

Ohio State’s offensive line lost two quality starter, but returns enough talent to be a strength in 2021. The Buckeyes have the best tackle tandem returning to college football, with Thayer Munford and Nicholas Petit-Frere ready to bookend the line again. Munford has continued to get better every year and has been a starter at left tackle for the past three seasons. Petit-Frere earned a starting spot in 2020 for the first time and put together a strong season on the right side. At center, the Buckeyes will likely start Harry Miller, who had an inconsistent year in 2020 but was a starter at guard and has the tools to star on the line. The guard spots will be manned by Paris Johnson, a five star offensive tackle recruit in 2020, and Matt Jones. Both players stepped in at times during the 2020 season and played well for Ohio State. The Buckeyes have a strong offensive line again and should be able to develop young talented players to provide depth as the season progresses.

Larry Johnson’s Rushmen

Larry Johnson has built one of the best defensive lines in college football throughout his tenure at Ohio State and 2021 will be no different. The Buckeyes return defensive ends, Zach Harrison and Tyreke Smith who both flashed star ability at times and will look to provide consistent pressure. Tyler Friday and Javonte Jean-Baptiste have both played a good amount and provide good depth at end as well. True Freshman, Jack Sawyer enrolled early and provided a glimpse of his ability during the spring game. He will also see the field right away and add to what is already a formidable group at defensive end. At tackle, Ohio State has Haskell Garrett back to lead a group that includes a healthy Taron Vincent, Jerron Cage and Antwuan Jackson. With proven production and talented recruits added to the room, Larry Johnson’s unit will be the strength of the Ohio State defense again in 2021.

Causes For Concern

Replacing Justin Fields

Justin Fields is arguably the best quarterback to ever play at Ohio State. Over two seasons he passed for over 9 yards per attempt and 63 touchdowns with just 9 interceptions. He added over 800 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns on the ground, while leading the Buckeyes to back to back playoff appearances. It would be difficult for anyone to replace that kind of production and talent. Ohio State has three talented young quarterbacks competing for the starting spot, but none of them has attempted a pass in a game. CJ Stroud had the best performance in the spring game, but Ryan Day emphasized the competition would continue into fall camp. Stroud, Jack Miller and Kyle McCord are all talented young players, but uncertainty at the quarterback position is never good, especially when you have to replace one of the best in program history

The Secondary

Ohio State’s biggest weakness in 2020 was the secondary. The Buckeyes ranked last in the Big Ten is passing yards/game against and 11th in yards per attempt against and passer rating against. The defensive back recruiting had been down partially because of turnover with the defensive backs coaches and Ohio State was adjusting to a new defensive coordinator as well. Kerry Coombs recruited several talented defensive backs in the 2021 recruiting class, but it’s difficult to say how ready they will be to contribute right away. Having a full off-season to install the new defensive scheme and coach up the players on the roster should help some but after 2020, Buckeye fans are going to have to see improvement on the field to believe the problems are fixed.

2021 Schedule

Top 25 Players

2021 Projection

Ohio State lost a good amount of talent from the 2020 team and has key questions that need to be answered in 2021, primarily at quarterback and on defense. Nonetheless, the Buckeyes are loaded with talent and should be favored against everyone on their schedule. The defense will be tested early with back to back games at Minnesota and home against Oregon to start the year. The Buckeyes are talented enough to outscore both of those teams but fans would like to see the defense show improvement as well. The meat of the conference schedule comes after the bye, with a trip to Indiana, who rallied to make the 2020 game close, a home game against Penn State the following week and the annual rivalry game with Michigan to finish the year. All three will provide a different challenge, but Ohio State is far and away the most talented team in the conference and should be able to run the table again and anything less than an 11 win regular season would be a failure in Columbus. Expect the Buckeyes to win the Big Ten East and be favored to win the Big Ten Championship game and head to the College Football Playoff again in 2021.