The Ohio State football program is less than 48 hours away from kicking off their 2025 season at home against the Texas Longhorns on Saturday afternoon. The matchup is a rematch of last year's Cotton Bowl between the two teams, which Ohio State won en route to their first national championship in a decade.
Speaking of that 2015 national title team, on Thursday, it was announced that a key member of that iteration of the Buckeyes will be in Columbus for the big game on Saturday.
“We've got a very special guest joining us for the LIVE show! Cardale Jones joins us on Aug. 28 in Columbus,” reported The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football on FOX Pod on X, formerly Twitter.
Jones was the third string quarterback for Ohio State back in 2015 after the first two on the depth chart got hurt, and he picked the best month-long stretch to play the best football of his career, winning the Big 10 championship and then knocking off both Alabama and Oregon en route to winning the school the national championship.
Last year, it was Will Howard, who has since been drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers, leading the charge for the Buckeyes' offense.
A big opportunity for Ohio State football
Ohio State has a chance to pull off a repeat as national champions, which has become more and more of a rarity in recent college football decades.
While the Buckeyes lost considerable talent to the NFL Draft this year, including both Will Howard and star wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, they are bringing back superstar freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, whom many consider to be the best player in the country as he enters his second season in Columbus.
On Saturday, Ohio State will be facing off against a hungry Texas team that will be looking for revenge after the Buckeyes ended their season a year ago in front of what is sure to be a packed crowd at Ohio Stadium.
The Longhorns and Buckeyes are slated to kick off the season at 12:00 PM ET from Columbus.
