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It seems like it was just yesterday that the college football season ended as Michigan topped Washington in the national title game in Houston. When the game ended, the worst time of the year began for college football fans: the dreaded offseason. Nearly eight months without college football. It feels like it just started, but we are now in June, and college football is less than three months away. The weather is getting warmer, and we are inching our way closer to football season. The 2024 season is almost here for Ohio State football, and Buckeyes fans can't wait for the new year to roll around.
Spring football is one of the best times of the college football offseason as a sense of hope comes to every fan base around the country. It's exciting to see your team in action in the first time, even though it's just a scrimmage. You start to see the roster taking shape and projected depth charts start trickling out. Spring football is the first sign of the season, and now that it's been over for awhile, college football fans are really in the home stretch. The cold winter months are tough to survive without football, but the excitement that comes with spring football makes everything easier. We're getting closer and closer to the season, and it will be here before we know it.
This next season of college football is going to be an exciting one, and there are a ton of reasons to be looking forward to it. There are a lot of changes coming to the game like rule changes, coaching changes, conference changes and playoff changes. Perhaps the most intriguing part of the new season will be the new conferences. The Pac-12 is gone, and the Big Ten and SEC are going to be loaded. They both seem to be on the verge of forming super conferences.
The SEC will be welcoming Texas and Oklahoma to the conference next year, and the Big Ten is getting a good crop of Pac-12 teams as USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are all joining the conference. Both the Big Ten and the SEC are going to be absolutely loaded next year, and it seems like more schools will potentially join the conferences in the future.
Next season, the College Football Playoff will look different as well as it is expanding to 12 teams. There will also be first round games on college campuses. More teams will have a chance to make the CFP, and there will be more games. It's going to be fun.
Ohio State football has to have a big season
One team that has extremely high expectations heading into the 2024 season is Ohio State football. The Buckeyes are returning a ton of talent from last season, and a lot of those players were expected to go pro. Ohio State has also already hit the transfer portal hard and they have one of the best classes in the country. There's no doubt about it, the talent is there for this team to win a national title. Then again, not having talent hasn't been the issue for this team the past few years.
Ohio State football head coach Ryan Day has a ton of pressure on him this season. The Buckeyes have failed to beat rival Michigan and win the Big Ten each of the last three seasons, and if that happens again with this roster, Day's job could be in jeopardy. The Wolverines have lost just about everything, coach and player-wise, from last year's national title team, so this has to be the year for Ohio State, right?
The Buckeyes have cleaned up in the transfer portal in terms of talent. They have only brought in seven transfers, but those seven players are some of the best that were in the transfer portal this offseason. It's crystal clear that Ryan Day understands how big of a season this Ohio State football team has coming up, and he understands the pressure that is on him. So, he went out and built one of the best rosters in college football. This team is loaded.
A lot of these transfers are going to be huge contributors on this Buckeyes team during the 2024 season. It's hard to gauge which player is going to have the biggest impact, and it's hard to choose just one player here. However, based on how last season went, it's clear who needs to have the biggest impact, and that is quarterback Will Howard.
Transfer that will have the biggest impact: Will Howard, QB, Kansas State
Last season, Ohio State football went into their regular season finale contest against Michigan with an 11-0 record. They were ranked #2 in the country, and everything was on the line for that game. The Big Ten championship, a trip to the College Football Playoff, everything. The Buckeyes had the ball with under a minute to go down by six, and they were trying to go down and win the game. QB Kyle McCord threw an interception, and the game was over.
Kyle McCord was an above average QB for Ohio State football last year, but he didn't match up to previous Buckeyes QBs. Elite QB play was the aspect of the game that Ohio State was lacking last year, and that will be the difference this season for the Buckeyes.
This Ohio State team looks a lot like last year's team. They are going to have a terrific defense, a great offensive line, a dominant run game, but they have question marks at the QB position. Things were the same last year, and while the Buckeyes had a good year, they didn't accomplish any of their goals. Will Howard will need to make a big impact on this team.
The thing about Will Howard is that he didn't have as good of a season last year as Kyle McCord did. Howard finished the year 219-357 for 2,643 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. McCord went 229-348 for 3,17o yards, 24 touchdowns and six picks. Of course, stats don't tell the whole story. McCord had the best wide receiver in college football to throw to as well as an overall elite wide receiver core. Howard didn't have that.
Still, for the QB position to be the one that really needs to change, Ohio State football fans probably wanted someone that performed a little bit better. Will Howard will all have the tools to be successful with the Buckeyes, however.
It's also worth noting that there is no guarantee that Will Howard wins this starting job. Alabama football transfer Julian Sayin has reportedly played extremely well this offseason, but he has no college playing experience. Either way, the Ohio State QB needs to have a big year in 2024.
