Ohio State football head coach Ryan Day leads the Buckeyes out before the game against Penn State Nov. 1, 2025. Credit: Liam Ahern | Managing Photo Editor
New college football season, same national championship ambitions for Ohio State.??
Coming off a disappointing end to the 2025 campaign, the Buckeyes enter the 2026 season pursuing a second national championship title in three seasons.???
Last season, after an undefeated regular season for the first time since 2019, Ohio State lost back-to-back games in the postseason. First, the Buckeyes fell to Indiana 13-10 in the Big Ten Championship and then lost to Miami 24-14 in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal, ending Ohio State’s hopes of winning back-to-back national championships for the first time in program history.?
Despite having 11 players selected in the 2026 NFL Draft and over 30 players opting for the transfer portal, the Buckeyes reloaded with 51 new players during the offseason, including five-star freshman Chris Henry Jr. and 2025 second-team All-ACC Florida State transfer safety Earl Little Jr.??
On the offense, Ohio State returns the duo of Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback Julian Sayin and unanimous All-American wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.?
In Sayin’s first year as the Buckeyes’ signal caller, the redshirt-freshman completed 77% of his passes, ranking first in the country and third in a single-season in FBS history.
In two seasons with the Buckeyes, Smith has put himself in striking distance of breaking the program’s all-time records for receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns. Smith is 43 receptions, 341 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns away from passing each record, respectively.?
Looking at the offensive line, Ohio State returns four of the team’s five starters, in Austin Siereveld, Luke Montgomery, Carson Hinzman and Phillip Daniels. Offensive line play contributed heavily to the team’s success last season, as shown in the team’s wins and losses. The Buckeyes’ offensive line allowed sacks five times across 12 games, but in the two losses, Sayin was sacked 10 times.?
On defense, the Buckeyes lost eight starters from last year, including linebackers Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles and safety Caleb Downs, who were each selected in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. However, the Buckeyes return third-team All-Big Ten cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. and defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr. who tallied the second-most sacks and tackles for loss for the team last season.
Despite the turnover, defensive coordinator Matt Patricia is back for his second year in Columbus. During his first year, Patricia led the Buckeyes defense to the fewest yards and points allowed per game in the country.
After hiring Patricia, a former NFL head coach and defensive coordinator for Ohio State’s opening last year, the Buckeyes followed a similar plan by bringing in Arthur Smith, a former NFL head coach and offensive coordinator, for its offensive coordinator vacancy.?
Yet, the biggest hurdle the Buckeyes might face could be their regular season schedule.?
Ohio State, which didn’t face a second-half deficit until the Big Ten Championship game last season, will play six teams who finished in the final AP Top 25 poll.
The Buckeyes will head to Texas in their second game of the season, in which the Longhorns will look to make up for losses to the Buckeyes in each of the last two seasons. A little less than a month later, Ohio State will play Iowa on the road. The last time the Buckeyes visited Kinnick Stadium, the Hawkeyes thrashed Ohio State 55-24 on Nov. 4, 2017.
Two weeks later, the Buckeyes will face the toughest stretch of their schedule.
Ohio State will travel to play reigning national champion Indiana on Oct. 17, then to California to take on USC, before going home to face last year’s College Football Playoff semifinalist, Oregon.?
As always, the Buckeyes’ regular season schedule concludes with The Game, in which Ohio State will face Michigan at home, looking to win a second-straight game against the Wolverines.?
With the challenging schedule, stakes are raised going into the season as no team in the College Football Playoff era has made the postseason field with three regular season losses.
Though the schedule and roster turnover may create adversity for the team, with Ryan Day as Ohio State’s head coach, the Buckeyes are 82-12 and have made the College Football Playoff in five of his seven seasons.?
With Heisman Trophy candidates Sayin and Smith leading the offense, veterans Jackson and Mathews on the defensive side, a mix of new transfers, freshman and NFL coaching experience calling plays on both sides of the ball, the Buckeyes have the talent to return to the top of the sport.?
Since Ohio State has had to wait all offseason to bounce back from last year’s abrupt ending, the Buckeyes could have plenty of motivation to end their upcoming season celebrating with the national championship trophy in Allegiant Stadium.
