Ohio State football: 5 biggest storylines to watch Saturday

Saturday’s spring game will put the finishing touches on Ohio State football for the spring. While most programs would covet Ohio State’s success, a 2-loss season is still at least 1 more than Buckeye faithful would prefer — and 2 more than would really get them excited. With a Heisman Trophy favorite returning at QB, a likely All-American running back and one of the best receivers in the nation returning, plenty is set for OSU. But plenty is still worth watching on Saturday, and here are 5 storylines to keep an eye on.

1. How is Jim Knowles’ defense coming along?

Kerry Coombs never felt like a great fit in Columbus, and after a slow start to last season, he had already lost play-calling responsibility well ahead of the troubling late-season loss to Michigan. Coombs is gone, and Oklahoma State’s Jim Knowles is calling the defensive shots. Knowles’s 4-2-5 system is basically installed and it’ll be interesting to see how aggressive the Buckeyes are on Saturday. Of course, OSU won’t be going after Stroud or TreVeyon Henderson or Jaxon Smith-Njigba like they’ll go after B1G foes, but it’ll still be interesting to see which veteran Buckeyes are catching on or showing improvement from the Coombs days.

2. What about Justin Frye’s work on the offensive line?

Admittedly, OSU’s o-line hasn’t struggled like the secondary. But a few times a year, the Buckeyes seemed to bog down and get one-dimensional. O-line coach Justin Frye was very solid at UCLA, and it’ll be interesting to see how he approaches OSU’s talented and deep offensive line. Given the presence of Stroud, OSU isn’t exactly going to be living and dying on 3 yards and a cloud of dust. But there’s reason to think OSU’s season might end up hinging on Frye’s group protecting and adding consistency to the group attack, and Saturday’s the first look at the new era OL.

3. Who can cover?

If OSU had a weakness in the past 2 seasons, it was the secondary, where talented QBs could have a field day. With Knowles’ 4-2-5 look, the Buckeyes will have a new addition and Oklahoma State grad transfer Tanner McCalister has locked down that extra safety spot. Given the excellence of Ronnie Hickman at safety and Denzel Burke at corner, that accounts for 3/5ths of the group. Josh Proctor and Cameron Brown will likely complete the group, but it will certainly be interesting to see coverage options against a formidable group of OSU pass-catching targets on Saturday.

4. Skill position depth chart matters

Given the standouts atop the OSU depth chart, there shouldn’t be a ton of drama there — although the WR3 position is still up for grabs. But OSU fans will be eager to see Kyle McCord and Devin Brown at QB, Miyan Williams and the other backup RBs, and which WR will be this year’s version of Smith-Njigba. For what it’s worth, the official guess here would be that Emeka Egbuka overtakes Julian Fleming for the starting WR3 spot and that fellow WR Kyion Grayes, who is an early-enrollee, will show out on Saturday.

5. Tribute to Dwayne Haskins

It’s not a secret — the black eye that Urban Meyer has taken unfortunately impacts OSU’s overall program image. Given that Ryan Day took over the head coaching role as something of a return to a more-familial sort of OSU program, how the current program relates to the Buckeyes of years past matters — particularly in a situation like that of the late Dwayne Haskins, whose untimely death sent shock waves throughout the OSU football community. Whatever Day and OSU have on tap to honor and remember Haskins will be both a fitting tribute to an outstanding Buckeye and another stitch in the healing of the junction of OSU’s football past and present, the tribulations of Meyer aside.