Ohio State head coach Ryan Day prepares to lead the Buckeyes onto the field prior to the game against Oregon State game on Sept. 1 in Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won 77-31. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Managing Editor for Multimedia
When Ryan Day runs out of the tunnel Saturday as a first-time full-season head coach, he said he’ll take a moment to look up and appreciate what it means to be at the helm of a program like Ohio State.
On the other side of the field, however, he’ll be looking at Lane Kiffin, who had already held head coaching jobs in the NFL, SEC and Pac-12 by the time he was 35.
Ohio State has beaten its past five first-week opponents by an average of 35.2 points — and Florida Atlantic isn’t the type of prestigious post Kiffin once occupied — but the one-time offensive wunderkind may have enough tricks up his sleeves to keep the Buckeyes on their toes a time or two come Saturday.
“He’s got a great background of football and understanding,” Day said. “He’s gonna bring a challenge to our defense. They do a lot of great things on offense. Create mismatches, tempo, he’s kind of innovative what he’s doing over there.”
Kiffin’s innovations brought an immediate impact to FAU upon his 2017 arrival.
In the seven years prior to Kiffin’s era, the Owls had a combined .274 winning percentage with a scoring average of 21.37 points per game. Kiffin’s first year with the program saw its first winning season since 2008, going 11-3, and his two years have yielded a 36.2 points-per-game average.
Ohio State’s past five first-week opponents averaged a national scoring rank of No. 68 the previous year, whereas Kiffin’s FAU teams have been No. 8 and No. 45 in average points the past two years.
A key element in Kiffin’s spread attack will be the use of senior Harrison Bryant, who was top 10 in college football among tight ends with 45 receptions and 662 yards in 2018.
Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison said during fall camp that the newly implemented bullet position is designed to place a quicker, more versatile defender on athletic tight ends. With Bryant being one of the nation’s most effective receiving threats at the position, the Buckeyes will finally have the chance to show off their oft-discussed new defensive look.
Though Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley wouldn’t tip his hand as to whether that scheme would be employed Saturday, he said his defense will need to be aware of Bryant’s positioning on the field.
“You gotta play with great eyes if you’re covering him,” Hafley said. “There’s a lot of great things he can do, so whether it’s the sam, whether it’s the bullet, whether it’s the safety, whether it’s the nickel, whether it’s a corner; whoever’s on him, they gotta play with really good eyes, really good leverage and really good technique.”
Throwing the ball to Bryant Saturday will be redshirt sophomore quarterback Chris Robison, who was once in a quarterback room with Heisman Trophy winners Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray at Oklahoma before transferring.
The one-time four-star recruit equalled his 12-touchdown total with 12 interceptions in his first year as a starter in 2018, but Hafley said the Buckeyes won’t look past a quarterback that is “quick on his feet” and “can make the throws.”
FAU allowed just 16 sacks this past season, the 12th least in the country, but junior defensive end and preseason AP All-American Chase Young will likely be a disruptive force for an FAU line that faced just two ranked opponents in 2018.
Young’s running mate at the other starting defensive end, senior captain Jonathon Cooper, is rumored to have an undisclosed injury that may keep him out of the season opener.
“It’s one of those things where, until he’s back in action, it’s next man up,” redshirt senior defensive tackle Robert Landers said Tuesday.
Another weapon for Kiffin, who Hafley called “a really smart football coach,” is 5-foot-8 junior wide receiver Willie Wright. Wright was No. 2 on the Owls with 46 catches in 2018, and has tallied 1,131 yards and eight touchdowns in his first two seasons in the program.
“[Wright’s] a talented player, he’s quick,” Hafley said. “Not the biggest guy in the world but he can run. He’s really dangerous with the ball in his hands, and he has big-play capability.”
Mattison will be on the field Saturday, and Hafley in the box, but neither will have to contend with FAU’s top offensive weapon in the past two seasons: running back Devin Singletary, who totaled 54 rushing touchdowns in the past two years.
No matter Kiffin’s impact at the helm for the Owls, FAU hasn’t won a Power Five conference matchup since 2007.
“For us, it’s about us right now,” Hafley said. “And I’m not saying that knocking them at all. It’s really whoever we were gonna play in this first game — we have to worry about ourselves.”
