Ohio State head coach Ryan Day stands on the sidelines during the Ohio State-Maryland game Oct. 9. Ohio State won 66-17. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
In 2017 — Ryan Day’s first year on the Ohio State coaching staff — the Buckeyes won their opener against Indiana, a Big Ten team on the road, on a Thursday night and lost to a ranked opponent, No. 5 Oklahoma, in Week 2 at home.
That team was laden with talented freshmen, including J.K. Dobbins, Chase Young and Jeff Okudah, and finished the season as Big Ten champions alongside a Cotton Bowl title with a win over No. 12 USC.
This season, the Buckeyes opened their season with a Thursday night conference road win at Minnesota and then lost to No. 12 Oregon at home in Week 2. Freshmen are also making an early impact on this team, with running back TreVeyon Henderson, defensive ends Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau and cornerback Denzel Burke making the most of significant playing time.
“They’re not inexperienced, they do have games under their belt, so now we know what to expect,” Day said. “We also know what guys can give us meaningful minutes behind them and who needs to continue to work hard to get to where they need to be to become a contributor and to create a role for themselves. We just didn’t have that last year.”
Henderson, like Dobbins, burst onto the scene as a freshman — garnering Heisman Trophy attention. Through six games this year, Henderson has churned up 612 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground, while finding the end zone in each game.
Henderson already broke Archie Griffin’s record for rushing yards in a game by a freshman in Week 3 when he ran for 277 yards against Tulsa.
“I wasn’t expecting something like this, but I don’t know,” Henderson said. “I had a lot of big goals for myself, and I reached one of my goals today, but I got plenty more, so I got to keep working.”
Henderson ranks fourth in the nation with 8.74 yards per carry, and running backs coach Tony Alford pointed to his skill set for his historic start.
“He’s got some skills,” Alford said. “Everyone’s a little bit different, but he’s got some different skill sets that can kind of get guys off balance a little bit, just by a lean here, a lean there, a little jab here, a jab there.”
Alford had similar comments about Dobbins in 2017, who rushed for 1,403 yards as a freshman.
“He can make guys miss,” Alford said. “We’ll get out on the field and he’ll front up a safety and run right down his nose to get the safety to stop his feet and then make the move to cut off him. That’s unique, for a young guy coming in to do that.”
On defense, Burke has emerged as the team’s best cornerback, collecting a pick six, six pass breakups and 16 tackles in his first six games as a Buckeye.
In 2017, Okudah’s freshman season, he played in all 14 games, compiling 17 tackles and one pass defended.
Although Denzel Ward, who was selected fourth overall by the Cleveland Browns in the 2018 NFL Draft, served as the No. 1 cornerback in 2017, Okudah began to make a name for himself. Okudah became the No. 1 corner in 2018 and 2019, leading him to be the first cornerback in school history to earn unanimous All-American honors in 2019 and the third overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions.
Six games into his career, Burke is already showing flashes of a potential All-American. He is not surprised to be the starter, though.
“I guard the best players in the nation,” Burke said. “Just going against other teams, I really don’t worry too much. I kind of feel settled in. I just know what they’re going to give me is not like what Chris [Olave] and Garrett [Wilson] are going to give me and the rest of the guys here.”
The last major parallel these two teams share is a star freshman pass rusher.
In 2017, Young recorded 3.5 sacks, 5.0 tackles for loss and one forced fumble.
Although Young served as the freshman defensive line ace, defensive line coach Larry Johnson has two young studs at his disposal in 2021.
The freshman duo of Sawyer and Tuimoloau have shown out in their first six weeks as Buckeyes.
Sawyer, an Ohio native, has racked up two sacks alongside seven tackles, while Tuimoloau has eight tackles and a sack to this point of the season.
“Jack is a quick, very explosive player. J.T. is just the opposite: explosive, quick and powerful. He can play on top of the end and in the six-technique and knock the line of scrimmage back,” Johnson said Aug. 17. “Jack is a finesse guy. He’s going to find a way to beat you and he’s a highly competitive guy.”
The Buckeyes hope that even with these parallels, they accomplish more this season than they did in 2017. Besides, they’ll exit a bye week at the same time — mid-October — with the same No. 6 ranking as they did just four years prior.
