More than 600 days removed from its 2019 National Championship Game victory over Oakland, the Ohio State Club Football team is set to return to the gridiron.
The Buckeyes are set to open practice on Tuesday, Aug. 24, their first full-team practice since early December of 2019.
“Words cannot describe how difficult the last year and a half has been,” said Head Coach James Grega, Jr. “Our players and coaches have been itching to strap up the pads again and get back to some sense of normalcy. I cannot wait to get back to work.”
Despite capturing the program’s first national championship in 2019 (no NCFA games were played in 2020 due to COVID-19), the 2021 edition of the Ohio State Club Football team figures to look drastically different. The Buckeyes return just six starters from the championship team of 2019, and just 10 players overall. Roughly 80 percent of the OSU roster has yet to don the scarlet and gray.
One of the few returners for Ohio State is reigning 2019 NCFA Offensive MVP and two-time team captain, quarterback Kellyn Gerenstein. The Homewood-Flossmoor product out of the Chicagoland area has accumulated 2,667 offensive yards and 42 total touchdowns in 12 career games, and was named to the Ohio State Club Football First-Team All-Decade Team last year.
While Gerenstein returns, the majority of his offensive weapons do not.
Of all the players that caught a pass in 2019 for Ohio State, only two are set to return. Now-junior Casey Scroggins caught 19 passes for 270 yards and a score as a freshman, while senior tight end Adam Bardak hauled in seven passes for 84 yards and touchdown. Newcomers Cameron Ryan and David Cooper figure to factor in as does team President Spencer Moore, who made the transition from reserve wide receiver to tight end over the offseason.
The Buckeyes will also have to replace the program’s all-time leading rusher in Madu Eneli. Sophomore Johnathan Thiele is in the running to win the job as are new additions Anthony Novak and Jalen Haley. Leading the way up front for the new-look backfield will be returning NCFA First-Team All-American tackle Jordan Griffith-Simmon and sophomore Sam Dominguez.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do in order for us to defend our title,” said Gerenstein. “While the talent is there, plenty of new guys are going to have to step up and show they belong rather quickly.”
Defensively, the Buckeyes will be forced to find plenty of new talent to replace a handful of all-time greats, especially up front.
All-Decade elects Chase Gasser, Mike Fenstermaker and Sam Ramey were all lost to graduation, as was the majority of Ohio State’s front seven. Only Xavier Thayer returns at linebacker, while safety Sam Frank also figures to factor back in to the Buckeye secondary. New arrivals Matthew Newsome and Avery Wilson should make immediate impacts at linebacker to fill the void left by the likes of Justin Cook and others.
“We have quite the task ahead of us, especially with a very good Gordon State team coming to our place Week 1,” Grega said. “We need to make sure we get our new guys acclimated quickly in order to have the kind of success we expect.”
Ohio State is slated to begin its season on Sept. 19 at Noon at home against the Highlanders.
Aug. 24 and 25 practices will be open to any Ohio State student that wishes to tryout for the team. Practice starts promptly at 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 24 and 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 25. Both practices will be held at Lincoln Tower Park.
Ohio State Club Football 