Coming off of a record setting performance against UW-Milwaukee in Week 6, Ohio State’s strength of schedule is set to ramp up as the regular season comes to an end.
The Buckeyes are set to take on Ohio Wesleyan’s JV team on Monday, Oct. 28 before traveling to Wittenberg just six days later to take on the Tigers’ JV squad. Ohio State has never played OWU in program history, while the Buckeyes lone regular season loss in 2023 came at the hands of Wittenberg, 27-7.
Ohio State is currently the lone undefeated team in the National Club Football Association, sitting at 5-0, ranked No. 1 in the country. Not far behind Ohio State is Clayton State, which is 4-2 on the year and is ranked No. 2 in the NCFA. Clayton State is led by head coach Kevin Adkins, who defeated Ohio State in the 2022 NCFA National Championship Game when he was leading the Gordon State football program.
With a win against Ohio Wesleyan, the Buckeyes would all but ensure their opportunity to host the 2024 Great Lakes Conference Championship Game. Ohio State has won its last four conference crowns, but did not host last season as the Buckeyes traveled to Ithaca, Mich. in 2023 to take on then-undefeated Michigan State. Ohio State won that game, 52-0. The Buckeyes, which have already secured their spot in the conference title game, await the winner of the Great Lakes West, which is comprised of Oakland, Loyola (Chicago), UW-Milwaukee and Michigan State. Currently, those four teams are a combined 5-8 in 2024. Oakland currently holds a half-game lead on the Spartans, with the two teams set to face off in the final week of the regular season.
Through five weeks, Ohio State boasts the top scoring offense and defense in the NCFA. The Buckeyes, after breaking the league record for points in a game against the Panthers, are averaging 43.8 points per game while surrendering just six points per game. Ohio State’s defense has given up just 10 points in the last four games after allowing 20 in a one-point win over Cincinnati United in Week 1.
Leading the Buckeye offense is senior quarterback Niko Pappas, who has been stellar in his first season with Ohio State. Through five games, Pappas has been named NCFA Offensive Player of the Week three times. He leads the NCFA in passing yards (763) and passing touchdowns (11) and is tied for the league lead in rushing touchdowns (5), while also ranking second in the league in rushing yards (369).
Ohio State’s offensive line is not to be forgotten in the Buckeyes’ recent run of success. Pappas has not been sacked since Week 1 and the offensive line has paved the way for 1,055 rushing yards through just five games. Running backs Johnathan Thiele and JR Burton are both over 200 yards apiece and fellow running backs Ethan Young and Lucas Fenstermaker have contributed five total touchdowns between them.
On the receiving end, eight different Buckeyes have caught at least three passes this season while six of them have found the end zone. Jalen Haley leads the team in receptions (13) and receiving yards (181) and has proven to be the league’s top return threat, averaging 37.4 yards per return and is the only player in the NCFA this season to return a kickoff for a touchdown. Freshman JP Naylor leads the team in touchdown receptions with four on just seven receptions.
Defensively, the Buckeyes have been led all year by senior defensive end Matthew Humphreys. The Robert Morris transfer has accumulated 8.5 sacks this season, which is good for second in the NCFA. Humphreys is chasing the program record of 12 sacks in a season, set in 2017 by Michael Fenstermaker. Leading Ohio State in tackles is freshman linebacker Ryan Keenan, who has posted 37 stops in five games. Not far behind is hybrid Ryan Globokar, who has collected 28 total tackles and Humphreys who stands at 27 total stops in 2024.
Not to be out done, Ohio State’s special teams have taken a tremendous leap forward in the first half of the season. The Buckeyes are the only team in the NCFA to record both a kick return for a touchdown and a punt return for a touchdown in 2024. Kicker David Rive, Jr. is a perfect 29-for-29 on extra points this season and despite only punting six times in the first five games, half of Ohio State’s punts have been downed inside the 20-yard line.
Ohio State’s game against Ohio Wesleyan is set for Monday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. in Delaware, Ohio. The Battling Bishops are 2-0 in JV games this season, while their varsity team is 3-4.
The Buckeyes will then have a short, six-day turnaround before playing Wittenberg’s JV, a game set for Sunday, Nov. 3 at 1 p.m. in Springfield. The Tigers varsity squad sits at 3-2 on the season.
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