The Buckeyes will open their 2019 season this Saturday against Florida Atlantic.
Tuesday marked an important part of the countdown to kickoff: the first game-week press conference of the season.
That gave new OSU coach Ryan Day a chance to preview the game.
It also meant the release of the first weekly edition of the game notes from OSU’s sports information staff.
If you have any question how seriously they take this responsibility, Jerry Emig, the head of the department uses @BuckeyeNotes as his Twitter handle.
This week’s game notes span 28 pages of information on the Buckeyes and Owls, as well as stats, and more general information about the OSU football program.
Here are 10 numbers of particular note, presented in ascending order. Each stat contains some context from TheOzone.
19
The Buckeyes have won their season opener in 19 consecutive seasons. The last opening-game loss was against Miami in the 1999 Kickoff Classic. Their last loss in a season-opener at home was against Penn State in 1978.
24-25*
Ohio State’s all-time bowl record now officially stands at 24 wins and 25 losses. That does not include a win over Arkansas in the 2011 Sugar Bowl that was later vacated.
In reality, they’re an even .500 at 25-25. It took some work this century to get back to the even-water mark.
OSU is 11-6 in its last 17 bowl games.
The last time the Buckeyes were .500 or better in bowls in school history was when they were 6-6 following the 1978 Sugar Bowl.
When they lost the Gator Bowl to Clemson the following season, they fell below .500 all-time in bowl games and haven’t been back since.
31
Ohio State has won 31 consecutive games that kicked off at noon. Their last loss in a nooner was against Michigan in 2011.
48
Senior wide receiver K.J. Hill is 48 receptions away from breaking the OSU career mark of 191, currently held by David Boston.
66
The Buckeyes have appeared in 66 of the 70 Associated Press preseason polls. That is the most of any school in the nation. OSU is ranked No. 5 in the 2019 preseason poll.
90
Ohio State quarterbacks have thrown 90 touchdowns between the 2017 and 2018 seasons. That’s the most of any program in the nation.
116th/114th
It wasn’t just your imagination: the Buckeyes really were absolutely dreadful in the red zone last year. OSU ranked 116th out of 130 FBS teams in Red Zone Offense, and 114th in Red Zone Defense.
173
OSU kickers have made their last 173 extra point attempts, the fourth-longest streak in the nation. The last time an OSU kicker missed an extra point was Tyler Durbin in a loss at Penn State in 2016.
902
They have been ranked in 902 Associated Press weekly polls in program history. That’s the most of any team in the nation.
911
The Buckeyes are now No. 2 all-time in wins in NCAA history. Their official tally stands at 911 wins, three ahead of Texas and six ahead of Alabama.
One would think that given the red zone woes that team would have been somewhere south of 10 wins. A ton of talent and maybe just enough of UM to get it to 13-1.
I don’t care what the NCAA says…I saw the 2011 Sugar Bowl and we won the game. If the NCAA can give back all of Penn State’s wins during the Sandusky years surely a few tattoos can be forgiven.
That’s a no-S Shirlock truth if ever there was one. I was there as well, and still remember the dog-stomping first half before Tress did, well, what Tress did…Tressleball, and it became an unnecessary nail-biter. The line play in that game was just as dominant as was the line play in Ala semi.
We didn’t threaten to sue the pants off the NCAA like PSU and the entire state of PA did. Big Gene and the university rolled over and took it all the way to costing us a BIG and a national championship in 2012.