COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State has spent the last several months preparing for the 2026 season. On Saturday, the Buckeyes finally get to see what all that work looks like on the field in a live game setting.
Ohio State opens its season against Ball State at Ohio Stadium, and while Ball State may not carry the same weight as the Buckeyes’ next opponent, Texas, head coach Ryan Day isn’t looking beyond the first game. Instead, Day wants to see Ohio State establish how it is going to play.
“The first thing you want to do is you want to play clean,” Day said in his press conference on Tuesday.
That means taking care of the details like procedure, alignment and communication… All that Ohio State can control before the snap before carrying that same discipline into the play itself.
“And then we got to play with great fundamentals, take care of the football, and then be smart post-snap,” Day said. “You can’t have any, you know, disciplinary issues like that. We can’t have substitution issues. I mean, we’re looking for a clean operation.”
For a team with 51 new players that has spent the offseason trying to develop an identity on both sides of the ball, Saturday will also be the first opportunity to establish it against someone other than itself.
Day has talked throughout the offseason about wanting Ohio State to become a physical team. The opener isn’t only about explosive plays or how many points Ohio State scores.Day wants to see the Buckeyes play hard, play tough and play smart.
“Then the second thing is like establishing a certain identity of playing really, really hard, really tough, and then playing smart football and doing our job,” Day said.
That will be particularly important with a number of younger players expected to see the field.
Ohio State has seen its players practice. It has evaluated them throughout preseason camp. It has developed expectations for what the offense and defense should look like. But the game will provide a different kind of information. There are only so many things a team can truly learn before playing a game.
The Buckeyes have plenty of experience returning, particularly along the interior of the offensive line and at quarterback with Julian Sayin. Day said he expects that experience to help Ohio State play with an identity, while the younger players will have an opportunity to establish themselves.
Ultimately, though, Saturday is about finding out what Ohio State actually has. And Day doesn’t want Ohio State to wait until Texas to figure that out. For Ohio State, that identity begins Saturday.
Before the Buckeyes worry about what they will look like against Texas, Day wants them to show they can handle the details against Ball State.
Play clean. Play physical. Take care of the football. Communicate. Don’t beat themselves. Then Ohio State can start figuring out what comes next.
Photo via Ohio State Dept. of Athletics.
