(Photo Credit: Don Montague / The SkyBoat)
On Saturday Ohio State will kick off its 2016 college football season at home against the Bowling Green Falcons.
The people of Columbus have high expectations for Coach Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes after a strong 2015 season where they finished 12-1. The Buckeyes fell only to the Michigan State Spartans late in the year and finished off the year with a thrashing of Notre Dame in the BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl.
However, despite the Buckeyes domination through much of 2015, 2016 may be a rebuilding year for the program after losing much of the starting lineup to the NFL.
Ezekiel Elliott, Braxton Miller, and Cardale Jones are just a few of the key players that won’t be returning to the Buckeye offense.
J.T. Barrett will now lead the Ohio State offense under center as the undisputed starting quarterback in 2016.
On the defensive side of the ball the Buckeyes hand the reigns to Greg Schiano who takes over for the team as defensive coordinator. Schiano plans to run the same 4-3 defensive scheme Buckeye fans are used to seeing, with some minor tweaks.
Raekwon McMillan returns for his junior season as a major component to Schiano’s scheme, returning to the linebacker position. In 2015 McMillan led the Buckeyes defense in tackles (119), and was finalist for the Butkus award. The second-team All-American will lead the defensive as co-captain.
Kickoff at Ohio Stadium takes place at noon. Buckeye fans can watch this game on the Big Ten Network.
Stay tuned to the Skyboat for continued college football coverage.
