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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Overseen by Quality Control Coach Rob Keys, Ohio State Expects Collaborative Special Teams Effort in 2024
For anyone who needs a reminder, there are three phases in the game of football.
As with every offseason, prose has been penned to preview Ohio State’s offense and defense, but one of the more covert storylines to follow in the spring and summer has been what the Buckeyes are doing on special teams now that they have moved on from maligned coordinator Parker Fleming.
With starters at punter and kicker ready to go and returners eager to be tested out in-game, Ryan Day is expecting a collaborative effort from players and staff to see some resurgence on special teams, an effort spearheaded by him and quality control coach Rob Keys.
“Rob is gonna be sort of the ringleader of it all, and I’m right there with him for everything,” Day said on Thursday. “We’re gonna utilize everybody we possibly can.”
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A key rule change brought Keys from the background to the foreground of Ohio State’s punting and kicking plans in 2024. In June, the NCAA removed the limit on the number of on-field coaches teams can have in practices and games.
That took Keys, the former head coach and special teams coordinator for D-II Findlay, from a background advisory role on special teams to help coach coaches on what to do to a foreground position where he’ll work hand-in-hand with Day to oversee the operation.
Each special teams unit has been assigned to a different position coach as safeties coach Matt Guerrieri handles the punt team, linebackers coach James Laurinaitis takes the kickoff team and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline and tight ends coach Keenan Bailey work with the punt and kick return units.
Ohio State also has another program assistant, Gunner Daniel, who is working closely with the Buckeyes’ specialists now that support staffers are allowed to coach.
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The competition to start at punter has been won out by Australian freshman Nick McLarty, who defeated walk-on Joe McGuire and Buffalo transfer Anthony Venneri.
"He's made a good transition into the country but also playing football, not Australian rules football, which is very, very different," Day said of McLarty on Thursday. "The snap-to-kick has improved. He's a taller guy, so the ball has to get off his foot faster. I think he's done that. His hang time is good. He's been more consistent.
"He'll kick a few that go out of the stadium. He's got a strong leg. But we're looking for that consistency. He's shown that here most recently, so he's got the upper hand right now."
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Jus sayin': I'm anxious to see McLarty really "boom" some punts, etc.
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Stock Up/Down: Jeremiah Smith Dazzles in Debut, Arvell Reese Turns Heads At Linebacker, Clemson and Florida State Falter
Jeremiah Smith is as advertised and Arvell Reese turned heads in Week 1 while Ohio State's run blocking still needs more consistency.
Nick McLarty, the 6-7 Australian was dubbed Ohio State’s starting punter on Aug. 22 by Ryan Day but was overtaken by walk-on and fellow Australian Joe McGuire in the week of practice leading up to the Akron game. McGuire averaged 47.7 yards on three punts against Akron.
“Going into last week, I felt like Nick was ahead of Joe,” Day said. “Joe had a much better week of practice leading up to (the game), significant. We felt like Joe's experience in the program, being here for a year, was better. We probably could have given Nick one down the stretch there. In hindsight, we probably could have done that, should have done that. But we wanted to go with the experienced guy in week one.”
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Ryan Day held court with the media on Tuesday afternoon to recap the happenings during last weekend's win over Akron while looking ahead to this week's matchup with Western Michigan.
After Brandon Inniss had a big day with four punt returns for 60 yards including a 36-yarder, Day was asked if making a more concerted effort to field punts - not just with an eye on taking possession but in positively influencing field position - was a focus heading into the season.
This was an important question because if we're being real, Ohio State hasn't been remotely close to the upper tier in this aspect of special teams since 2015 when the Buckeyes ranked 18th nationally, averaging 13.1 yards per return on the back of Jalin Marshall (28 for 379, or 13.5 per attempt).
We worked hard this offseason on special teams.. One of the studies we did is that every time a ball hits the field on a turf field, there's an average of like 10 yards of roll there. We want to make sure that we're aggressive in fielding those punts and at the same time, we can't be foolish because with some of those punts you put yourself at risk of a fumble.
So, the first thing we gotta do is get the ball back. The second thing we're trying to do is field it. Again, especially on a turf field when that ball can really roll, you've seen some really poor punts just kind of take off on the turf and so we're trying to eliminate those.
Brandon Inniss for example, a couple of those, in particular one he returned, it was rolling down probably inside the 10-yard line, he stopped it then returned it back. That was worth probably three of four first downs. It's a big deal so we're trying to educate our guys.
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Ryan Day Says Brandon Inniss and Jayden Ballard Could Both Return Kicks Against Marshall
Ohio State could use two different kick returners on Saturday.
On Wednesday, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said Inniss had earned reps as a kick returner in practice this week. Both Inniss and Ballard will be options to return kicks in the Marshall game on Saturday, though Day declined to name one of them the starter.
"We got Brandon back there a little this week, so we'll look at the film today. We just did some kickoff return (and) he and JB were back there," Day said. "We'll kind of evaluate it after today and see who we decide to put back there. They'll probably both still return kicks, but (as for) who takes the first one, we'll probably see tomorrow."
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Ohio State vs. Marshall Notebook: Jayden Fielding Benched for Kickoff Woes, Tyleik Williams’ Status “Day-to-Day” and Buckeyes Rotate at Right Guard
Ohio State benches Jayden Fielding after three straight kickoffs out of bounds, Tyleik Williams’ status is ”day-to-day” and Austin Siereveld rotates with Tegra Tshabola at right guard.
Ohio State vs. Marshall Notebook: Jayden Fielding Benched for Kickoff Woes, Tyleik Williams’ Status “Day-to-Day” and Buckeyes Rotate at Right Guard
After two games of mostly clean special teams play to start the season, Ohio State had multiple problems in the third phase of the game in its third game of the year against Marshall.The most notable woes came on kickoffs, where Jayden Fielding kicked the ball out of bounds three straight times in the second quarter, giving Marshall’s offense the ball at the 35-yard line. The third such kickoff led to a Marshall touchdown before halftime and resulted in Fielding’s benching, as backup kicker Austin Snyder replaced Fielding on kickoffs for the remainder of the game as well as handling the Buckeyes’ final two extra kickoffs of the day.
The kickoff woes were uncharacteristic for Fielding, who has been Ohio State’s kickoff specialist since 2022 as well as its primary field goal kicker since 2023, so Ryan Day elected to have Fielding attempt to work through his mistakes following the first two kickoffs. Following the third kickoff, however, Day decided he had seen enough and gave Fielding the hook.
Day said Fielding would be evaluated to ensure that issues were not injury-related. Either way, ensuring that such kickoff woes don’t happen again will be a point of emphasis as the Buckeyes prepare to begin Big Ten play against Michigan State next weekend.
“We'll evaluate him and see if there's any tweak or something that happened in the hip or whatever, but either way, we can't have that,” Day said. “I mean, that's putting our defense in a terrible situation. Having three out of bounds and three drives start at the 35-yard line, that's completely ridiculous. So we've got to get that fixed, however we do that.
“You get to the point where you want to let somebody play through it, but then at another point, we've got to make a change. So I thought Austin did a nice job of stepping in there.”
Snyder, who had never kicked off in a game for Ohio State before, recorded touchbacks on two of his three kickoffs while the other was returned to the 20-yard line.
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Good job by Day giving the hook, he is absolutely correct...you cannot have 3 straight kickoffs out of bounds. I have never seen that before in my life and hopefully never will for the Bucks.
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
The Ohio State football team must fix this one big problem
The Ohio State football team has to get better in this one area, otherwise it will cost them a game.
The Ohio State football team looked like a championship-level team on offense against Marshall. They pretty much did anything they wanted against the Thundering Herd. They scored on four explosive plays and also showed they could drive down the field without any problems.
Normally, when you win a game 49-14, there isn't much to work on. That's not the case for the Buckeyes. As good as the offense was, the special teams were the exact opposite. They were absolutely horrendous in pretty much every aspect.
Jayden Fielding kicked the ball out of bounds three straight times on kickoffs in the first half. It's not like the ball barely crept over the out-of-bounds line near the end zone either. These kicks were going out of bounds at the six or seven-yard line. They weren't even close.
The Ohio State football team must fix their special teams
That wasn't the only debacle from the special teams unit. Brandon Inniss muffed a punt inside his own ten-yard line that Marshall recovered. This also occurred in the first half. Had there not been a penalty for illegal formation by the Thundering Herd, they could have had a runway for an easy touchdown.These are mistakes that you can get away with when you face an inferior opponent like Marshall. The Thundering Herd simply don't have enough talent to take advantage of these mistakes. Still, they did drive the ball down the field at the end of the have for a touchdown after that last kickoff out of bounds.
Had this happened against Oregon or Penn State, the Ohio State Buckeyes could have found themselves in a big-time problem. They have to get this cleaned up immediately before they take on a team that is actually good. That starts this week when they travel to Michigan State.
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