By the Numbers: Key numbers about this year’s Ohio State Buckeyes

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It’s officially Game Week!

Ohio State, ranked No. 1 in the Preseason AP Poll, will take the field for the first time in 2026 as they host the Ball State Cardinals this weekend in The Shoe. 

Saturday is the first of three non-conference games this season. Unlike last year, the Buckeyes won’t play against an FCS team this season. Zero, therefore, can be a number attributed to this Ohio State team.

There are many other numbers to describe this group. For this edition of By the Numbers, we’ll take a look at the key numbers that define the 2026 Buckeyes. We’ll also, for Week 1, look at some key numbers as they relate to the opener against Ball State.

8

Ohio State has eight returning starters on offense: Julian Sayin, Bo Jackson, Jeremiah Smith, Brandon Inniss, Phillip Daniels, Carson Hinzman, Luke Montgomery and Austin Siereveld.

This is great for a Buckeyes offense that, at times, felt like they were leaving some points and yards on the field last year. But with Sayin back for his second season, coming off a terrific first season, the expectation is for him to build on what he did in his first season as the starting quarterback.

Having Smith, Inniss, and four offensive linemen returning around him is incredible. This offense should be humming a lot better than they were last year, especially on the ground. The Buckeyes should be able to run the football behind an offensive line that returns four starters, and adds Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator.

In fact, this offensive line has the most continuity returning in the country, with four returners that have played at least 1,000 snaps in their career. Ohio State returns 85.8 percent off its snaps along the offensive line from last season.

Eight starters returning on offense overall is incredible, especially in this day and age in college football.

3

In contrast, only three starters are returning on defense.

Concerning? Yes. However, it’s important to note that the Buckeyes had only three starters returning from their 2024 national championship team heading into last season.

Matt Patricia came in as defensive coordinator and kept the Ohio State defense No. 1 in the country in scoring, allowing just 9.3 points per game. That’s the hope going into this year: Patricia being able to mold a defense with a bunch of new starters and still keep it at the top.

The Buckeyes’ 9.3 points per game last year was the third-fewest since 1999, and one of three teams since 1999 to allow fewer than 10 points per game.

4

Ohio State has four All-Americans from last year returning this year: Sayin, Smith, Hinzman and Montgomery.

43 / 341 / 9

Should Jeremiah Smith post these numbers (he will) in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns, he will be Ohio State’s career record-holder in all three categories.

Smith needs 43 receptions to break Emeka Egbuka’s receptions record, 341 yards to break Michael Jenkins’ receiving yards record, and nine touchdowns to break Chris Olave’s touchdowns record.

11 / 5 / 2

Believe it or not, Ohio State is one of the youngest teams in the country. They’re the 11th youngest team in all of college football, fifth-youngest in the Power Four and second-youngest in the Big Ten.

6

The Buckeyes have six teams currently in the top 25 on their schedule this season: Texas, Iowa, Indiana, USC, Oregon, and Michigan.

Four of those games are on the road, and three of them are against teams currently in the top six.

This is the first time since 2005 that the Buckeyes have had six games against top-25 opponents on their schedule.

39

Ohio State has won 39 straight games against teams from the Mid-American Conference. Overall, the Buckeyes are 39-1 against MAC teams.

25.4

In eight season-opening games with Ryan Day as their head coach or acting head coach, Ohio State has won all of them by an average of 25.4 points per game.

31

Saturday’s game against Ball State will be the 31st game the Buckeyes play against a non-Big Ten opponent in Ryan Day’s career as head coach or acting head coach.

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