Ohio State vs. Ball State: 2026 game preview and prediction
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Ohio State football opens their 104th season at Ohio Stadium on Saturday when they host the Ball State Cardinals in the first meeting between the two programs.
The Buckeyes open the season as the top-ranked team in the country, and Ryan Day’s group not only has their eyes on their first Big Ten title since 2020, they are also primed to win their second national title in three seasons.
Aces in openers
Saturday’s contest marks the ninth season opener Ohio State has played under head coach Ryan Day. Along with being 8-0 in season openers under Day, the Buckeyes have won 26 straight season-opening games, which is the longest current active streak in the country.
The last time Ohio State lost their first game of the season came back in 1999 when they fell 23-12 to Miami in the Kickoff Classic. In the eight openers under Day, the Buckeyes have handled their business, averaging a margin of victory of 25.4 points.
Ryan Day enters this season with the best win percentage among active coaches, with his 82-12 record equating to a .872 win percentage. Since he took over as head coach in 2019, 54 of Ohio State’s wins have come by at least 20 points.
During that time frame, the Buckeyes have scored at least 50 points in 22 games, which is tied with Alabama for the most in the country. With a win on Saturday, the Buckeyes will improve to 25-1 in September under Day.
MAC mashers
Ohio State enters Saturday’s game against Ball State riding a 36-game winning streak against current MAC schools. Overall, the Buckeyes are 39-1 against current teams from the conference.
After playing two teams from the MAC in 2024, Ohio State hosted in-state foe Ohio last year, beating the Bobcats 37-9.
The only loss by the Buckeyes to a team current in the MAC came all the way back in 1894 when they were beaten by Akron 12-6.
Some things old, some things new on offense
After Brian Hartline took the head coaching job at South Florida, Day brought in former NFL head coach and coordinator Arthur Smith to run the Ohio State offense. Smith has plenty of tools at his disposal in his first year in Columbus, starting with quarterback Julian Sayin, who was a Heisman Trophy finalist last season.
Sayin finished the season with a completion percentage of 77 percent, which is the third-highest in FBS history.
The primary target for Sayin this year will be wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. After his first two seasons as a Buckeye, Smith has already become the fastest Ohio State wide receiver to reach 100 catches, 1,000 yards, 1,500 yards, 2,000 yards, and 25 touchdown catches.
The junior is just 43 catches away from breaking Emeka Egbuka’s school record for career receptions, 341 yards away from topping Michael Jenkins’ mark of 2,898 career receiving yards, and nine touchdowns away from besting Chris Olave’s 35 receiving touchdowns.
Joining Smith in the receiving corps will be Brandon Inniss, who along with Smith is one of Ohio State’s seven captains. Freshmen Chris Henry Jr. and Brock Boyd are the future at wide receiver for the Buckeyes.
The transfer portal saw Ohio State bring in Devin McCuin from UTSA and Kyle Parker of LSU. Tight ends will feature Nate Roberts, as well as transfers Mason Williams and Hunter Welcing.
The other returning star of Ohio State’s offense is running back Bo Jackson, who had a strong freshman season. In his first year of college football, Jackson rushed for 1,090 yards and six touchdowns.
With his output on the ground, Jackson was just one of three true freshman FBS running backs to rush for over 1,000 yards last season, and now Jackson is one of just five Ohio State running backs to reach 1,000 yards rushing as a true freshman.
Both Sayin and Jackson will enter this season with a bunch of confidence since they have the majority of their offensive line from last season returning. Four starters from last year’s group are back. Snapping the football will be center Carson Hinzman, while Luke Montgomery and Austin Siereveld are going to line up at the guard positions.
At the end of the line will be Phillip Daniels and new starter Ian Moore at the tackle spots.
The Silver Bullets will try and replicate their dominance
For as good as the Ohio State offense was last season, the defense was even better. The Buckeyes allowed just 9.3 points per game last season, which is the third-fewest in the BCS/CFP era.
The Ohio State pass defense was outstanding, giving up just 129.7 yards per game through the air, which is the fewest by any team since 2014. The rush defense also wasn’t too shabby, as only Texas, Miami, Indiana, and Michigan ran for over 100 yards against the Buckeyes.
Now to replicate what they did last season, Ohio State will have to try and replace Arvell Reese, Sonny Styles, and Caleb Downs, who all were taken in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, as well as defensive tackle Kayden McDonald, who was a second round draft pick.
Along with having guys like Kenyatta Jackson Jr., Payton Pierce, and Jaylen McClain returning, the Buckeyes scoured the transfer portal and brought in some talented pieces.
Joining Jackson on the defensive line will be Alabama transfers Qua Russaw and James Smith, as well as UCF transfer John Walker. Smith and Walker will join Eddrick Houston and Will Smith Jr. on the interior of the line.
Jackson will line up at defensive end after registering 6.5 sacks last season, while Beau Atkinson, Russaw, Zion Grady, and a number of others will likely see playing time.
Following the departure of Styles and Reese, Payton Pierce will take center stage at linebacker, leading the group this season. Wisconsin transfer Christian Alliegro brings plenty of experience to the unit. Alliegro has recorded at least 50 tackles in each of the last two seasons.
Underclassmen Riley Pettijohn and Cincere Johnson will give Ohio State fans a glimpse into the future at times this season, as their athleticism will make it hard to keep them on the sidelines.
Rounding out the defense is the Ohio State secondary, which has the most returning experience on the defense. Leading the charge will be cornerbacks Jermaine Mathews Jr. and Devin Sanchez, while Jaylen McClain returns at safety.
Ohio State was very active in the transfer portal when it comes to defensive backs. Terry Moore of Duke will be looked at to step in for Downs at safety. Dominick Kelly of Georgia, Cam Calhoun from Alabama, and Earl Little Jr. from Florida State figure to play major roles this season as well.
Trying to rebuild Ball State
Ball State will now be in their second season under head coach Mike Uremovich. The Purdue grad coached at Butler from 2022-24 before taking the job in Muncie, posting a 23-11 record with the Bulldogs.
After a 4-8 season in 2025, Uremovich will be looking to lead the Cardinals to their first bowl game since 2021 when they lost to Georgia State in the Camellia Bowl. The previous season Ball State beat San Jose State in the Arizona Bowl, which was their last win over a ranked team.
While the Cardinals have beaten ranked teams, they have never beaten a team ranked in the top-15. Saturday will also mark the second time in the last four years Ball State has faced the top-ranked team in the country. Back in 2023 they lost to Georgia 45-3 in Athens.
Since then the Cardinals have faced Power 4 schools Miami (FL), Purdue, and Auburn, scoring a combined three points against those three opponents.
The Cardinals on offense
The most experienced returning running back for the Cardinals is T.J. Horton, who gained 180 yards on 60 carries last season. Horton will also see time returning kicks after averaging 24.5 yards per return last season. Other backs who should see carries on Saturday are Jalen Bonds and Kansas transfer Johnny Thompson Jr.
Bonds totaled 112 scrimmage yards as a freshman last year against Toledo, making him the first Ball State freshman since Carson Steele to crack 100 scrimmage yards in a game.
Taking the snaps for Ball State to start the season will be Keldric Luster, who previously played at SMU and Texas State. What makes Luster an interesting watch is he isn’t the traditional size of a quarterback. The redshirt junior measures 5-foot-10 and 250 pounds.
The Texas native is still looking for his first career touchdown. In limited time on the field, Luster is 4-12 passing for 37 yards and has rushed 16 times for 76 yards.
The leading returning receiver for Ball State is Donovan Hamilton, who caught 20 passes for 244 yards last season. During the offseason the position was addressed since the Cardinals wanted to add some speed to the group.
In the transfer portal Ball State brought in Corey Thompson Jr who previously played at UNLV and Utah State, C.J. Nelson from Eastern Illinois, and Jabari Smith of Florida Atlantic. Expect the Cardinals to also employ multiple tight ends in many sets during the game as well.
What will be interesting to watch on Saturday will be Ball State’s offensive line since their left tackle Chris Hood is the tallest player in the MAC at 6-foot-10. Also on the line later this year will be Cole Mosier, who was the team’s starting center last season, and has played all five positions on the offensive line.
Mosier will miss the first few weeks of the season, leaving third-year player Zach Bandy to fill in for now.
How Ball State will line up on defense
On the defensive side, Ball State has a lot to replace this season, with only two starters from 2025 back. The defensive coordinator of the Cardinals is Jeff Knowles, who has plenty of history with head coach Mike Uremovich.
Knowles was a high school teammate of Uremovich and the two have worked their way up the coaching ranks together.
On the interior of the defensive line will be two Wake Forest transfers. Last season Ameir Glenn transferred to Ball State and recorded 13 tackles and a sack. Joining Glenn this year from Winston Salem is Ka’Shawn Thomas, who will battle with Ben Marsh for playing time.
On the outside of the line, Jared Badie from San Diego State will look to replace last year’s MAC sacks leader Nathan Voorhis, who is now in the NFL.
The two returning starters for the Cardinals will be lining up in the secondary. Cornerbacks Will Yates and D.J. Fields combined for 67 tackles and eight pass breakups last season. Along with the two starters, a member of the group to keep an eye on is hybrid LB/DB Quentavius Scandrett, who transferred into the program from Arkansas in the offseason.
Another transfer who should start on Saturday is safety Sterling Smith from Purdue. The defensive backs will have to come up big throughout the season since the defense is extremely green at linebacker.
One name that will be familiar to Ohio State fans is Ball State defensive back Diante Griffin. The grandson of Buckeye legend Archie Griffin spent four years at Ohio State, where he was a preferred walk-on. Griffin hit the transfer portal in the offseason and decided to head to Muncie to finish out his college career with the Cardinals.
Prediction
If we’re being honest, Ohio State’s second and third string could likely beat Ball State in this one.
The goal for Ryan Day on Saturday should be to take care of business and stay healthy ahead of the Texas game. Let Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith put up some numbers, allow the new starters to get comfortable in their roles, and then put the first string in bubble wrap.
While it’s important to give the fans something to cheer about in the first game of the season, the team has some big games ahead of them over the next few months. Since becoming Ohio State’s head coach, Day has shown he knows how to handle season openers.
Last year was different than this year since Texas was first up. At least this year the Buckeyes have a game to get their feet under them before hitting the road.
With the recent history of Ball State against Power 4 squads, as well as all that they have to replace from last year’s team, if this game is anywhere close then there is cause for concern among Buckeye Nation. Luckily the talent gap is so massive the result should be decided pretty early on.
LGHL score prediction: Ohio State 49, Ball State 3
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