Kirk Herbstreit reveals what he learned about Will Howard, Ohio State in Week 1
Ohio State didn’t open the season with the toughest test, hosting an Akron team from the MAC coming off of a 2-10 season. Still, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit saw plenty that he liked from the Buckeyes in Week 1.
Ohio State beat Akron 52-6 and outgained the Zips 404 to 177. Herbstreit joined The Pat McAfee Show earlier this week and shared what he learned about the Buckeyes, including starting quarterback Will Howard, in Week 1.
“Just because I’ve seen Will Howard play a lot of football, I think Ohio State fans are going to be surprised because he’s so big. They didn’t realize he could move, that he could be part of the run game,” Kirk Herbstreit said. “You get to like third-and-3, you can insert him in there and make the defense have to account for another gap, which I don’t think people realize with a Chip Kelly offense, that’s going to be a factor.”
Howard didn’t run the ball much against Akron, but he did have a 19-yard scamper. In total, the Buckeyes rushed for 170 yards against the Zips while averaging 5.2 yards per carry.
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“They’re going to be physical. The offensive line is going to need time to kind of grow together,” Herbstreit said.
As for the passing game, Will Howard threw for 228 yards and three touchdowns. His favorite target was five-star freshman Jeremiah Smith, who had six catches for 92 yards and two scores.
“Jeremiah Smith is holy cow good. I mean I can’t wait to see what he’s going to do with Emeka [Egbuka] and the rest of the group that they have there,” Kirk Herbstreit said.
Finally, Herbstreit shared what he saw from the Ohio State defense. Herbstreit admits it was an impressive performance, but he also acknowledges that the level of competition wasn’t great.
“The other thing that I think stood out, regardless of who they play – and you’re really not going to know until they take their trip out to Eugene – is the defense,” Kirk Herbstreit said. “The defensive line is so good. The linebackers. There’s so much experience there. Caleb Downs is really the one guy that they brought in.
“Everyone talks about how they spent all of this money on the portal, they didn’t spend a lot of money other than on Caleb Downs on that defense, other than to keep guys there. They didn’t go out and get guys. These guys know this system. They know it very, very well now that they’ve been around it a little bit. Jim Knowles loves to get creative. So you’ve got a veteran defense.”
The defense should continue to excel, especially early in the season, as Ohio State plays Western Michigan, Marshall, Michigan State and Iowa up next, before playing at Oregon on Oct. 12.
“While most of the attention is going to go on Will Howard and what’s going on with Chip Kelly and the offense, to me, Ohio State’s going to be a tough out because of what they’re going to be doing on that [defensive] side of the football,” Kirk Herbstreit said.