Tegra Tshabola named starting Ohio State RG for opener, others will rotate in

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day revealed Tuesday that third-year lineman Tegra Tshabola will make his first career start Saturday afternoon against Akron. Tshabola will get the nod at right guard, but other players will rotate in at the position versus the Zips, too, according to Day.

“Looks like going in that Tegra will start at right guard for us,” Day said Tuesday. “He’s had a good preseason. He’s done a nice job. We’ll continue to assess it all the way up until game time. But he’s earned the right to start in this game. I think you’re going to see us playing multiple guys on the offensive line in this game, but he’s been consistent. Now he’s got to go put it on the field and play.”

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Fellow third-year lineman Carson Hinzman, one of three O-Linemen to earn “Iron Buckeye” honors this offseason, and Tshabola took turns at right guard with the first-team offense during training camp, at least when Hinzman was available — Hinzman and several other Buckeyes O-Linemen have dealt with illness at points this month.

While Hinzman has significantly more game experience, having started all 12 regular season games last season at center, Tshabola had a steady presence in training camp, and that benefited his development, particularly alongside starting right tackle Josh Fryar.

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Mainly competing at right tackle, Tshabola didn’t win a starting job last offseason and instead played just 32 offensive snaps, 19 fewer than the season prior, over five games, per Pro Football Focus.

Tshabola played a season-high 10 offensive snaps against Western Kentucky in Week 3 and had an increased role on special teams, where registered 70 snaps (all on field goal team, according to PFF). Perhaps most notably, he logged five offensive snaps against Missouri in the Cotton Bowl. That game, Tshabola served as the Buckeyes’ extra tackle in their “Bison” package. So it’s especially relevant that Ohio State ran for 41 yards on its five carries with six offensive linemen, according to Sports Information Solutions.

Tshabola is trying to take the next step this year with an uptick in consistency. He played right guard during the first-team offense’s second and third drives of this year’s spring game and continued to progress this summer, in part because of his availability.

Tshabola’s now a Buckeyes starter. If he keeps making the most of his burgeoning opportunity Saturday, he can make his case for why he should be the choice at right guard for the long haul.

“He’s just going day-to-day right now and working,” Day said of Tshabola. “I think that’s what’s been good about the offensive line, is, you know, guys have been working at it every day. And we move some guys around in there, even as of this past week we’ve shuffled it up a little bit, just to kind of see guys move in different areas. We know we have to build depth going throughout the season, so I think it’s going to pay off for us.

“But [Tegra’s] been working. It wasn’t like he’s knocking on anybody’s door and saying, ‘What is my situation this week?’ He knows that if he continues to play the way he is, he’s going to be a starter for us and be a huge contributor. It’s consistency that we’re looking for out of him. But he’s been one of the guys that we’ve been able to count on in this camp, and that matters.”