Ohio State’s offense is entering a new season with a new voice, and the first real question is simple: will Arthur Smith speed things up?
For the last two years, the Buckeyes have leaned into a slower tempo. The new clock rules and the longer season pushed them toward a style built on survival, not sprints.
Last season, that showed up in the numbers. Ohio State ranked eighth in the country in time of possession percentage at 55.24%, but it was also 115th in plays run per game with 64.
Smith brings a long NFL play-calling résumé to Columbus. He spent two years as offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans, three years as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, and two years as offensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers before arriving at Ohio State.
His reputation was built in Tennessee, where he constructed offenses around Derrick Henry, the best running back in the NFL, and he has already made the comparison himself to Jeremiah Smith, saying you can never get the ball to your best player enough.
But Smith’s NFL track record also comes with obvious questions. He was fired in Atlanta and later in Pittsburgh because he couldn’t match the offensive production those teams needed.
In Atlanta especially, he struggled to get the ball to the playmakers. Anyone who rostered Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts, or Drake London during those years knows exactly what that looked like.
Ohio State offers him something different: quarterback play. Smith’s NFL quarterbacks included Ryan Tannehill, old Matt Ryan, Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder, old Russell Wilson, and old Aaron Rodgers. Julian Sayin is better than all of them, scaled to the competition.
Saturday should also tell us a lot about the tight ends. Under Smith, the Steelers have been near the top of the NFL in tight end usage, and Ohio State increased its own tight end involvement last season. That usage sometimes held the offense back, but if Smith can feature the tight ends in more creative ways this year, it could open another layer for an offense that already has plenty of firepower.
Ryan Day has long defended Ohio State’s deliberate regular-season pace by pointing to the ability to turn it on when necessary. In 2024, that approach worked.
The Buckeyes jumped on teams early and never let go. In 2025, though, they fell into an early hole against Miami and never climbed out because they only knew how to play one way.
That slower tempo has another side effect, too: it keeps games tighter and makes it harder for Ohio State to get starters out early and give younger backups valuable reps, including in a matchup like Saturday’s against Ball State.
There’s plenty of curiosity around this offense, and the players have done their part by talking up how much more complex and improved it is compared with last season. The question is whether that shows up right away.
A trip to Austin, Texas is coming soon, which only adds another layer to what Ohio State chooses to reveal now. The Buckeyes could keep things basic and still take a few shots to build a big first-half lead, then get the starters to the sideline quickly. However it plays out, Buckeye Nation will be watching closely when this offense takes the field for the first time in 2026.
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Ohio States Next QB Battle May Already Be Taking Shape
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Ryan Day has already made clear this isnt just about filling garbage-time reps. Both backups are being viewed as potential successors, which means the evaluation is still very much open and the pecking order could keep changing as the season goes on. For a program that always has one eye on what comes next at quarterback, the real intrigue is less about who played in that moment and more about how long this competition will stay unsettled. [Read more 🡒]