Ohio State’s new season begins with a familiar kind of spotlight: a noon kickoff at Ohio Stadium, a national TV audience, and a roster full of fresh faces trying to show what this team looks like after a long offseason and a painful Cotton Bowl loss to Miami.
The Buckeyes open against Ball State, and there’s plenty of curiosity around how the next wave will fit in. Jeremiah Smith and Julian Sayin are already familiar names, but with so much talent gone to the NFL, this opener gives freshmen and transfer portal additions a chance to make their mark. Ohio State will also unveil a new look on the field, including the “Buckeye Stripe” uniform and several new additions to Ohio Stadium.
Ohio State-Ball State will air nationally on the Big Ten Network in Week 1 of the 2026 college football season. Jeff Levering and Jake Butt will be on the call from the booth at Ohio Stadium, with Brooke Fletcher reporting from the sideline. Streaming is available through FuboTV, which may offer a free trial to new subscribers.
The game is set for 12:30 p.m. ET from Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
As for the prediction board, Pete Fiutak of College Football News has Ohio State rolling, picking the Buckeyes to beat Ball State 55-7. He wrote: “Ohio State might be reloading on the defensive side, but it’ll look like business as usual as all of the new starters take their respective games up a few notches - this group will look very, very fast.The offense will put this away after the first two drives.
There won’t be any messing around here. The Buckeyes will make their point in a fantastic first 30 minutes.”
In Other News...
Ohio States Next Running Back Move Could Define This Recruiting Push
Ohio States 2027 recruiting push picked up another name this week with a scholarship offer to Jordan Hall, the Princeton running back from Cincinnati who recently backed off his Miami commitment. Hall has already started weighing other options, including a possible visit to Indiana, but the Buckeyes are now firmly in the mix as they continue to build what is already a 19-player class.
Running back remains one of the spots Ohio State is still expected to target as the cycle develops, and Hall fits the kind of local, high-upside addition the staff can keep circling back to. The Buckeyes are not done adding pieces in 2027, either at running back or elsewhere, so every new offer carries a little extra weight as the class takes shape. [Read more 🡒]
Michigans Wild Finish Has Ohio State Fans Fuming All Over Again
A messy finish in Ann Arbor has Ohio State fans grumbling all over again, and it was not hard to see why. The game between Western Michigan and Michigan tilted on a sequence of controversial officiating moments, with a disputed Hail Mary adding to the unease around a night that already had people talking about the standard of Big Ten calls.
Earlier in the game, there were already missed penalties that drew attention, including a facemask and a running-into-the-punter call that went unflagged. By the end, the frustration had only grown louder, and the way the final sequence unfolded left plenty of room for debate among fans and commentators who are still looking for answers. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio States Next QB Battle May Already Be Taking Shape
After Ohio State had the game in hand against Ball State, the quarterback picture shifted for a stretch that could matter well beyond one September afternoon. Julian Sayin was done for the day late, and the snaps behind him went to Luke Fahey and Tavien St. Clair, giving the Buckeyes a first look at the next layer of their depth chart while the game moved into its final phase.
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 🡒]