There might not be a tougher loss that Ryan Day has suffered as the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes than what transpired last weekend in Austin. Blowing a 20-point fourth-quarter lead was unthinkable. Yet, that's what happened. Now, the Buckeyes have to regroup.
Ohio State is an angry football team, and Kent State comes to town. They are the second MAC team that the Scarlet and Gray have played in three weeks. Ohio State blew out Ball State 56-3. I got one bold prediction right for that game in the first half. I've got three more for this game.
1. Ohio State's starters play into the fourth quarter
Normally, this would be a game that would see Ryan Day pull his starters pretty early on in the second half. This game isn't going to be close, so it likely won't be close at any point. However, this is no ordinary game after what just happened. Ohio State failed to finish against Texas.
The Buckeyes won't have any such issue against the Golden Flashes, as this game will be over in the first half. However, this is a very angry Ohio State football team. Day might want to punish his guys for not keeping the throttle down offensively last week.
I could see Day wanting to keep his starters in for at least a couple of drives in the fourth quarter on both sides of the ball. Both sides stopped being aggressive. Now, both need to build back some confidence and trust.
2. Bo Jackson runs for 100+ yards in the first half
The 2026 campaign has been incredibly disappointing for Bo Jackson so far. In the first half against Ball State, he couldn't do much of anything. He finished that game with 83 rushing yards, but that was buoyed by a 65-yard run in the third quarter. He kept hitting a wall.
Against Texas, Jackson finished with 74 yards, only rushing for 3.9 yards per carry. He hasn't been able to truly have a breakout performance yet. The running game hasn't really gotten going in general. Arthur Smith is going to have an emphasis on the running game early against Kent State.
It wouldn't be surprising to see Jackson have 100+ yards on the ground in the first half. Jackson will be running behind an offensive line that will likely be missing a starter, but Ohio State should still have the talent up front to open up some holes.
3. Khary Wilder finally gets the snaps he deserves
While a lot of hype has surrounded Legend Bey as a true freshman, and rightfully so, no freshman has shown more promise than Khary Wilder. The true freshman defensive lineman has only gotten a few snaps so far this season, but they have been impactful.
In Week 1, Wilder put the pressure on Keldric Luster when he threw an interception to TJ Alford. Last week against the Longhorns, he played just five snaps. However, he had two pressures on Arch Manning. It's pretty clear he needs to be playing more often.
This is the week that he finally gets the snaps he deserves. After his performance against the Golden Flashes, he will earn a rotation spot. Heck, he might even deserve to start at this point. The former five-star recruit just needs to be on the field.
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