Three things Ohio State football must do different in 2024

3. The Ohio State football players have to work harder than ever before

Every single year, the Ohio State football program has a top-five recruiting class. The same thing happened this year. Every year, they out-recruit Michigan. Yet, they have lost The Game three straight times. So why is that? If Ohio State's players are so much better, why do they keep losing?

Work ethic. I've been hard on the coaches in the program, and rightfully so. They deserve the bulk of the criticism for how things have gone in recent years. They are the ones who choose which players to bring in and they are the ones who are in charge of getting the most out of them.

At some point, the players have to take ownership of their play. They have to want to win more than any other player in any other program. That starts with work in the offseason and continues during the year. Everyone has to be held accountable to get better.

Ohio State certainly had some dogs on this team, don't get me wrong. Marvin Harrison Jr., Tommy Eichenberg, TreVeyon Henderson, J.T. Tuimoloau, and Denzel Burke were just a few players who were legendary workout guys. They were always doing extra work to be the absolute best players that they could be.

The Buckeyes need to have more guys like that on the roster. They all need to want to be the best. NIL money shouldn't be the sole focus, Being the best possible player and winning games should be. If you win games, scouts will notice you and you'll get paid either way.

It's time some of the guys on the roster took accountability for their play. This team needs its leaders to step up and demand excellence from others in the locker room. These three things need to happen in 2024 in order to get the program back on track.