Why Joel Klatt has Ohio State as his No. 1 team heading into the 2024 season
Joel Klatt not only has Ohio State as one of his four elite teams heading into the 2024 season along with Oregon, Texas and Georgia. The Fox Sports college football analyst has the Buckeyes at the top.
In Klatt's post-spring Top 25, he placed Ohio State at No. 1 ahead of the Bulldogs, Longhorns and Ducks.
"Ohio State's roster is the best roster in the sport," Klatt said on the "The Joel Klatt Show." "What they did this offseason, in a lot of ways, is unprecedented: keeping the talent that they had off of their own roster, acquiring talent not only through high school recruiting, but also through the portal."
Klatt said Ohio State's defense "makes them the number one team in the country because they will be the number one defense in the country." And with returning players such as defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau and Denzel Burke, and the addition of safety Caleb Downs through the transfer portal, Klatt said he expects the Buckeyes' defense to be historic.
"I think Ohio State is going to have as good of a defense as we've seen in a long time, maybe going all the way back to the 2021 Georgia team," Klatt said.
While Klatt admits the offense may not be one that scores as much as past Ohio State teams, Ohio State's elite defense, he said, will allow for growing pains for a new quarterback, the offensive line and the offense as a whole under offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.
Klatt said he expects Ohio State to "be a good run team" under Kelly with "the best backfield in the country" in TreVeyon Henderson and Mississippi transfer Quinshon Judkins.
With the run game, Klatt said the quarterback position "will not have to be the centerpiece of this team or this offense" no matter who the starter is. Ohio State has five scholarship quarterbacks on the roster in Kansas State transfer Will Howard, Devin Brown, Lincoln Kienholz, Air Noland and Alabama transfer Julian Sayin.
Ohio State will open the 2024 season against Akron Aug. 31 at Ohio Stadium.
OSU football schedule 2024
Aug. 31: Ohio State vs. Akron; Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Sept. 7: Ohio State vs. Western Michigan; Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Sept. 21: Ohio State vs. Marshall; Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Sept. 28: Ohio State at Michigan State; Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan
Oct. 5: Ohio State vs. Iowa; Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Oct. 12: Ohio State at Oregon; Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Oregon
Oct. 26: Ohio State vs. Nebraska; Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Nov. 2: Ohio State at Penn State; Beaver Stadium, University Park, Pennsylvania
Nov. 9: Ohio State vs. Purdue; Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Nov. 16: Ohio State at Northwestern
Nov. 23: Ohio State vs. Indiana; Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Nov. 30: Ohio State vs. Michigan; Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Joel Klatt ranks Ohio State at No. 1 in 2024 post-spring rankings
