Buckeyes Kickoff 130th Season in The Shoe vs. FAU
8/27/2019 10:42:43 AM | Football
Ohio State kicks off its 130th season of collegiate football Saturday with a noon game against the Florida Atlantic Owls at Ohio Stadium. The game will be the first meeting between the two schools on the gridiron. It also represents the inaugural game as a head coach for Ohio State’s 40-year-old, first-year coach Ryan Day.
- Head coach Ryan Day starts his head coaching career with a 3-0 record after earning wins over Oregon State, Rutgers and No. 15 TCU as the team’s acting head coach in 2018.
- SEVEN TEAM CAPTAINS: DE Chase Young, a junior from Hyattsville, Md., DE Jonathon Cooper, a senior from Gahanna, Ohio, SAF Jordan Fuller, a senior from Old Tappan, N.J., junior LB Tuf Borland from Bolingbrook, Ill., RB J.K. Dobbins, a junior from La Grange, Texas, WR K.J. Hill, a senior from Little Rock, Ark., and WR C.J. Saunders, a senior from Dublin, Ohio.
- 39 WINS IN LAST 42 SEASON OPENERS: Ohio State has won 19 consecutive season-opening games dating to the 1999 loss to No. 12 Miami, 23-12, in the Kickoff Classic at the Meadowlands.
- TOP 5 PRESEASON AGAIN: Ohio State is ranked No. 5 in the Associates Press preseason poll. The team is also ranked No. 5 in the Amway coaches’ preseason poll.
- 17 SEASONS WITH 11-PLUS WINS: Ohio State ranks third all-time with 17 seasons of 11 or more wins.
DOBBINS 8TH IN CAREER RUSHING YARDS
- Junior RB and 26-game starter J.K. Dobbins is eighth among current players in career rushing yards with 2,456.
- That total is sixth among Power 5 RBs and second in the Big Ten to Jonathan Taylor (4,171 yards).
- Dobbins is seeking to become the first Ohio State runner to ever rush for 1,000 or more yards as a freshman, sophomore and junior.
HILL CLIMBING RECORD LISTS
- Senior WR K.J. Hill returned for his fifth-year season, possibly influenced by the outstanding fifth-year seasons – and subsequent early round NFL Draft selections – had by receivers Parris Campbell and Terry McLaurin in 2018.
- Hill has caught a pass in 34 consecutive games. The school record is 48 by Gary Williams (1979-82).
151 STARTS ON DEFENSE
- Ohio State has 151 starts on the defensive side of the ball.
- Linebacker (51), safety (41) and defensive line (39) lead the way with cornerback also featuring 27 starts.
- Eight defensive players have started at least 10 games.
- SAF Jordan Fuller (26 starts), CB Damon Arnette (25) and LB Tuf Borland (20) are most experienced.
- LB Malik Hooker (14), LB Pete Werner (13), DE Jonathan Cooper (13), DE Chase Young (11) and DT Robert Landers also bring loads of experienced play to this side of the ball.
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Ryan Day is the 25th head coach in Ohio State football history, but only the seventh head coach in the last 70 years.
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Ohio State has 51 returning lettermen from the 2018 Big Ten and Rose Bowl champion team, including 13 Starters with nine of those on the defensive side of the ball.
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98
The 2019 season is the 98th season that the Buckeyes will call Ohio Stadium home. New suites in B Deck have reduced capacity by about 2,000 seats, to 102,072.
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Ohio State quarterbacks have thrown a nation’s best 90 touchdown passes the past two seasons under the tutelage of Ryan Day, the team’s quarterbacks coach in 2017 and 2018.
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Number of new full-time assistant coaches, quality coaches or graduate assistants on staff, including co-defensive coordinators Jeff Hafley and Greg Mattison.
THE FLORIDA ATLANTIC OWLS
- Â FAU is coming off a 5-7 season last year with a 3-5 mark in Conference USA.
- The Owls have been a Division I program for 18 years.
- Lane Kiffin is in his third season as head coach at FAU. He is 16-10 during his tenure.
- In 2017, Kiffin’s first season, the Owls went 11-3 and won the C-USA title to go along with a victory in the Boca Bowl.
- Kiffin has a career collegiate record of 51-31 in eight seasons as a head coach with stops at Tennessee, USC and FAU.
QUARTERBACK: CHRIS ROBINSON
- FAU ranked No. 14 nationally in total offense last year, averaging 478.8 yards per game. The Owls had 500 or more yards on five different occasions.
- Quarterback Chris Robinson returns after earning C-USA All-Freshman and co-Freshman of the Year honors in 2018. Robinson completed 192 of his 304 pass attempts for 2,540 yards and 12 passing scores.
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