Ohio State
Grambling State
Ohio State Hosts Grambling State Saturday at The 'Shoe
9/2/2025 9:38:00 AM | Football
FIRST AND TEN
- Ohio State (1-0; 0-0 Big Ten) and Grambling State (1-0; 0-0 SWAC), an FCS school and a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, meet for the first time in a 3:30 p.m. game Saturday in Ohio Stadium. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
- Both teams are coming off season-opening wins: Ohio State defeated No. 1 Texas, 14-7, in Ohio Stadium and Grambling State defeated Langston, 55-7, in a game played in Shreveport, La.
- This FBS vs. FCS game is one of 16 such matchups in college football this weekend, including four other games involving Big Ten teams plus Austin Peay at Georgia and East Tennessee State at Tennessee.
- Ohio State is 11-3-2 all-time vs. schools currently playing FCS football. Ohio State's last loss to an FCS school: 21-7 at Cornell in 1940.
- Grambling State is one of only nine schools currently playing FCS football to play or have played Ohio State. The others: Colgate, Columbia, Cornell, Drake, Florida A&M, Penn, Princeton and Youngstown State.
- Ohio State, Air Force, Florida, Illinois, Memphis and TCU all share the longest winning streak in the nation at five consecutive wins apiece.
BY THE NUMBERS
0-5: Schools from the Southeastern Conference playing in Ohio Stadium have never won. No. 1 Texas, on Saturday, is the most recent and joins Tennessee, LSU, Kentucky and Vanderbilt with an Ohio Stadium L.Â
FCS: Ohio State has played just four games in the last 87 years against current FCS schools: two games vs. Youngstown State in 2007 and 2008, vs. Florida A&M in 2013 and this year vs. Grambling State.
7: Ohio State has won seven consecutive games against Top 10 teams: over No. 3 Penn State, No. 5 Indiana, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 1 Oregon, No. 3 Texas & No. 5 Notre Dame in '24-25, and No. 1 Texas last week.
55: As of Monday of this week, Ohio State has 55 players preparing to play for 25 different teams in the opening weekend of the NFL season. The number includes 13 rookies off the 2024 Ohio State team.
25 CONSECUTIVE WINS
- Ohio State extended its nation's leading streak of victories to open a season to 25 consecutive wins after Saturday's thrilling, 14-7, win over No. 1-ranked Texas.
- Alabama had its streak of 23 consecutive season-opening wins snapped at Florida State in Week 1, so that moves Air Force into the No. 2 position with 19 consecutive wins.
- Note: Ohio State's 2010 season-starting win is not included in the 25-consescutive wins streak.
- The last loss in an opener: 1999 vs. Miami at the Kickoff Classic at The Meadowlands.
A FIRST FOR RANKED WINS
- Ohio State has never won seven consecutive games over Top 10-ranked teams … until now.
- Ohio State has had 15 consecutive wins over ranked programs from 2017-19 and had eight consecutive wins over ranked teams in 2005-06Â but this stretch of wins over teams in the Top 10 of the Associated Press poll is a first.
NOT SO FAST
- Grambling State football was led by National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame coach Eddie Robinson for 55 years, from 1941-42 and from 1945-97.
- Robinson won 408 games and ranks third in college football history behind only John Gagliardi of St. John's (Minn.), with 489 wins, and Joe Paterno of Penn State (409).
- The Football Writers Association of America's Coach of the Year award is presented in the name of Eddie Robinson.
- Jim Tressel was the recipient of this Coach of the Year Award in 2002.
- Others with close ties to Ohio State to be honored with the award: Urban Meyer (in 2004 at Utah) and Luke Fickell (in 2021 at Cincinnati).
14 OF 18 WITH FCS ON SCHEDULE
- A total of 14 Big Ten Conference schools will play a Football Championship Subdivision program this year, including four other games Saturday: Western Illinois at Northwestern, Northwestern State at Minnesota, Southern Illinois at Purdue and UC Davis at Washington.
- Among SEC schools: 15 of 16 will play an FCS opponent this season.
