Chip Kelly hilariously reveals why Will Howard is the key to his outlook on noon kickoff times
Ohio State will close out its 2024 regular season with six straight noon kickoff times, much to the chagrin of fans. While the program isn't too interested in why or who to blame, head coach Ryan Day and the offensive coordinator answered questions on Tuesday about the trend of playing early. While fans wanted to host Indiana […]
Ohio State will close out its 2024 regular season with six straight noon kickoff times, much to the chagrin of fans. While the program isn't too interested in why or who to blame, head coach Ryan Day and the offensive coordinator answered questions on Tuesday about the trend of playing early.
While fans wanted to host Indiana with a primetime kickoff time next weekend, it did not work out that way. Kelly had an especially funny response when reporters questioned him about his take on quarterback Will Howard's play. His humor not only helped the moment pass but also highlighted a good trend in favor of Howard and the Buckeyes.
There's only one person to blame over Ohio State playing six-straight noon games
The Ohio State Buckeyes will play Indiana at noon once again, stirring up the fan base as the program will have six straight early afternoon kickoffs in a row to end the 2024 season. With Indiana ranking as a top-five team, this was the perfect opportunity for the Buckeyes to get on primetime at home. […]
Kelly doused water on whether the team is concerned about their lack of primetime games, citing Howard's high completion rate in noon games. Howard has been solid in his lone season in town, completing 74 percent of his 231 passes for a conference-leading 22 touchdowns, 2,237 yards, and five interceptions.
Some moments haven't been as pretty, as his deep passing volume has been tiny, and many of his attempts have fallen well short of receivers in stride. At least he's completing them and giving his receivers the chance to make a play, though. Kyle McCord struggled at that.
The coordinator joked that Howard had said a noon kickoff time means he'll complete 80 percent of his passes. As Dan Hope pointed out, three of Howard's noon games have brought an 80 percent completion rate.
It's funny, and while I get why Ohio State fans may be upset at their team not playing later when it would benefit their exposure, it is what it is so long as Gene Smith and Ryan Day don't care. The Buckeyes own the early window, which is nice for fans and recruits visiting.
There's also a level of causation and correlation at play here, as Ohio State generally plays bad teams earlier in the day. That has changed against Purdue and Northwestern, but the early-season games bring a lot of stat-padding.
We'll see if anything changes against Michigan.
