Sports
Ohio Football hosts spring game ahead of highly anticipated 2025 season
By: Andrew Bowlby
Posted on:
ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – 120 days after Ohio Football ended the first 11-win season in program history, and 131 days ahead of the 2025 season opening against Rutgers, the team hosted its annual spring practice.
It comes after a period of major change. Several players jumped into the transfer portal leading major holes to be filled before the year begins.
Head coach Brian Smith did say that Ohio could look entirely different come fall camp with another recruiting cycle and portal window opening. And the team will be hungry to recoup talent as the Bobcats defend a MAC title.
With still a few months to go before the season kicks off, here are two of the most intriguing positions to watch.
Offensive Line Overhaul
Ohio’s offensive line was a major piece of last year’s remarkable campaign. The starting five were consistent and dominant weekly. But nearly all that talent is gone, including coach Allen Rudolph who moved on to Charlotte
Parker Titsworth, who had been a fixture on the offensive line over the past four years, is the most notable loss. He along with Christophe Atkinson and Carson Heidecker both graduated and Jacob Dennison transferred to Wake Forest.
The only returner is left guard/tackle Davion Weatherspoon. Undoubtably that leads to many questions going into this year.
“They’re a work in progress right now,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of guys playing a lot of different positions. There was a lot of cross-training throughout spring to find the right spots for the right guys.”
Shuffling on the line will continue into the summer and even the fall, and it’s all being overseen by new O-line coach Tavita Thompson. Joining the Bobcats from fellow MAC school Central Michigan where Thomson was the offensive line coach for the past seven seasons.
Ohio already acquired Nick Marinaro, a transfer lineman from Dartmouth, but it’s a position where even more additions could help.
Defensive Reset In The Front 7
Three of the Bobcats’ four All-MAC defensive players from a year ago were in the front seven. Bradley Weaver (1st Team), Shay Taylor (3rd Team) and Blake Leake (3rd Team), were all critical on the MAC’s best scoring defense. But those three with other defensive lineman are now gone and leave major gaps to be filled.
It’s an opposite situation as Ohio was in last year with main changes coming on the offensive side. However, Smith has confidence the defense will be ready noting their effort levels throughout spring.
“They’re playing hard and they’re playing fast. One of the challenges with what we do on defense is there’s a lot of movement and that’s always challenging for our front,” Smith said. “I think our guys are getting a good understanding of how to move within our schemes and how hard we want them to play.”
The good news for Ohio is that there isn’t a ton of change on the back end. The defensive backs will stay relatively the same as last year. Both DJ Walker and Tank Pearson are back in the secondary, and even though Adonis Williams is nursing and injury and didn’t participate Saturday, he’ll remain with the DBs.
Smith also brought up the play of Rickey Hyatt Jr. A redshirt senior Ohio got in the portal from South Alabama, was one of the names Smith said, “was doing a really nice job”.
So, following the spring game, what’s next?
Well, Ohio will begin the summer portion of their preparation for the season. There’s still a long time before Aug. 28 when the Bobcats are in Piscataway, NJ facing Rutgers, but there’s work to be done, and there will be more change as Smith emphasized.