Ohio State football’s national title defense started when the Buckeyes kicked off spring practice on March 17. Saturday, spring ball wraps up with the only time the Buckeyes will suit up in front of fans at Ohio Stadium before playing Texas on Aug. 30.
The annual spring game, however, was almost shelved this year.
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With the expanded playoff, Ohio State’s championship win against Notre Dame fell on Jan. 20, much later than usual. Coach Ryan Day considered ending an abbreviated spring schedule with a “showcase” event instead of the usual scrimmage to spare his players even more wear and tear.
In the end, he decided the experience, especially for Ohio State’s younger players, was worth it. Fans also called for a simulated game.
So here we are.
The announced crowd was 40,136 fans at Ohio Stadium.
Lincoln Kienholz was 12-18 for 158 yards and 2 TD. Julian Sayin was 17-24 for 175 and 1 TD. Tavien St. Clair’s totals were 11 for 15 passing and 116 yards.
The OSU offense came away with a 50-31 victory in the 2025 spring game. Tavien St. Clair connected with freshman wide receiver Phillip Bell on the last play of the scrimmage. That came after Ohio State moved to practice some red zone plays. Nate Roberts, on a standout day for OSU’s tight ends, caught a nice pass during that situational work.
Logan George had two sacks during the final series for the Buckeyes’ defense.
Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding looks healthy. His most recent kick was good from around 44 yards. Ohio State’s offense had a 44-24 edge with the fourth quarter winding down.
Ohio State running back Sam Williams-Dixon drifted out wide and Lincon Kienholz found him for a short touchdown that puts the Buckeyes’ offense up 41-22. It’s Kienholz’s second touchdown of the game.
Ohio State men’s basketball coach Jake Diebler is at Ohio Stadium with Buckeye transfers Gabe Cupps, Brandon Noel and Christoph Tilly. Our Adam Jardy reports “Kennard Davis will arrive this evening for his visit.” Davis is a small forward/guard from Southern Illinois who averaged 16.3 points per game last season.
As the third quarter winds down, Jayden Fielding has extended the OSU offense’s lead to 34-22 on the strength of a 43-yard field goal.
Mylan Graham made a nice inside cut to catch a pass from Lincoln Kienholz and extend the offense’s lead to 31-12 on the resulting 51-yard receiving touchdown.
On BTN, coach Ryan Day singled out Julian Sayin’s first-half performance. “A couple nice drives there,” he said on the television broadcast. Sayin has the OSU offense out in front 24-12.
Meanwhile, on the radio halftime show, Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork is discussing the Michigan rivalry: “That one game? We’ll figure that out.” He praised the stability of OSU’s program outside of that.
Not much ultimately came of it, but the matchup between cornerback Aaron Scott Jr. and wide receiver Quincy Porter got briefly chippy, as the Buckeyes pushed each other after a play.
Lincoln Kienholz’s latest drive ended with a Jayden Fielding field goal. Fielding, who recently revealed he played much of last season with a hip injury, was good from 34 yards to make it 24-10 in favor of the Ohio State offense.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day said that Tavien St. Clair is behind Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz in the quarterback battle, and on his first spring game snap, we saw why. St. Clair threw a pick to safety Faheem Delane.
All three times that the OSU offense has found the end zone, the Buckeyes offense has been led by Julian Sayin. The Alabama transfer handed the ball to Bo Jackson for a rushing touchdown on the score that put the offense up 21-5 on the defense.
- Julian Sayin: 9 for 11, 100 yds, 1 TD
- Lincoln Kienholz: 4 for 7, 24 yds
Totals are unofficial as Ohio State is not keeping live stats today.
Ohio State has awarded championship rings to the players who were part of the 2024 College Football Playoff Championship. The NFL-bound players were able to model their jewelry, which was also shown on the scoreboard and shared on social media.
Ohio State’s Max Klare, whom BTN analyst Jake Butt called a potential John Mackey Award (best college tight end) award winner, ran a seam route, and Julian Sayin found him for a touchdown.
Julian Sayin led the Buckeye offense down the field but missed a wide-open Mylan Graham in the end zone. A play later, running back CJ Donaldson scored today’s first touchdown on a short run.
Before today’s scrimmage, the Buckeyes held a moment of silence in recognition of former Ohio State players Larry Molls, Jim Karsatos, Donovan Munger and Ben Christman, who have all passed since the 2024 spring game.
Ohio State sent signal caller Julian Sayin out after the Buckeye offense’s first series ended with a three-and-out.
When Ohio State’s offense took the field, Lincoln Kienholz was the first quarterback behind center. Bryson Rodgers caught a pass at the line of scrimmage on the opening play of Saturday’s scrimmage.
On the BTN broadcast, analyst (and former Michigan tight end) Jake Butt said that despite potentially having 15 drafted from their national championship team, Ohio State could have a great 2025 season.
“Even just beyond defending, they have a chance to be a dynasty,” he said. “That’s how talented the roster is. That’s how well they’ve recruited. … Ultimately, the ceiling of this team will be decided by the quarterbacks.”
There are five scholarship players who are not in uniform warming up for the spring game: running back Isaiah West; defensive end Josh Mickens; linebacker Garrett Stover; safety DeShawn Stewart’ and as previously mentioned, tight end Will Kacmarek.
As stated below, Kacmarek has a protective boot on his left foot, He is also using a scooter to move around as he was during yesterday’s practice. The rest of the players who are out of uniform don’t look as limited.
— Joey Kaufman
Ohio State tight end Will Kacmarek has not been practicing with the Buckeyes due to an injury.
Kacmarek wore a protective boot on his left foot and used a scooter to move around during practice on Friday morning at Ohio Stadium.
He also did not participate in a scrimmage last Saturday.
The nature of the injury was not clear. Buckeyes coach Ryan Day did not address Kacmarek’s status during a news conference on Monday. He had been a participant when spring practice opened last month.
Kacmarek is the Buckeyes’ top returning tight end. Held in high regard by the staff for his blocking, he also caught eight passes for 86 yards in 12 games last season after transferring from Ohio. He missed four games due to an upper-body injury.
Max Klare, a transfer from Purdue, and Jelani Thurman, a returning redshirt sophomore, were the tight ends seeing reps with the first-stringers in place of Kacmarek during Friday’s practice.
— Joey Kaufman
Ohio State will use “thud” tackling, in which players wrap up opponents but don’t bring them to the ground, for the first few series. They will go full contact once the starters are out of the game.
The Ohio State offense beat the OSU defense in the 2024 spring game, helped by touchdown runs by Sam Williams-Dixon, James Peoples and TC Caffey. Devin Brown threw a touchdown pass in the scrimmage, which was played under similar timing and scoring rules as 2025.
For those who have yet to buy national championship gear, Ohio State’s team shop will open at 10 a.m., which is also when gates will open at the stadium. Ohio State’s players will walk over from the corner of Woody Hayes Drive and Archie Griffin Way, through Remembrance Park and into Ohio Stadium, starting at 10:30 a.m.
Not everything is going up in price! Spring game tickets start at $8, which is $2 cheaper than last year. Children under 6 are admitted free in the general admission seating areas. Children under 2 are admitted free in the reserved seating areas but must sit on an adult’s lap. And current Ohio State students can get in for free with valid Buck ID.
You’ll want to get to the campus area early, because parking is free. It drew just over 80,000 fans last year, making up the largest crowd since 2017.
Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster. Gates open at 10 a.m. The Buckeyes’ usual bag policy applies Saturday.
The first three quarters will run 12-15 minutes. Regular rules regarding clock stoppages will be in effect. The fourth quarter will be 10 minutes with a running clock. Halftime will last 10 minutes during which the Ohio State athletic band will perform.
Scoring for the 2025 Ohio State spring game will be the same as years past.
The Ohio State offense (in scarlet) will face the OSU defense (in gray) on Saturday. Offensive scoring will be traditional: touchdowns, extra points and field goals.
Here’s how defensive scoring will work:
- Touchdown: 6 points (before extra point)
- Turnover: 3 points
- Three-and-out: 3 points
- Sack: 2 points
- Forced punt: 1 point
Kickoff: 12 p.m., April 12; Ohio Stadium
The Ohio State spring game can be watched on BTN.
Guy Haberman, Yogi Roth and Jake Butt will handle play-by-play from the press box. Tyvis Powell will provide sideline analysis.
The game will air on the Ohio State Sports Radio Network on WBNS-FM/AM (97.1/1460).
Here’s who will be on the call:
- Paul Keels (play-by-play)
- Jim Lachey (commentary)
Anthony Rothman, Tim May, and Dave Biddle are hosting a pregame “Tailgate Show” from 10 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. that will broadcast on 97.1 The Fan and on The Fan’s YouTube Channel.
- Aug. 30: Ohio State vs. Texas; Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
- Sept. 6: Ohio State vs. Grambling; Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
- Sept. 13: Ohio State vs. Ohio; Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
- Sept. 27: Ohio State at Washington; Husky Stadium, Seattle, Washington
- Oct. 4: Ohio State vs. Minnesota; Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
- Oct. 11: Ohio State at Illinois; Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois
- Oct. 18: Ohio State at Wisconsin; Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wisconsin
- Nov. 1: Ohio State vs. Penn State; Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
- Nov. 8: Ohio State at Purdue; Ross-Ade Stadium; West Lafayette, Indiana
- Nov. 15: Ohio State vs. UCLA; Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, California
- Nov. 22: Ohio State vs. Rutgers; Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
- Nov. 30: Ohio State at Michigan; Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
