Noteworthy Ohio State camp news (QB battle, DT injury, etc)

[Blake Munroe]

These are some practice notes from Eleven Warriors, which I’ll include the link below. 
 

Offense:

- Two days into preseason camp, my overall view on the quarterback competition remains the same as it was going in. It’s fair to call Sayin the presumptive frontrunner, but I still believe there’s a real competition between him and Kienholz – especially after Kienholz was named an Iron Buckeye on Friday. Neither quarterback has delivered a wow moment yet in camp, but they also haven’t made many glaring mistakes.

As was the case on Thursday, there wasn’t a runaway winner of the day between the two quarterbacks. Sayin had the more efficient day on Friday, showing composure in the pocket and making smart decisions with the ball, but the vast majority of his throws in Friday’s practice were short throws. Kienholz operated with a similar script and had a few misfires, including one near-interception for which he had to run a lap around the field
 

- James Peoples and CJ Donaldson were the first running backs in the order for their respective squads and continue to look the part of OSU’s top two running backs this season.

 

Defense:

- Eddrick Houston did not participate in drills but was present for Friday’s practice, walking around the field in a knee brace with a slight limp after leaving Thursday’s practice due to injury.

- With Houston out, Will Smith Jr. and Tywone Malone lined up at defensive tackle with the starters during many of the “teach” periods where the full defense was together on Friday. Kayden McDonald and Jason Moore also repped with the starters on their respective split squads on Friday. 

- As he did on Thursday, star safety Caleb Downs continued to line up in multiple positions on Ohio State’s defense. On some series, Downs lined up at nickelback with Jaylen McClain and Leroy Roker III manning the safety spots (Malik Hartford and Faheem Delane were the top safeties on the other field during team drills). On other series, Downs moved back to free safety alongside McClain with Lorenzo Styles Jr. manning the nickel spot.

[Blake Munroe]

There’s a lot more in depth notes on the actual story. Here’s a link to the article, which is free:

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2025/08/157072/ohio-state-practice-observations-turbo-rogers-flashing-in-first-two-practices-no-big-move-in-quarterback-battle-yet

[Blake Munroe]

And here is a link to their day one notes:

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2025/07/157053/ohio-state-practice-observations-beau-atkinson-and-epi-sitanilei-stand-out-on-first-day-of-camp-caleb-downs-lines?amp