The Ohio State Buckeyes will face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Monday, with the national championship on the line. With each team having to complete a full regular-season schedule and win three playoff games, staying fresh has been a major topic of discussion.
The Buckeyes prepared for the potentially longer season before anyone else did, targeting a talented and accomplished running back in the portal to pair with an experienced running back already on the roster.
Ohio State OC Chip Kelly Explains How the Buckeyes Prepared their Running Game for an Extended Season
As the College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams in 2024, the idea of a potential 16 or 17-game season became a reality.
Both the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish, set to face off on Monday, Jan. 20, will compete in their 16th game of the season — a feat that hasn’t been reached in college football in 130 years.
The long season caused teams to take different measures to prepare for the season. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman stated his trust in the program’s sports performance team and the importance of being adaptable.
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Ohio State arguably did its work as soon as possible to prepare for the long season. Jan. 5, 2024, to be exact. That’s when they secured the transfer commitment of star running back Quinshon Judkins.
Judkins set the single-season record for rushing yards in his freshman season as a member of the Ole Miss Rebels, with 1,567, adding a school-record 16 rush touchdowns. He spent two seasons with the Rebels, leaving with the third-most rushing yards in school history.
He promptly entered the transfer portal following the 2024 season, reportedly due to his NIL valuation elsewhere. He was the ninth-highest-rated player in the portal and the number-one-ranked running back. Having had proven success at the SEC level, his talents were desired across the country.
He eventually chose to join the Buckeyes.
Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly spoke about adding Judkins and how it prepared them for the longer season.
“We talked about it from the beginning, what our long term was because of how long the season was going to be,” he said. “And really didn’t have any evidence at the college level because at the FBS level you’ve never played this many games because there was never a four-game playoff for you to get to the championship game.”
“So we talked about this being a long season and how do we do that. That was the reason they went out and recruited Q [Quinshon Judkins].”
The Buckeyes already had an accomplished running back on their roster heading into the 2024 season. TreVeyon Henderson had amassed over 2,700 yards in his three-year career, along with 37 career touchdowns. He was ready to fully take over the bell-cow role — before Judkins came along.
So far, it’s been a net positive for each of the running backs and the team as a whole. Splitting time in the backfield has helped each player stay fresh throughout the course of the season.
“But how do you distribute the carries between those guys?” Kelly continued, explaining the benefits of having both on the team. “They’re eerily close in yardage right now. I don’t know the exact difference between the two of them. But it’s pretty close. I know it was one yard going into the Texas game.”
“But both these guys are fresh. You’re going to need all weapons. You’re going to need all hands on deck. We knew this was going to be a battle of attrition, playing a 16-game schedule. Obviously we’ve lost a few guys in Seth and Jimmy, just like everybody else. But the core of our guys are still here, and they’re going to be fresh when we play on Monday.”
To Kelly’s point, the stats remain very similar. Judkins has turned 183 carries into 960 yards and 12 touchdowns, while Henderson has 132 carries for 967 yards and 10 touchdowns. Each has recorded significantly fewer carries this season than they previously had in a shorter schedule.
With fresh legs and a quick rotation between the two, the Fighting Irish will have their hands full with the talented Buckeye running back tandem.
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