February 11, 2025

Ohio State adjusts schedule for late kickoffs

COLUMBUS — As great as night games look on television, long road trips for evening kickoffs aren’t especially great for maintaining a routine. Ohio State needed overtime to beat Wisconsin last week in a game that finished just before midnight, Toledo time. The Buckeyes left Madison, Wis., immediately after the game, but did not get back to Columbus until 5 a.m. The Buckeyes will do the same dance this week with a trip to Penn State, another 8 p.m. kickoff and another early-morning arrival back home. In an attempt to keep the Buckeyes fresh without losing too much of an edge, coach Urban Meyer and his staff lightened OSU’s workload during practice this week. “We changed our whole schedule,” Meyer said. Sunday, normally a work day for the Buckeyes, was instead an off day. For the Buckeyes’ core starters — quarterback J.T. Barrett, linebacker Raekwon McMillan, and the like — Meyer planned to have them practice for only 15 minutes with strength coach Mickey Marotti. Meyer said he’s wary of fatigue as OSU undertakes another intense road environment. “We gave them Sunday off and [Monday] they’re coming in — we’re going to have a team meeting, evaluate, get rid of…

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