COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State is on the road for the first time this season as it opens up Big Ten play against Michigan State.
Going on the road means a first look at the Buckeyes’ travel roster featuring 75 players from a roster with 85 scholarship players and 20 other walk-ons. While there are plenty of freshman who made the trip headlined by stating wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, but the list is also missing a player hoping to be a big part of the future.
Despite losing his black stripe earlier this week, Air Noland was the lone scholarship quarterback to be left off the travel roster. Having four quarterbacks travel is often standard which OSU has in Will Howard, Devin Brown, Lincoln Kienholz and fellow freshman Julian Sayin. Noland being left behind isn’t surprising as a player viewed as being on a different timeline as a true freshman who wasn’t really part of the equation during the quarterback battle in fall camp. His focus is on the future so instead, walk-on Chad Ray joined the four quarterbacks on the trip.
The only other notable absence from the travel roster was second-year defensive tackle Will Smith Jr.
While OSU opted to not bring both of its freshmen quarterbacks on its first road trip, there are eight other freshmen who joined Smith and Sayin on the travel roster:
| SPlayer | Position | HS Rank (Pos.) | Stars |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremiah Smith | Wide Receiver | No. 1 (No. 1) | 5-Star |
| Julian Sayin | Quarterback | No. 6 (No. 1) | 5-Star |
| Eddrick Houston | Defensive End | No. 26 (No. 1) | 5-Star |
| Mylan Graham | Wide Receiver | No. 33 (No. 7) | 5-Star |
| Aaron Scott Jr. | Cornerback | No. 36 (No. 6) | 5-Star |
| James Peoples | Running Back | No. 115 (No. 8) | 4-Star |
| Payton Pierce | Linebacker | No. 204 (No. 15) | 4-Star |
| Jaylen McClain | Safety | No. 373 (No. 36) | 4-Star |
| Sam Williams-Dixon | Running Back | No. 661 (No. 48) | 4-Star |
| Nick McLarty | Punter | N/A | N/A |
