Ohio State camp diary: What I saw on Day 3

The Buckeyes wrapped up the third of their three open practices on Saturday

Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith takes the field for practice No. 3.

COLUMBUS — Ohio State held the third of its three open practices to start 2025 fall camp on Saturday. Here’s a rundown of everything I saw.

8:55 a.m.: Safety Caleb Downs stops at the garage doors of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center as he’s exiting the indoor facility heading for the outdoor fields, and yells loud enough for everyone within 30 yards to hear, “Lincolnnnn Kienholzzz,” as the third-year Buckeye quarterback runs onto the field with some teammates.

It’s Downs’ way of giving one of the team’s potential starting quarterbacks a fun ribbing by drawing all the attention to him … as if people weren’t already watching.

Kienholz flashes a smile, then drops to his knee for a quick pre-practice prayer. He’s in full pads, an indication that things are ramping up today. Ohio State doesn’t end up going full tackle in any of the periods, but today will at least be more physical than the first two practices.

9:07 a.m.: For the third-straight practice, the first period is a formation period. The quarterbacks are flipped back to where they were on Day 1 with their split quads, meaning Kienholz is with Jeremiah Smith, Brandon Inniss, Max Klare, and three out of five presumed starting offensive linemen.

One of those linemen, center Carson Hinzman, has the snap count wrong on one rep, fires the ball too early, and has to take a lap. Walk-on Isaiah Kema takes Hinzman’s place as the veteran makes his way around one of the grass fields.