Matt Tamanini
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You’re Nuts: Which non-Michigan game is the most dangerous for Ohio State this season?
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
Heading into the 2024 season, one of the biggest burning questions on Buckeye fans’ lips is whether Ohio State will finally be able to get the job done against Michigan. While we’ll have to wait until November for the answer, in many ways, the Buckeyes’ matchup with Oregon carries with it even more intrigue than The Game — and more danger.
The Buckeyes head west on Oct. 12 to face the Ducks at Autzen Stadium in Oregon’s first year as a Big Ten opponent, in one of the season’s marquee matchups. Many preseason projections have the Buckeyes at No. 2 and Oregon at No. 4, separated by razor-thin margins.
Head coach Ryan Day spent the offseason making use of the transfer portal, most notably shocking the college football world by nabbing five-star safety Caleb Downs (who left Alabama in the wake of Nick Saban’s retirement), along with quarterback Will Howard and running back Quinshon Judkins, among others.
Add those names to a roster full of returning players, including defensive standouts J.T. Tuimoloau, Denzel Burke, star running back TreVeyon Henderson, and powerhouse wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, and—to put it bluntly—this team is loaded.
Any concerns about depth we had going into the 2023 season seem to have been answered. We saw what Jim Knowles’ defense was capable of last season, and the Buckeyes should have the offense to match this year.
Day also had an answer for a major criticism of his coaching abilities—his offensive playcalling. Though Day’s play calling as an assistant was impeccable, when he chose to retain play calling (a responsibility traditionally delegated to the offensive coordinator) as head coach, he came up short in critical game situations, often proving unable or unwilling to make the adjustments needed to come up with victories in big games.
This season, it shouldn’t be an issue, as he’s passed that responsibility to new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly (one of Day’s mentors, and, funnily enough, the head coach at Oregon when OSU faced the Ducks in the 2010 Rose Bowl).
Collectively, the Buckeyes’ offseason moves should leave them poised for victory this season.
The Ducks, who have been making moves of their own, aren’t going to make it easy. Head coach Dan Lanning brings his team into the Big Ten with back-to-back bowl victories and his own stockpile of talent, including quarterback Dillon Gabriel (the Oklahoma transfer who will take over from Bo Nix), wide receivers Evan Stewart and Tez Johnson (whose 1,182 receiving yards in 2023 are the third-most in a single season at Oregon), and returning running back Jordan James. And Lanning too has been hard at work adding depth to his team, leaving the Ducks without any obvious gaps this year.
That’s not to say challenges couldn’t arise in the form of injuries or unexpected holes, but at the top of the season, they look just as poised for success as our boys in Columbus.
This game won’t be the Buckeyes' first test (that will likely come the week prior against Iowa), but it will be one of the Ducks’ first chances to cook. The Ducks also face down a brutal November schedule that involves not just four tough opponents consecutively but requires them to travel to the Midwest every other week, adding time changes and long trips into the mix as they face Michigan on the road, Maryland at home, Wisconsin on the road and Washington at home. In a season where the Big Ten seems to be full of powerhouse potential, the Ohio State game almost feels like a must-win for the Ducks, both to announce to the conference that they’re here to hang with the big dogs and to give themselves a little breathing room in case they drop a game in November.
When we examine the Big Ten landscape holistically this season, both Ohio State and Oregon seem like they could rise to the top, and given that they are separated by such thin margins in terms of talent, the Buckeyes will have even less room for error in this road game.
If they come out of the Iowa game worse for the wear and then have to grapple with a time change in a tough stadium, it could spell victory for the Ducks. Neither team can afford lackluster play in this game, so regardless of how it shakes out, expect to see a hard-fought battle between two teams firing on all cylinders.
Day spent the offseason putting the wheels in motion for the Buckeyes to do just that, hopefully well into the postseason, but it is the Ducks who will provide the first—and highest—hurdle for Ohio State to clear.
If this question had been phrased differently, I probably would have agreed with Jami. Had it been, “Which non-Michigan game is Ohio State moat likely to lose this season,” there really wouldn’t be any argument that Oregon was the right choice. But I don’t think that the Ducks are OSU’s most dangerous non-rivalry game. That honor, I believe, belongs to the Nittany Lions.
Yes, I know that Ohio State hasn’t lost to the Nits since 2016, and has only lost once in Happy Valey since 2005, but it is less about the opponent and more about the timing for me. With the expanded College Football Playoff, the margin for error is even wider for the Buckeyes than it ever has been before in the CFP Era, and we know they’ve gotten into the tournament with losses before.
So, if Ryan Day’s Buckeyes do go to Eugene and drop a game in Week 7, assuming it is not an all-out embarrassment, they would still have seven weeks in the regular season — plus Conference Championship Weekend — to make up for it. OSU would have remaining games against Nebraska, Penn State, and Michigan to remind the selection committee of why they deserve to be in. There would also be two full months for other teams to stumble as well, allowing the Bucks to get back in a good CFP spot.
The same is not as true for the PSU game. If the Buckeyes were to lose in State College on Nov. 2, they would only have matchups with Purdue, Northwestern, and Indiana (not exactly an impressive string of games) before the regular season-ending game against Michigan. Tough to prove you are a contender when you are playing teams that likely won’t even merit mention as pretenders.
Of course, I imagine that even a two-lose Ohio State team will still probably be in line for a CFP berth, but it would probably be in the back half of the seedings, and could even put them in a first-round road game. Obviously not the worst situation, but getting a first-round bye will be incredibly important to get guys healthy and preserve your roster.
So, to me, Oregon will be an incredibly important game, but in terms of danger, I will side with the late-season contest instead.
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Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
Today’s Question: Which non-Michigan game is the most dangerous for Ohio State this season?
Jami’s Take: Ohio State at Oregon on Oct. 12
Heading into the 2024 season, one of the biggest burning questions on Buckeye fans’ lips is whether Ohio State will finally be able to get the job done against Michigan. While we’ll have to wait until November for the answer, in many ways, the Buckeyes’ matchup with Oregon carries with it even more intrigue than The Game — and more danger.
The Buckeyes head west on Oct. 12 to face the Ducks at Autzen Stadium in Oregon’s first year as a Big Ten opponent, in one of the season’s marquee matchups. Many preseason projections have the Buckeyes at No. 2 and Oregon at No. 4, separated by razor-thin margins.
Head coach Ryan Day spent the offseason making use of the transfer portal, most notably shocking the college football world by nabbing five-star safety Caleb Downs (who left Alabama in the wake of Nick Saban’s retirement), along with quarterback Will Howard and running back Quinshon Judkins, among others.
Add those names to a roster full of returning players, including defensive standouts J.T. Tuimoloau, Denzel Burke, star running back TreVeyon Henderson, and powerhouse wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, and—to put it bluntly—this team is loaded.
Any concerns about depth we had going into the 2023 season seem to have been answered. We saw what Jim Knowles’ defense was capable of last season, and the Buckeyes should have the offense to match this year.
Day also had an answer for a major criticism of his coaching abilities—his offensive playcalling. Though Day’s play calling as an assistant was impeccable, when he chose to retain play calling (a responsibility traditionally delegated to the offensive coordinator) as head coach, he came up short in critical game situations, often proving unable or unwilling to make the adjustments needed to come up with victories in big games.
This season, it shouldn’t be an issue, as he’s passed that responsibility to new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly (one of Day’s mentors, and, funnily enough, the head coach at Oregon when OSU faced the Ducks in the 2010 Rose Bowl).
Collectively, the Buckeyes’ offseason moves should leave them poised for victory this season.
The Ducks, who have been making moves of their own, aren’t going to make it easy. Head coach Dan Lanning brings his team into the Big Ten with back-to-back bowl victories and his own stockpile of talent, including quarterback Dillon Gabriel (the Oklahoma transfer who will take over from Bo Nix), wide receivers Evan Stewart and Tez Johnson (whose 1,182 receiving yards in 2023 are the third-most in a single season at Oregon), and returning running back Jordan James. And Lanning too has been hard at work adding depth to his team, leaving the Ducks without any obvious gaps this year.
That’s not to say challenges couldn’t arise in the form of injuries or unexpected holes, but at the top of the season, they look just as poised for success as our boys in Columbus.
This game won’t be the Buckeyes' first test (that will likely come the week prior against Iowa), but it will be one of the Ducks’ first chances to cook. The Ducks also face down a brutal November schedule that involves not just four tough opponents consecutively but requires them to travel to the Midwest every other week, adding time changes and long trips into the mix as they face Michigan on the road, Maryland at home, Wisconsin on the road and Washington at home. In a season where the Big Ten seems to be full of powerhouse potential, the Ohio State game almost feels like a must-win for the Ducks, both to announce to the conference that they’re here to hang with the big dogs and to give themselves a little breathing room in case they drop a game in November.
When we examine the Big Ten landscape holistically this season, both Ohio State and Oregon seem like they could rise to the top, and given that they are separated by such thin margins in terms of talent, the Buckeyes will have even less room for error in this road game.
If they come out of the Iowa game worse for the wear and then have to grapple with a time change in a tough stadium, it could spell victory for the Ducks. Neither team can afford lackluster play in this game, so regardless of how it shakes out, expect to see a hard-fought battle between two teams firing on all cylinders.
Day spent the offseason putting the wheels in motion for the Buckeyes to do just that, hopefully well into the postseason, but it is the Ducks who will provide the first—and highest—hurdle for Ohio State to clear.
Matt’s Take: Ohio State at Penn State on Nov. 2
If this question had been phrased differently, I probably would have agreed with Jami. Had it been, “Which non-Michigan game is Ohio State moat likely to lose this season,” there really wouldn’t be any argument that Oregon was the right choice. But I don’t think that the Ducks are OSU’s most dangerous non-rivalry game. That honor, I believe, belongs to the Nittany Lions.
Yes, I know that Ohio State hasn’t lost to the Nits since 2016, and has only lost once in Happy Valey since 2005, but it is less about the opponent and more about the timing for me. With the expanded College Football Playoff, the margin for error is even wider for the Buckeyes than it ever has been before in the CFP Era, and we know they’ve gotten into the tournament with losses before.
So, if Ryan Day’s Buckeyes do go to Eugene and drop a game in Week 7, assuming it is not an all-out embarrassment, they would still have seven weeks in the regular season — plus Conference Championship Weekend — to make up for it. OSU would have remaining games against Nebraska, Penn State, and Michigan to remind the selection committee of why they deserve to be in. There would also be two full months for other teams to stumble as well, allowing the Bucks to get back in a good CFP spot.
The same is not as true for the PSU game. If the Buckeyes were to lose in State College on Nov. 2, they would only have matchups with Purdue, Northwestern, and Indiana (not exactly an impressive string of games) before the regular season-ending game against Michigan. Tough to prove you are a contender when you are playing teams that likely won’t even merit mention as pretenders.
Of course, I imagine that even a two-lose Ohio State team will still probably be in line for a CFP berth, but it would probably be in the back half of the seedings, and could even put them in a first-round road game. Obviously not the worst situation, but getting a first-round bye will be incredibly important to get guys healthy and preserve your roster.
So, to me, Oregon will be an incredibly important game, but in terms of danger, I will side with the late-season contest instead.
Let us know who you are agreeing with:
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