The last time they played it was shocking. Oregon beat the Buckeyes in Ohio Stadium in 2021. (Press Pros File Photos)
No. 2 Ohio State at No. 3 Oregon could be one of the nation’s most important games of the season; and relevant regarding the future pecking order of Big Ten football.
Columbus, OH – Ohio State didn’t agree to pay Ryan Day $9.5 million in 2024 to beat Akron, Iowa and every team in between.
Those wins are considered givens for anyone who occupies the head coach’s office.
The Minster Bank proudly sponsors your favorite sports stories on Press Pros Magazine.
And sponsors aren’t paying players millions collectively to dominate clearly lesser opponents for use of their name, image and likeness. They want the ultimate return on investment.
Win the big games.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State football and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Day didn’t insult our intelligence with coach speak at Tuesday’s weekly news conference that it’s just another game Saturday night when the No. 2 Buckeyes play No. 3 Oregon 2,500 miles from Ohio Stadium.
The Buckeyes could have drawn any of the four new West Coast teams that joined the Big Ten this year. But they got Oregon. A team that beat them at Ohio Stadium in 2021. A team they could meet again in Indianapolis in December in the Big Ten championship game.
“It’s great because you get to control your own destiny because you’re playing one of the best teams in the league,” Day said. “Every time you’re playing one of these teams, you’re fighting for opportunity to go to Indianapolis, and that’s important. And obviously the playoff scenario. So a lot at stake this weekend, which is exactly what we want.”
And it’s what Oregon wants.
“This is a great opportunity for two great teams to get to play against each other,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “That’s why you come to a place like this.”
The Hughes Law office, in Urbana, sponsors OHSAA and Buckeye sports on Press Pros. Call them today if they can help you. – Ph. 937-398-0520
No two teams are alike, but there are plenty of big-picture similarities.
Neither has played a ranked team, which means message board and social media trolls can play the they-haven’t-played-anybody card on both teams. Ohio State has looked better. Oregon has struggled much more with lesser foes, surviving Idaho 24-14 and Boise State 37-34 to open the season.
Both teams defeated Michigan State by similar scores: Ohio State 38-7 and Oregon 31-10. Both teams committed two turnovers against the Spartans.
The Buckeyes’ defense under Kerry Combs had trouble shutting down the big play when Oregon came to Columbus in September, 2021.
Both teams ran the ball well and stopped the run in both of their Big Ten wins. And both talked about the importance of those numbers after their most recent wins.
Both teams deploy offenses with enough playmakers to put extra stress on defenses. And the offense of each team is where the attention is focused.
The starting quarterbacks are yet another similarity. Ohio State’s Will Howard is a fifth-year transfer from Kansas State and has started 28 games. Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel is a sixth-year transfer from Oklahoma and combined to start 49 games at UCF and Oklahoma.
“They get the ball out quick, and Gabriel’s very accurate,” Day said. “They have really good playmakers out in space, and they make you defend the field sideline to sideline. And then they take their shot. They play very, very fast, and so you got to be on your game.”
Sound like another offense you’re used to watching?
Wilson Health proudly sponsors your favorite area sports on Press Pros Magazine.com.
More from Day on the Ducks: “Athletes all over the place. It’s the same thing we’re looking for on offense. If you have enough weapons out there, you can’t just narrow down on one thing. So they’re going to put you in space and try to spread you out. You got to win your one-on-one battles.”
Ohio State, of course, presents the same problems for Oregon’s defense. The Buckeyes run the ball well behind an improved offensive line. They will have to deal with end Jordan Burch, a 6-foot-6, 295-pounder with five sacks and seven tackles for loss.
“When you come to Ohio State you want to play on the biggest stage. It’s what you dream about.” – Will Howard
“Most guys that big are the interior defensive lineman,” OSU offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said. “He’s a really athletic guy, and he had a huge game against Michigan State. You got to know where he is on every play.”
That will be Howard’s job. And no one is more excited for this game and more like it in the future than Howard.
“When you come to a place like Ohio State, you want to play on the biggest stage – College Game Day, all the hype, two versus three matchup,” he said. “It’s what you dream about as a kid.”
Kelly didn’t necessarily dream about this matchup, but his career path has put him here. He made a name for himself as a creative offensive mind as head coach at Oregon from 2009-2012. His teams went 46-7 and played for the 2010 national championship.
Kelly knows Autzen Stadium and its reputation for being high energy despite a capacity of only 54,000. He says it’s a special place but downplayed its effect on the Buckeyes.
VPP is your one-stop spot for business graphics and design. Email sales@vppind.com today.
“It’s really not about the crowd – it’s about what do we do and how do we prepare,” Kelly said. “Everywhere you go in this league the stadiums in the Midwest are gigantic. You’re really concentrating on the opponent, and you just turn the tape on and that will have your attention.”
The Buckeyes’ chartered flight will take them directly to Eugene in four and a half hours. Day downplayed the travel effects even though Big Ten teams are 1-8 this season when traveling across at least two time zones. He doesn’t want his players thinking about it, and he doesn’t want it to be an excuse. The trip, the way Day sees it, is only a couple more hours than Nebraska.
“We’ve got a good plan and we’re going to stay on our time schedule,” he said. “And the time of the game and everything fits how we practice. So we’re not going to look too much into it and not make it a bigger deal than it is.”
The stakes of the game are all the big deal both sides need.
The Arbogast family of dealerships is proud to sponsor the Buckeyes on Press Pros. Arbogast is the official transportation source for Press Pros Magazine.com.