Why Ohio State football might struggle with Oregon

The Ohio State football team only has one hard non-conference game. Here’s why they could struggle in that game.

The Ohio State football team will actually get to face Oregon this year after the pandemic canceled their matchup last season. Oregon will travel to the Shoe and will face the Buckeyes in the second week of the season. They will arguably end up being the Buckeyes’ toughest game.

Oregon is no slouch either. They are the defending Pac-12 champions and still have plenty of weapons returning for this year’s team. Even though Oregon will also be introducing a new quarterback this season, they return their top two running backs and their top receiver.

On defense is where Oregon brings a lot of impact players back. They bring back two of their top three cornerbacks, most of their defensive line, and their best linebacker. They are not the kind of defense that you want a new quarterback to face right out of the shoot.

Ohio State will have the opener against Minnesota to help get the quarterback comfortable before they face off against the Ducks. That game will be critical to get whoever the QB is in a rhythm before the hardest game of the season.

While the Buckeyes will have plenty of offensive help for that QB. Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson are going to need to get open against these tough Oregon defensive backs. The running game will need to be on point as well. Master Teague needs to be good.

The secondary is the biggest question mark of this game. Oregon will have a new QB, possibly Anthony Brown, or four-star freshman Jay Butterfield. Brown didn’t show a whole lot of ability throwing down the field last season. Butterfield did in high school though.

If their QB is able to air it out on the Buckeyes’ secondary, it’s going to be a long day. That’s why this game could be some trouble for the Ohio State football team. They have to come prepared right out of the gate if they don’t want to have an early-season upset.