Ohio State football: Predicting the Buckeyes’ 2021 record

With the basketball season ending in disappointing fashion for the Buckeyes, it is time to look ahead to the Ohio State football season.

While times and TV channels are still up in the air for the games, we already know who the Buckeyes will be playing and what weeks they will play them.

They will be starting off the regular season with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. This is a game that could catch a very young Buckeyes team off guard. If the Golden Gophers come out with an early lead, it will be key for players and fans not to panic. This game may be tougher than it appears on paper, however, Ohio State will come out with a win.

The second game of the year could be the Ohio State football team’s toughest game they play all season. That matchup being against the Oregon Ducks. Luckily for the Buckeyes, this game will be played at the Horseshoe and hopefully fans will be able to pack the stadium.

In Athlon Sports’ “Way-Too-Early top 25 poll”, they have the Ducks ranked at 12th. With this being the section of the year where Ohio State usually is playing their warmup games, this could be another game that catches the Buckeyes off guard.

However, there will be a lot of hype for this matchup going into the game, and Ohio State typically shows up when the bright lights come on. I predict that this will be a very close game, however, the Buckeyes will use their home-field advantage and take care of business.

Week 3’s matchup is against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. There is not too much to say about this one. It should be a game where Ohio State can take their foot off of the brakes after two tough weeks and coast to a 30+ point victory.

Week four, the Buckeyes face off against the Akron Zips. This is another game where Ohio State should win by a substantial amount.

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In week 5, the Buckeyes are scheduled to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The Ohio State football team has never lost a game to Rutgers in the program’s history and that will not change this year. Ohio State will improve to a 5-0 record.

Week 6, Ohio State will play the Maryland Terrapins. This game was supposed to happen last season, however, due to COVID, it was canceled. Ohio State’s defense will be put to the test against Taulia Tagovailoa. It will not be anything that the defense cannot handle and they will improve to 6-0.

The Buckeyes have a bye week in week seven, then face off against the Indiana Hoosiers in week eight. The game against Indiana last season was the closest the Buckeyes came to losing a regular-season game.

They are lead by a fiery and charismatic coach that it is clear his players are willing to do anything for. This causes him to land very quality recruits and get them to play to the best of their abilities. This may be one of the best teams that the Buckeyes face during the regular season and may be a trap game for them. However, with the team having a bye week right before this matchup they should be able to take care of business and improve to 7-0.

Next, they play the Penn State Nittany Lions. For some reason, they are a team that always seems to give Ohio State a good game. However, they will be playing in the Horseshoe. When pairing this with the difference in talent in their rosters, Ohio State will win this game but do not be surprised if it ends up being a close game.

The week 10 matchup is against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Unless this ends up being a very special season for the Corn Huskers, they should be light work for the Buckeyes who will improve to 9-0.

The Purdue Boilermakers are on the schedule for week 11. The Boilermakers ended an undefeated run against Ohio State in 2018. The Buckeyes were ranked second in the nation at the time and if they are still undefeated at this point of the season, it is likely that they will be around the same ranking at this point of the season. However, they will not catch Ohio State off guard this year and the Buckeyes will take care of the Boilermakers. Improving their record to 10-0.

The following week, the Michigan State Spartans is slated to play the Buckeyes. The Spartans are arguably the worst they have been in decades in terms of their football program. Ohio State should make light work of them and improve to 11-0 going into rivalry week.

The final week of the season, Ohio State will of course be playing that team up North. With them backing out of the game due to COVID, they avoided a defeat at the hands of the Buckeyes for the first time since 2011. The Buckeyes will make up for lost time and further establish themselves as the true owners of their rivals and close the gap a little more in the all-time series.

I predict that the Buckeyes will finish the regular season undefeated. Although they are a young team, they are extremely talented. As long as they learn how to play together quickly and mesh well there is no reason why they should not finish the regular season undefeated once again.

A few games to watch out for and that could go wrong for the Buckeyes if they are not careful are the games against Minnesota, Oregon, Indiana, and Penn State.

Head coach Ryan Day has proven that he will not let his team fall victim to a trap game. As a result of this, games against lower-tier Big Ten teams should not be too big of a concern for Buckeye fans this season.