Ohio State football: Does OSU have a trap game in 2021?

The Ohio State football team will be favored in every game they play this season. It will be interesting to see if there is a team that can knock them off.

There are terms in the sports lexicon which have become overused. G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All-Time) is certainly one of them. Each time a nice play is made, you can bet someone is on social media screaming so-and-so is the G.O.A.T. in a certain sport.

Then there is the usual “It’s gut-check time”, or “He came to play.” Of course, we can’t leave out the classic “Take it one game at a time.” There are a ton of overused sports phrases and you can add one more to the list. Trap game. You hear it constantly. Fans and media will have you believe good teams have one almost every week. Well, when you look closely at schedules, you’ll find these teams have one or MAYBE two each season.

Before examining Ohio State’s schedule, we need to define trap game. Match-ups with known good teams are not trap games. We know Oregon is going to be ranked in the top-15 at least.  As a side note, I’m sure we all could do without their fans flapping and quacking about how great their team is, and what they’re going to do to the Buckeyes.

Penn State is out as well, and Indiana is not sneaking up on anyone this year. Although Michigan may not be ranked by the time the Buckeyes roll into The Big Outhouse, college football’s biggest rivalry is not a trap game.

With a few exceptions, trap games are usually played on the road. So, that eliminates Tulsa, Akron, Maryland, Purdue, and Michigan State. That leaves us with Minnesota, Rutgers, and Nebraska. Let’s look at each.

Some may be wondering why I don’t include Minnesota among the known good teams. They got a bowl win over Auburn and went 11-2 in 2019, but slipped last year to 3-4. I’ll give them a bit of a pass because not every team handled the season being pushed back very well.

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Production slipped under a new offensive coordinator, but I expect them to be better now that quarterback Tanner Morgan is in his second year with him. They feel they are very deep and talented on the defensive line, but their back seven struggled last year.

The game is on a Thursday night on national television, and Golden Gopher head coach P.J. Fleck is going to have his team whipped into a frenzy, but I do not consider this a trap game. It’s the opening game of the season and the Buckeyes won’t be flat. It’s not going to be easy for the Buckeyes, but not a trap game.

Rutgers went 3-6 last year, but three of their losses came by 3, 6 (in triple OT), and 7 points. Their head coach, former Ohio State assistant Greg Schiano, is certainly changing the culture of the Scarlet Knights. They have just one problem leading up to their early October meeting with the Buckeyes.

They play Michigan the week before, while the Ohio State football team has Akron. Schiano will have his team very well prepared and throw countless wrinkles at the Buckeyes. However, this is not a trap game. Schiano will have no trouble getting his team up to play Michigan, a team they lost to in three overtimes last year. But, I have my doubts they’ll be able to bring that kind of intensity two weeks in a row.

That brings us to Nebraska. I’m sure the eyes of Husker fans are lighting up when they look at Ohio State’s schedule and see their beloved team is getting them after the Buckeyes have consecutive games with Indiana and Penn State.

Playing those two teams and then coming back against Nebraska on the road will not be easy for the Buckeyes. Head coach Scott Frost returns a third-year starting quarterback in Adrian Martinez and an experienced defense. Frost has recruited as well or better than any team in the Big Ten West over the past few seasons.

There is only one problem for the Huskers. Things have never quite come together for this program since Frost was hired. They lost many players to the transfer portal last year and, for the second year in a row, lost their leading receiver (Wan’Dale Robinson) to the portal.

Martinez was thought to be a star in the making when he was a true freshman but has never shown that much improvement. The final scores of games recent games in the series speak to the talent gap between the two programs. Other than a narrow five-point loss in 2018, the Huskers have had their doors blown off by the Buckeyes.

Despite all of that, this could be the true trap game on Ohio State’s schedule. If the Buckeyes were playing Indiana OR Penn State, I’d say this is not a trap game because there is a chasm between the Huskers and OSU. But, they play both of these teams on consecutive weekends. If the Buckeyes come out flat and let Nebraska hang around well into the second half, the talent gap won’t matter, and things could get sticky.

In my opinion, the Ohio State football team has one trap game on their 2021 schedule. To be honest, I don’t think it is that big of a trap, because there’s something missing in Nebraska’s program right now. Ryan Day has shown an ability to guide his team through possible traps. He should be able to do it again this year.