Ohio State football: 3 biggest concerns against Minnesota

The Buckeyes need to stay focused and not get caught looking ahead

Ryan Day has done a great job in his first two years at Ohio State keeping his team focused on the present. He has not let his team lose focus against lesser opponents and because of that, he has led the Buckeyes to an undefeated regular-season record over the last two years. However, he has never had a game like Oregon on the schedule.

When the Ducks come to Columbus for the second game of the season, Ryan Day will get his first taste of a big non-conference matchup in the regular season. The battle between two teams who will likely be ranked in the top 15 has all the flair and appeal of the game of the week.

We have seen Urban Meyers teams drop games against opponents they were better than when they got caught looking ahead. It would be easy, even though this is the opener, to get excited about Oregon and forget to close things out against Minnesota. While Day has not given reason to doubt, this will be a trap game that is different than any other he has experienced.

Day has done a great job keeping his teams focused on the task at hand. With this being the season-opener, it’s not as big of a concern as it could be. But Oregon might be the best team they face all season. Minnesota doesn’t have that kind of talent. It would be only natural to look ahead.

The final concern has to deal with how a brand new quarterback deals with his first challenge.