The Ohio State football team must do these three things to beat Oregon

The Ohio State football team has their toughest game of the season this weekend. Taking on Oregon is hard enough, but they have to fly all the way across the country in order to do so. Oregon is the third-ranked team in the country too, so it's not like this is a cakewalk.

After being able to run through the first part of their schedule easily, this is where things start to get harder for the Buckeyes. The Ducks haven't played a great game yet. They have struggled with some of their opponents, surprisingly so in some cases. They're due for a big game.

Ohio State lost to this Oregon team in the Shoe three seasons ago. There aren't that many players left on Oregon who were a part of that win. Ohio State has pletny of guys who were a part of that loss. Denzel Burke, Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimoloau, Emeka Egbuka, and TreVeyon Henderson are all guys who played in that game.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are looking for some revenge from that loss. If they want to do that, there are some things that they are going to need to do. There are three main keys for the Buckeyes to win this game. If they can execute all of them, they should keep their undefeated record intact.

First, the defense must answer the call.

1. The Ohio State football team's defense must slow Oregon's offense

Oregon is the most explosive offense the Buckeyes have faced all season. They have guys all over the field who can explode for a big gain at any time. Tez Johnson is the main one Ohio State has to slow down. Johnson has 43 catches for the Ducks. The next closest receiver has 19.

Burke is going to be the guy who is tasked with slowing him down for most of the night. The secondary in general has done a great job of slowing down the passing attack of other teams so far this year. In fact, the Buckeyes only allow 129.8 yards per game, fourth-best in the country.

The defense as a whole only allows 202 yards per game, which is the best in the nation. Points-wise, Ohio State only allows 6.8 per game, also best in the country. The defense has the goods, but now it's time for them to show it for real. Now that there is an offense that can speed the tempo up, it's going to be a challenge.

Ohio State must slow the tempo down and don't let the Ducks get rolling. Dillon Gabriel has played a lot of football and Oregon will lean on his experience to guide them. He can run the ball too, which is something that has given Ohio State some issues this year.

Keeping big plays from happening is paramount as well. This team can be explosive. Jim Knowles needs to make them go the length of the field. The second key to winning this game has to do with what the Buckeyes can do in the running game.