The Ohio State football team lost two games this year. We all know what a dumpster fire the final regular season game of the season was, but the first game they lost was a great game. They lost by one point to Oregon on the road. Will Howard almost was able to help them pull it out.
On the final drive of the game, Howard couldn't slide down fast enough to keep enough time on the clock so the Buckeyes could have enough time to kick a game-winning field goal. Even so, it was his best game of the season up to that point. He had some really strong throws.
Now, the Ohio State Buckeyes get a rematch with the Ducks in the Rose Bowl. This is a neutral-site matchup, which is part of the reason they feel confident they can win this game. There's another big reason why they think they can win this game, and it's because of something the Ducks did in that first game between these two teams.
Why the Ohio State football team feels confident they can beat Oregon this time around
In this first game, Oregon's offense carved up Ohio State's defense. What the Ducks did to the secondary of the Buckeyes actually ended up being a good thing. Because of how badly they got torched, it forced Jim Knowles to completely rebuild the defense.
Since that terrible performance against Oregon, Ohio State has had the best defense in the country. The secondary has been much better, especially Denzel Burke. He left that game in Eugene as burnt toast. Since then, he's played a lot better.
That rebuilt defense is what the Buckeyes think can help them win this game. No one has scored more than 20 points on them except the Ducks. That was the turning point in the season for the defense. If the offense does what it did against Tennessee, this could be another win for the Buckeyes.