We are here folks. Ever since the schedule was released for the 2024 season on November 2nd, 2023, weeks before a national champion was stolen* with the addition of the new Big Ten teams from the west coast, October 12th, 2024 saw the two “O” logo teams at Eugene, OR on the grid. This one has been circled, stamped, and salivated over for months, and we can finally sit back, relax, and prepare for a day of college football that will also include the Red River Rivalry and Penn State at USC, with this nightcap being the game of the week.
In the overall series, the Buckeyes have won this game 9 times, while the Ducks won the most recent matchup in Columbus in 2021 for their only series win. In that game, Ryan Day had future rookie of the year quarterback CJ Stroud starting his second game ever, and a defense who just had no idea how to stop runs on the left side of the field. Dan Lanning was in future national champion Georgia as the defensive coordinator, and probably was not even thinking about flying across country for a head coaching job. This will also be the 4th time these two teams will have played since the 2010 Rose Bowl game, where Chip Kelly was the head coach, and Jim Tressel was coaching his last game.
The one that everyone remembers though is the 2015 game for the National Championship in the first ever playoff. Heisman winner Marcus Mariotta is probably still having nightmare about getting chased by Joey Bosa, and Ezekiel Elliott decided to just stay in Dallas to score more touchdowns in AT&T stadium.
This game will be the biggest game ever for the Ducks in terms of hosting, and you can bet that no one will be sitting in the 50,000 seat stadium when the ball is kicked of at 7:30pm, 4:30pm local time. ESPN’s College Game Day will be on site for their morning show, and picked this as their game of the week. The question is though, will Corso put on the Duck head or Brutus?
In the first year of the 12-team playoff, one might think this game wont matter in the scheme of the season, as both teams should be in position to make the playoff, but this game has a lot at stake. Both teams are tied on top of the Big Ten rankings with Indiana (everyone had that on their bingo card too right?) and the winner not only stays undefeated, but has that extra game ahead when it comes to the Big Ten Championship game, which will put the two top teams against each other after getting rid of divisions. There is a chance for this the be the first of 2, potentially 3 games this season depending if they meet again in Indianapolis and then again in the playoff, but this is the only game that matters right now. This is the only game that is guaranteed, and the winner controls their destiny.
Know The Opponent:
Head Coach: Dan Lanning (3rd season)
2024 Record: 5-0
Conference: Big Ten
Location: Eugene, OR
Photo Credit: The New York Times
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗩𝗼𝗹. 𝟲 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻 🍿🔥🎥 pic.twitter.com/rKqAq4Ihx1
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) October 10, 2024
Ohio State Preview
The Buckeyes finally play their first ranked team of the season against its biggest competitor at the moment for the Big Ten championship game. At the moment, they will play the 3rd, 4th, 18th, and 24th ranked teams in the country with Oregon, Penn State, Indiana, and Michigan respectively. Nebraska is also receiving votes at the moment, and has a chance to be ranked when the play the Buckeyes on October 26th.
For Ohio State, the first 5 games of the season has been like a staircase in regards to the increase of challenge level for one of the top title contenders. They took care of instate opponent Akron in week 1, 52-6, and then shutout Western Michigan 56-0 before having their first bye week of the season. They then beat Marshall 49-14, giving up the most points against an opponent so far this season, and then took care of business against conference opponents Michigan State and Iowa 38-7 and 35-7.
Now all focus is on Oregon, and the video board inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center has “Beat O” displaying as the only focus this week.
You can tell though that this game has been on the mind of the players and coaching staff without that video board message, and for Howard, this is part of the reason why he wanted to come to Ohio State.
“This is what I was looking forward to. … This is what you dream about as a kid. Being on this stage, playing in front of a ton of people.”
In Tuesday’s press conference as well, Howard was asked how he is preparing for this week, and this was his response:
“How can I work harder? How can I be the first one in, the last one out every single day? Maybe there’s something extra I can do this week,”
Ryan Day was also very complimentary of the Oregon team, especially defensive lineman Jordan Burch, who he said is “very, very good, he’s athletic, he’s strong. … They have some good guys up front, so it’s going to be a challenge for our offensive line.”
Both Day and Chip Kelly are happy with what they have seen so far but they know they have room for improvement. “It’s good improvement but it’s nowhere near where we need to be. … It’s week to week. You can look great one week and not great the next week. … We’ve got to make sure that we’re getting better every day because you’re either getting better or you’re getting worse.”
The Buckeyes are still one of the best teams statistically in the county on both sides of the ball. They are the 4th best scoring offense, 14th best rushing offense, 23rd passing offense, and 9th best total offensive team.
Defensively they are the best scoring defense, 3rd best rushing defense, 4th best passing defense, and the best total defense in the country. They have not faced an offense attack like the Ducks, and will be tested in both the passing and rushing game.
Will Howard has been solid so far this season, despite a few turnovers. He has been getting into a rhythm early in games, passing for a nearly perfect completion rate the past few games. He has passed for 1,248 yards with 12 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He also has been running more as well since the bye week, and has 24 carries for 64 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Quinshon Judkins is the lead running back with 60 carries for 468 yards and 5 touchdowns. TreVeyon Henderson has been solid as well, with 42 carries for 337 yards and 4 touchdowns. Both running backs are running for nearly 8 yards a carry, which helps put the offense in a good position on 1st downs.
Jeremiah Smith leads the team in yardage, catching 23 passes for 453 yards and 6 touchdowns. He also has a rushing touchdown, bringing his total touchdowns to 7 for the season. Emeka Egbuka is the lead pass catcher with 30 catches for 433 yards and 5 touchdowns, which he had 3 touchdown catches last week against the Hawkeyes. Carnell Tate is expected to be back this week, after being held out due to an undisclosed injury, but he has 14 catches for 2019 yards and a touchdown.
Oregon Preview
The Ducks enter this game ad the third ranked team in the country, jumping from 6th place last week thanks to the upset losses from Alabama, Ole Miss, and Tennessee. It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that the Ducks are the best team Ohio State has played this season, as the talent level and philosophies on both sides of the ball are very similar in approach.
Oregon is 5-0, with a marquee win against Boise State, who might be the Group of 5 representative in the new 12-team playoff in large part to their Heisman hopeful running back Ashton Jeanty. At the beginning of the season, the Ducks had a sluggish game against FCS opponent Idaho, winning 24-14, and then beat the Broncos 37-34, giving up 192 yards of rushing to Jeanty. The early narrative for the Ducks was if they were more of a pretender than a contender, especially since they were one of the other favorites to make the playoff.
Since those two games, Oregon flipped the switch, and have only given up 37 points the remaining three games, and beating rival Oregon State, former PAC-12 foe UCLA, and then hosted Michigan State, who is the one common opponent between these two teams. Not that margin of victory is a factor, but the Buckeyes won by 31 points on the road, while Oregon won by 21 points at home. According to Josh Pate, who spoke with those close to the Michigan State team, they stated that Oregon State might have the best defensive line.
Dan Lanning, who is in his 3rd season now as head coach, and was the defensive coordinator for Georgia when Oregon beat Ohio State in 2021, was very complimentary of the Buckeyes in his press conference.
“Big game here. We are certainly excited for this opportunity,” he said. “Getting to play a great opponent this week. (They’re) strong in all three phases. As a team, when you watch them, you really don’t see a weakness. They’re really strong across the board. This will be a great challenge for us. I know our fans will be great again this weekend. That will make that a fun atmosphere for us.”
He was acknowledged the challenge that the Buckeyes will present on offense.
“They got more than just two great wideouts. They have several great wideouts in their program. Certainly, those two are very, very special. But whether it’s (Carnell) Tate – there’s a bunch of them on their team that can go play winning football. That’s what makes this a challenge. You can’t say, ‘OK, I’m gonna focus on this one guy.’ There are other guys on the field that can beat you.”
Oregon has been good statistically nationally. On offense, they have the 32nd best scoring offense, 67th best rushing offense, 19th best passing offense, and are 25th in the country in total offense.
Defensively, they are the 21st best scoring defense, 24th best rush defense, 18th best passing defense, and are 10th overall in total defense.
Dillon Gabriel was one of the key transfers to Oregon this offseason after being sort of forced out from Oklahoma, but it could also have been him looking for a new environment. The 6th year senior has passed for 16,314 yards in his career. This season, he has passed for 1,449 yards, with 11 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, which have been in the last 2 games. He is also the third leading rusher on the team with 71 yards with 3 touchdowns on 24 carries.
Jordan James is the lead running back, running for 552 yards on 88 carries and 5 touchdowns. He is a very physical running back who is not afraid to run players over. On top of his carries, he has had 9 catches for 61 yards. Noah Whittington is the second leading rusher with 42 carries for 165 yards and 1 touchdown.
Tez Johnson is the favorite target for Gabriel, who has 43 catches for 395 yards and 5 touchdowns. Traeshon Holden is the next top receiver with 19 catches for 274 yards and 3 touchdowns. Terrance Ferguson is third, and is a safety net option at tight end for Gabriel, and has 16 catches for 259 yards.
As a side note, the Ducks announced on Twitter/X on Wednesday that they will be wearing this all-black uniform.
Disrupt the darkness.
— GoDucks (@GoDucks) October 10, 2024
Game 6 uniform combo for @OregonFootball. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/Uf3HaweJiV
Buckeye Spotlight
Emeka Egbuka. Rightly so, Jeremiah Smith has gained a lot of attention this season as a true freshman, closing in on several freshman receiving records, but his success is helped be the other wide-out who is closing in on his own Ohio State career records in Emeka Egbuka, who had a 3 touchdown game last week. The Ducks can’t focus in on just one of their receivers because they will get burned, but there is a good chance Smith will get double since he will likely be going against a 5’10” corner, which would be a matchup advantage for Smith. With Carnell Tate expected to be back, Emeka could have a monster game in prime-time.
Photo Credit: Joseph Maiorana / USA Today
Duck Spotlight
Dillon Gabriel. The transfer senior has been fairly accurate this season, passing for nearly 70% of his passes, and has number fairly similar to Will Howards so far this season. His has thrown a few turnovers in the redzone last week against the Spartans, and will need to play his best game to give the Ducks their best chance.
Photo Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images
Water Cooler Stat of the Game
2,449. In what is very likely the longest road conference game ever for trhe Buckeyes, Ohio State’s equipment truck has already began is trip to Oregon, in its own “Oregon Trail,” which will total 2,449 miles from The Shoe to Autzen. For anyone one who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, this was a fun little graphic by the Ohio State Football graphics team.
THE EQ truck is makin’ its way down the trail 🚚 pic.twitter.com/jV2DxC7e4x
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) October 8, 2024
Prediction
This is easily the game of the week, and ended uo being a top 3 match up thanks to the wild upset weekend the week before. This match up, as much as the cliche is true, will be won in the trenches. I think this will be the toughest test for the Ohio State offensive lineman, who have garded out some of the top lineman in the country, and were able to run for over 200 yards against Iowa. Oregon on the flip side has been able to keep Dillon Gabriel clean, and likes to run a physical run game, which will put a challenge against the defensive line. For the Ducks, they have the home field advantage, and this will be their biggest game ever, so there will be a high energy to start that the Buckeyes will have to have an answer for, and cannot have turnovers to give Oregon more possessions. The matchup that I think will be the difference maker though is our wide receivers should have the advantage over Oregon’s defensive backs, and can see a lot of short to middle depth passing so Howard can get himself into a rhythm. I think the Buckeyes play it close, but then end up pulling away in the 4th quarter to put this game away.