Let’s take a preseason look at Ohio State’s first tough road test against the Oregon Ducks in Eugene, Oregon on October 12th.

The Ohio State Buckeyes head into the 2024 college football season with as high hopes as anyone in college football. Not only do they return an absurd amount of talent, they added some of the biggest transfers in the country, in addition to some star freshmen.

The new-look college football season features bigger conferences with four new teams added to the Big Ten. This means more matchups with big-name opponents like Oregon and USC. The first-ever 12-team playoff also adds some new stakes to the season, and to some makes every game mean a little less.

Either way, you want to look at it, the Buckeyes’ week seven clash with the Oregon Ducks will be Ohio State’s toughest test to date by a good margin. The Buckeyes will have just one road game before that at Michigan State, and the toughest team to that point might be the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Here is an early look at some of the players and keys to victory with over two months until the big game.

High-Powered Offenses

Ohio State’s offense has arguably two of the best running backs in the country, one of the best wide receivers, and one of the best freshmen in the country who will all be helping out the likely starting quarterback Will Howard. Even if Howard needs some help in his first tough environment with the team, the weapons around him will come to his aid.

TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins are two of the most explosive backs in all of college football and have big play abilities every time they touch the ball. Assuming they are both healthy, they will be able to stay fresh and alternate against a stingy Ducks defense.

Through the air, Emeka Egbuka is now the veteran in the room and will be a reliable target for Howard. Carnell Tate and Brandon Innis are in their second seasons and Tate will likely start the season as the wide receiver two. Freshman Jeremiah Smith may have a say in that, and by this point in the season could be the first look on a plethora of routes. Tight end Gee Scott Jr. will catch passes and help the offensive line that may have some lingering concerns against the Oregon defensive line.

As for Oregon, they landed the hottest quarterback commodity in the transfer portal, Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel. Last season Gabriel threw for 3,660 passing yards and 30 touchdowns and added 12 rushing touchdowns. Like Howard, he will have a plethora of weapons at his disposal in this high-stakes affair.

Jordan James will take over in the backfield after Bucky Irving got drafted by the Buccaneers. He had an impressive 759 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns on 7.1 yards per carry last season with the team. With the departure of Troy Franklin, Tez Johnson is expected to have another great year after 1,182 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns last season. Evan Stewart will line up alongside him after transferring from Texas A&M, where he had 514 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Terrance Ferguson will provide stability at tight end and had over 400 yards receiving to go along with six touchdowns in 2023.

Both offenses will have their moments, but a shootout may be unlikely even though both offenses could finish amongst the best in the Big Ten and country. The defenses for both teams aren’t going to be handing out scoring drives, so making the big plays and finishing drives will be as important as ever.

Strong Defenses

Ohio State’s defense returns almost everyone from last year’s unit that saw huge improvements across the board. Starting up front, the Silver Bullets have two of the best edge rushers in college football, Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau who combined for 11.5 sacks last season. Defensive tackle Tyleik Williams had 54 tackles and three sacks. He is also an elite player in his position and loves winning battles in the trenches.

Linebackers Cody Simon, C.J. Hicks, and Sonny Styles will take turns helping contain the middle of the field, with elite units in front and behind them. The secondary features studs across the board with cornerbacks Denzel Burke, Davison Igbinosun, and Jordan Hancock forming the best cornerback trio in the nation. Latham Ransom returns at strong safety after a solid 2023, and Alabama transfer Caleb Downs will make plays across the field at free safety. Downs was an All-American as a freshman last season with Nick Saban.

Lots of names stick out for the Buckeyes, but Oregon has some big names across the defensive side of the field as well. Cornerback Jabbar Muhammad had a stellar season with Washington which included two wins over the Ducks. He now joins an Oregon defense that has recently produced a handful of draft-ready secondary players. Defensive tackle Jamaree Caldwell had 27 tackles and six and a half sacks last season with Houston and will help bolster the line for Oregon. Returners for the defense from a year ago include defensive ends Jordan Burch and Matayo Uiagalelei and outside linebacker Teitum Tuioti.

Both defenses will be asked to do a lot given the stars on the offensive side of the ball. Whoever can win the turnover battle and halt drives will have the upper hand as both teams will find the end zone eventually. A lot will change once the season rolls around and both teams establish themselves in all three phases. Ohio State and Oregon will both have minimal matchups that will test them leading up to the contest, so every snap will be important to gain momentum for this game.

My early prediction has Ohio State making enough plays on offense getting a timely turnover or two, and winning the first of their three big games of the season against the Oregon Ducks 31-28.