Tag: Ohio State vs. Oregon

Five keys to Ohio State beating Oregon Saturday

We give you five keys to Ohio State beating Oregon Saturday. Give us your biggest thing to watch.

We’re just a couple of days away from a pretty significant intersectional matchup between the Oregon Ducks and Ohio State Buckeyes. Both teams showed some inconsistent play in Week 1, but both came out winners and will now enter Ohio Stadium looking to make a statement nationally.

This year’s Ohio State football team is a very young one still looking to improve week by week and become the championship-caliber team folks have become accustomed to expect on the banks of the Olentangy.

To do it though, certain things will need to have a scarlet and gray hue. As with any matchup, there are things to exploit, others to limit, and some breaks that you just can’t control.

Here are five keys to Ohio State taking down Oregon on Saturday.

NEXT … Stop the downhill running game on defense

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Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal provides injury update on game wrecking defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux

Here’s the injury update on Oregon star defensive end Kayvon Thibodeux. #GoBucks

We’ve been following the news coming out of Eugene, Oregon on the status of Ducks’ monster defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux. He got rolled up on and sprained an ankle in the first half vs. Fresno State and had to leave the game, later reappearing with a walking boot.

Just a couple of days after that, Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal declared the future NFL draft first-rounder as “day-to-day,” with hopes that he’d be ready to go this Saturday when the Ducks travel to Columbus to take on Ohio State in a top twelve matchup.

We got another update today from Cristobal and the status has not changed. Thibodeaux is still “day-to-day” according to the Oregon head man.

“We’re open and honest with injuries,” said Cristobal … “We don’t head fake anybody. We’re trying to get him ready to play. We’ll see where he’s at closer to game time.”

We’ll continue to follow this story, but this Oregon defensive line is a completely different one without him in the lineup. If he can go, how strange would it be for the best player on the field to not be wearing an Ohio State uniform in the ‘Shoe?

Cristobal did say that Thibodeaux was “improving.” “Trying to get there. We’re not there yet,” continued Cristobal.

 

I don’t know if we’ll get any further word on Thibodeaux’s until he either runs out of the tunnel on Saturday or not, but if we do, we’ll be on top of it.

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Three reasons Ohio State beats Oregon Saturday

Three reasons why Ohio State will take care of business against Oregon on Saturday. #GoBucks

The Ohio State Buckeyes will play in their first home game of 2021 on Saturday when the Oregon Ducks come to visit. The kickoff is at noon and the gameday atmosphere should be electric with a packed ‘Shoe. The Buckeyes defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers last Thursday, just nipping the spread 45-31 by taking control of the game in the second half.

Despite the struggles early in the game, freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud cleaned up his game and showed that he has the arm talent to win games for OSU. Oregon had a far less impressive week, barely squeaking out a victory over the Fresno State Bulldogs. With the spread at over three touchdowns, most expected Oregon to run away with it, but the Ducks only won 31-24. We like Ohio State’s chances to win this thing, but how exactly?

Here we go with three reasons the Buckeyes will have success going Duck hunting this weekend.

Ohio State vs. Oregon football preview and prediction

Oregon comes to Columbus to take on the Buckeyes. See how we think it will all go down.

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It’s week two of college football and Ohio State has the marquee matchup as they take on the Oregon Ducks this Saturday. Both teams came away with wins this past week to set up what could be a top-ten showdown. Currently, Ohio State sits at No. 4 and the Ducks are just outside the top-ten rankings.

Both teams struggled to an extent this past week, although the Buckeyes were playing a much tougher opponent and seemed to get things figured out by the second half against Minnesota. Oregon on the other hand had to hang on to the very end against Fresno State.

Either way, the Ducks and the Bucks know the importance of a non-conference game of such high stakes. Not only for conference bragging rights but more importantly, the inside track to a potential College Football Playoff birth.

NEXT … Records and broadcast information

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Oregon star defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux injured, status unclear for game against Ohio State

This is an interesting development for next week’s game against Oregon.

The matchup between Ohio State and Oregon in the ‘Shoe next weekend is going to be the marquis college football game of the week. The Ducks might be less than 100 percent though because of an injury to its biggest star in Week 1 against Fresno State.

Potential first-round defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux suffered an injury in the first quarter after being rolled up on from behind and had to leave the game. He returned later, but was later removed permanently and was seen in street clothes and a walking boot on the sidelines a little later in the game.

The extent of the injury is unknown, but it’s not generally a good sign to have a player placed in hardware on the sideline. After the game, Ducks’ head coach Mario Cristobal said he doesn’t expect the injury to be a long-term thing. X-rays were also reportedly negative, so that’s good news for the Oregon program.

Thibodeaux is widely known as the best defensive end in the country and could present a huge challenge for the Ohio State offensive line. However, an absent or less than 100 percent Thibodeaux would significantly hurt Oregon’s chances of coming to Columbus and springing the upset.

We’ll keep an eye on what comes out of the Pacific Northwest in regards to how Thibodeaux is doing. However, don’t expect much. It’ll likely be a game-time decision with a ton of gamesmanship thrown in for good measure.

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ESPN Game Day hosts already disrespecting Ohio State

Rece Davis and Desmond Howard believe Ohio State falls in an early-season matchup with Oregon.

Ohio State football kicks off this Thursday evening when they travel to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers. As college football begins a new season, ESPN’s College Gameday made its season debut on Saturday morning, and let’s just say a couple of the guys are already throwing shade the Buckeye’s way.

As the guys were discussing some of the big games that will be happening this season, the topic of Oregon visiting Ohio State came up. Rece Davis decided to lay it on the table and start the OSU disrespect before a down has even been played in 2021. Take a look at the adamant stance Davis took on the week two matchup.

“I’m not assuming Oregon loses in Columbus. Oregon is going to win in Columbus.” Davis said followed by a fist bump from Desmond Howard.

Check out the interaction below.

Howard seemed to agree with Davis’ take saying “Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. I’m with you.” ESPN’s matchup predictor doesn’t agree with Davis and Howard only giving Oregon a 14 percent chance to win when they face each other on September 11.

The Buckeyes need to take care of business on Thursday first, but you can bet they’ll be ready for a fight when the Ducks come to town. Ohio State should be a heavy favorite in the game, but Mario Cristobal has built Oregon into a contender and will be looking to make a statement early in the season.

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Oregon Athletic Director Rob Mullens still has goal of playing Ohio State game

While speaking to reporters on Friday, Oregon AD Rob Mullens remained hopeful that the game with Ohio State would still be played.

Last week, Oregon Governor Kate Brown issued an order that all large gatherings be either canceled or significantly modified through the month of Septemeber. That seemed to put a damper on the prospects of playing the contest between Ohio State and Oregon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene on September 12. Z

That was just a week after the University of Oregon issued plans to hold face-to-face classes in the fall. Much like a lot of information coming out across the country on plans to reopen, there are conflicting ideas and policies built on a patchwork of how things are being handled.

And now, we have some more news coming out of Oregon, this time from athletic director Rob Mullens. On Friday, he told reporters that the goal is still to play all twelve of Oregon’s college football games this fall. That would, of course, include the game against Ohio State according to the Oregonian’s James Crepea.

It’s not all good news though. Despite that goal, Mullens also believes that the “force majeur” clause in the contract would allow the Ducks to back out of any non-conference game without penalty. Oregon’s three opponents out of conference include not only Ohio State, but North Dakota State, and Hawaii.

Mullens said he has not contacted either Hawaii or North Dakota State, but that he has been in conversations with the folks at Ohio State. When asked about the thought of flipping the home-and-home years to where Oregon would come to OSU this season, Mullens said that has not been discussed.

While all of this might be encouraging news, we continue to caution everyone that there’s still a lot to be determined with all of this. The fact that Oregon has an out with the contract because of the orders put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic is concerning. However, with both parties seemingly trying their best to work things out and make this game happen is indeed encouraging.

As always, we’ll just have to see how this country continues to bounce back from the novel coronavirus and how states and government authorities continue to deal with the phases of reopenings.

Oregon would stand to lose more if game against Ohio State can’t be played

If Ohio State can’t travel to Oregon, the Ducks would lose their best non-conference opponent and have to rely on a weak Pac-12 resume.

As it stands, Ohio State will travel to Oregon for what will be the Ducks second game of the season.

The game will already be drastically different because the governor of Oregon has issued an order through September limiting the crowd size and potential seating capacity due to the novel coronavirus. It’s sad, but as it stands, the game will go on. In other words, stay tuned.

It would be a big loss to the college football season if the two don’t match up, but it would be a bigger blow t the Ducks. If Ohio State can’t travel to Oregon, it would lose its best non-conference opponent and be forced to rely on a weak Pac-12 resume to get into the College Football Playoff.

Since the inception of the and one done … er — “College Football Playoff” in 2014, the Pac-12 has been represented just twice. The first year, Oregon made it as the second seed and got bounced by the Buckeyes in the title game. Two years later, Washington made the cut but got smoked by Alabama. Since then, no Pac-12 team has cracked the final four.

Oregon, given the weakening of the Pac-12 over the last few seasons, needs to either enter the final game of the season undefeated with a conference championship or with just one loss being to a top two or three ranked Ohio State squad.

The Buckeyes are a strong opponent, and there’s no denying they’ll be one of the best this coming season. Beating them would almost clinch the Ducks a top-25 spot in the final polling as long as it didn’t become a wounded bunch the rest of the season.

Oregon has a good roster, but it may need to bolster its resume. What’s in store for week two does that, but without the OSU matchup, it could lose its most important game of the season in the College Football Playoff Committee’s eyes. Again, as long as the Buckeyes have the type of season we all expect.

For Ohio State, the game is less of a concern if it gets blotted off the schedule because of COVID-19 measures. It might not even crack the top three games on the schedule.

At home against Michigan, away at Penn State and then potentially against Michigan State or a Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game might be seen as a bigger challenge. While losing to Oregon would be detrimental to the team’s playoff chances, it’d be far from over.

Ohio State doesn’t need to play Oregon to have some cushion. Oregon won’t have that cushion due to their poor schedule elsewhere.

But, as a college football fan, here’s to hoping this game happens.

Ohio State vs. Oregon matchup will need to be “significantly modified or canceled” per Oregon Governor

The Oregon Governor broke some disappointing news about college football in the state, a place Ohio State will travel to this fall.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cast a shadow over sports. We now know that because of the virus, Ohio State’s matchup with the Oregon Ducks will not be a sell-out, at the very least.

In fact, it may not even have fans.

It’s brutal news as the Ducks, an up-and-coming college football program, were expected to potentially provide a very stiff challenge against a dominant Ohio State squad.

While that’s still possible (although unlikely), it doesn’t seem like it’ll quite be the same as either reduced fans will take part or no fans at all according to what came out of the state of Oregon Thursday.

“There is some difficult news to share. Large gatherings, including live sporting events with audiences, concerts, festivals, and conventions will not be able to return until we have a reliable treatment or prevention like a vaccine,” said the Oregon Governor in an announcement to the public.

That’s not too bad, right? Well, here’s the back-breaking, heart-stopping, breath-taking comment.

“The Oregon Health Authority is advising that any large gathering, at least through September, should be canceled or significantly modified,” she continued.

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That said, Ohio State is expected to bring in one of the best teams to Autzen Stadium a week after Oregon’s season opener. The Buckeyes, despite the virus’ spreading, will hopefully have a season with fans.

While Oregon’s will be put on hold till at least later in the season, Mike DeWine, Ohio’s Governor, has yet to address those fall possibilities specifically.

For now, at least one of Ohio State’s ten-plus games will be drastically different than originally planned barring any complete turn of events toward the positive.

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Oregon plans to have in-person classes on campus this fall. What does that mean for the scheduled game with Ohio State?

The University of Oregon has announce plans to have in-person classes this fall. How will that affect Ohio State vs. the Ducks?

You may have already heard this by now, but if not, let us fill you in. Last week, the University of Oregon announced plans to have in-person classes in the fall. Much like other colleges and universities, instruction has been virtual since the measures were put in place to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus.

We’re still waiting to hear what Ohio State is going to do with fall classes, but this news seemed to give many a glimmer of hope that a certain football game between two likely top ten teams out in Eugene on Septemeber 12 would happen.

So what does it all mean?

Not much really. There’s still so much to figure out with how this is all going to work next week, let alone three to four months from now.

One thing we can say though is that this is better news than Oregon saying there isn’t going to be any in-person classes around this timeframe. However, what we should caution and know by now is that this COVID-19 pandemic is very fluid. What happens if cases spike again after the country tries to slowly open back up? What if testing still isn’t to the point where it needs to be?

All of these things need to be hammered out and there’s simply no way to know the answers to any of them at this point. What we cold guess is that yeah, there could be real, live face-to-face instruction happening in Eugene when it’s time for this anticipated matchup to occur, but it’s very likely that this country won’t be in a position to allow over 50,000 fans to congregate together without putting many at risk.

At this point, that’s probably more probable than the alternative of having a rabid fan base taking in a college football game in close proximity of one another. Now, the game could still go on without fans in attendance, but there’s also a slew of hurdles that have to be cleared before that can occur.

Bottom line — this is a step in the right direction, but only one that begins to get things to a walking pace rather than the sprint that’ll need to occur to have the college football season back to its normally scheduled programming.

Stay tuned …