You’re crazy: Which game outside of Michigan is the most dangerous for Ohio State this season?

Everyone knows that the best part of being a sports fan is discussing and analyzing the most important (and least important) issues in the sports world with your friends. So we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.

In You’re Nuts, two LGHL employees take different viewpoints on an issue and argue passionately. At the end, it’s up to you to decide who’s right and who’s crazy.

Question of the day: Which game outside of Michigan is the most dangerous for Ohio State this season?

Jami’s opinion: Ohio State at Oregon on October 12

Heading into the 2024 season, one of the most burning questions on Buckeye fans’ minds is whether Ohio State will finally be able to beat Michigan. We’ll have to wait until November for the answer, but in many ways, the Buckeyes’ matchup with Oregon is even more exciting than the game itself – and more dangerous.

The Buckeyes travel west to face the Ducks at Autzen Stadium on October 12. It is Oregon’s first year as a Big Ten opponent, one of the most important matchups of the season. Many preseason predictions have the Buckeyes ranked No. 2 and Oregon ranked No. 4, by the slimmest of margins.

Head coach Ryan Day took advantage of the transfer portal in the offseason and shocked the college football world, especially by snagging five-star safety Caleb Downs (who left Alabama after Nick Saban resigned), quarterback Will Howard and running back Quinshon Judkins, among others.

Add those names to a roster full of returning players, including standout defensive players JT Tuimoloau and Denzel Burke, star running back TreVeyon Henderson and powerful wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, and this team is, to put it bluntly, loaded.

Any concerns we had about depth heading into the 2023 season seem to have been put to rest. We saw what Jim Knowles’ defense was capable of last season, and the Buckeyes should have the offense to match it this year.

Day also had an answer to a major criticism of his coaching abilities – his offensive game management. Although Day’s game management was impeccable as an assistant, when he chose to retain game management (a responsibility traditionally given to the offensive coordinator) as a head coach, he failed in critical game situations. He was often unable or unwilling to make the adjustments needed to earn victories in important games.

This season, that shouldn’t be a problem, as he has handed that responsibility over to new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly (one of Day’s mentors and, funnily enough, the head coach at Oregon when OSU faced the Ducks in the 2010 Rose Bowl).

Overall, the Buckeyes’ offseason moves should help them win this season.

The Ducks, who have made their own moves, won’t make it easy for them. Head coach Dan Lanning brings his team to the Big Ten with back-to-back bowl wins and his own talent pool, including quarterback Dillon Gabriel (who comes from Oklahoma and replaces Bo Nix), wide receivers Evan Stewart and Tez Johnson (who is third-most in a single season at Oregon with 1,182 receiving yards in 2023), and returning running back Jordan James. And Lanning has also worked hard to add depth to his team, so the Ducks have no obvious holes this year.

That’s not to say there won’t be challenges in the form of injuries or unexpected gaps, but at the height of the season, they seem just as promising as our guys in Columbus.

This game won’t be the Buckeyes’ first test (that will likely be the week before against Iowa), but it will be one of the Ducks’ first chances to get their act together. The Ducks also have a brutal November schedule ahead of them that not only includes four strong opponents in a row, but also forces them to travel to the Midwest every other week, which involves time differences and long trips as they play Michigan away, Maryland at home, Wisconsin away, and Washington at home. In a season where the Big Ten seems to be full of potential for powerhouses, the Ducks almost feel like they need to win the game against Ohio State, both to show the conference they’re here to compete with the big guys and to give themselves a little breathing room if they lose a game in November.

Looking at the Big Ten landscape as a whole this season, both Ohio State and Oregon appear to have what it takes to come out on top. And with so few of them separated in terms of talent, the Buckeyes will have even fewer room for error in this road game.

If they come out of the Iowa game weakened and then have to contend with a time change in a difficult stadium, it could mean victory for the Ducks. Neither team can afford a lackluster game in this game, so regardless of the outcome, expect a tough battle between two teams firing on all cylinders.

Day has spent the offseason putting everything in motion to help the Buckeyes do just that, hopefully deep into the postseason, but it’s the Ducks who will be Ohio State’s first – and biggest – hurdle.

Matt’s opinion: Ohio State at Penn State on November 2nd

Had that question been phrased differently, I probably would have agreed with Jami. Had it been, “What game other than Michigan is Ohio State likely to lose this season?” there really is no argument that Oregon was the right choice. But I don’t think the Ducks are OSU’s most dangerous game outside of the rivalry. That honor, in my opinion, goes to the Nittany Lions.

Yes, I know Ohio State hasn’t lost to the Nits since 2016 and has only lost once in Happy Valley since 2005, but to me it’s less about the opponent and more about the timing. With the expanded College Football Playoff, the margin for error for the Buckeyes is even greater than at any time in the CFP era, and we know they’ve entered the tournament with losses before.

So if Ryan Day’s Buckeyes do indeed go to Eugene and lose a game in Week 7, assuming it’s not a total embarrassment, they’d still have seven weeks of the regular season — plus Conference Championship Weekend — to make up for it. OSU would still have games against Nebraska, Penn State and Michigan to remind the selection committee why they deserve to be there. There would also be two full months where other teams could stumble, allowing the Bucks to get back into a good CFP spot.

The same cannot be said for the PSU game. If the Buckeyes were to lose in State College on Nov. 2, they would only have games against Purdue, Northwestern and Indiana (not exactly an impressive series of games) before the season-ending game against Michigan. It’s hard to prove you’re a contender when you’re playing teams that probably don’t even deserve to be mentioned as contenders.

Of course, I can imagine even a two-loss Ohio State team still having a chance at a CFP spot, but it would probably be in the back half of the seeding and could even put them in a first-round road game. Obviously not the worst situation, but a first-round bye is going to be incredibly important to get guys healthy and preserve your roster.

So for me, Oregon will be an incredibly important game, but in terms of danger, I would rather choose the contest at the end of the season.

Let us know who you agree with: