#12 Oregon 35 (2-0) at #3 Ohio State 28 (1-0) Sept 11 2021

[Omega]

The Oregon Ducks come to Columbus to square off with the Ohio State Buckeyes in a PAC 12 versus BIG 10 top twenty matchup.

Oregon struggled in defeating Fresno State 31-24 in their opener. Anthony Brown leads their offense as a dual threat QB. He was 15-24 for 172 yards with one touchdown. Brown scored the winning touchdown on a 30 yard scamper. Jalen Cooper, Keric Wheatfall and Josh Kelly are athletic recievers. The Ducks also feature two strong runners in CJ Verdell and Travis Dye.

On defense, the nation's number one DE, Kayvon Thibodeaux may not be available for the Ducks due to injury. The U of O defenders were stout against the run, limiting Fresno to 75 yards.

Oregon will likely play a ball control offense to keep OSU's prolific passing game on the bench, so the onus will be on the Buckeye defense not to allow Oregon to dominate time of possession.

Of interest, there are reports of over 10,000 unsold tickets for the game in Columbus. I guess the cost and hassle of game day in Columbus is finally losing out to the convenience of television. Throw in covid worries, and OSU may not have a legitimate sell out this season.

The Bucks are 13 point favorites for the noon kickoff on Fox.

My thoughts are OSU 41 Oregon 31.

[Bleeding Red]

Quacks are gonna get beat in the trenches like they stole something. Lack of physicality again catches up with the PAC12 foe.

Expect Stroud to deliver the football to the playmakers on the edge and Williams and Henderson to pound the ball on Oregon.

Quacks 17
Bucks 48

[TRENCHFOOT]

Say what? How about them lacking physicality PAC12 Quacks? Played with some key players out with injury as well.

[OHHS old timer]

Quacks are gonna get beat in the trenches like they stole something. Lack of physicality again catches up with the PAC12 foe.

Expect Stroud to deliver the football to the playmakers on the edge and Williams and Henderson to pound the ball on Oregon.

Quacks 17
Bucks 48

Care to rephrase that???

[farmer]

Ohio State does not have the game changing player on defense as they have had in the past. The defensive line made some plays. Oregon's offensive line did a good job blocking. Which the defensive line was not able to protect the back end like last year.

Offense needs to run the ball more and not pass for over 50 times again. There are some very talented RB's. Rely on them as the freshman QB gets experience.

[Omega]

My take is sometimes getting one's @ss kicked is good for the soul. Oregon won because they were stronger, quicker and more aggressive on both lines of scrimmage. They were better prepared and earned the win. The Buckeyes did not give up but Oregon made the plays when it counted.

Just looking at the stats it is hard to believe Oregon won. OSU had 612 total yards but only once hit the big play. Oregon got gashed but was able to smother Buckeye receivers and stuff the run.

OSU still as a lot to play for. Yet as things stand now they are not playoff caliber. Coach Day may have to rethink his finesse over power philosophy and honestly with Kerry Combs as DC, the defense may be unfixable.

[9.5 INCHES]

Don't ya love the sound of crickets on a late summer night!!!!! Sure is quiet in here..........
Well trenchy,, since columbus is as worthless as tits on a boar this year,,,,,,,,, looks like me and you will decide the BIG East this year!!! See you over in Nittany Kittenville in mid November..........

[OHHS old timer]

Was wondering when you would show up....lol

[Bleeding Red]

Outside of possibly Iowa, Oregon is much better than ANY B1G team this year. Take that to the bank.

Still a B1G title to be won and an early loss never kills playoff chances.

But this OSU defense, Coombs in particular, was embarrassing today. This problems rarely have a way to be fixed during the season. If they can shore up the D, OSU still pounds the rest of the conference.

OSU and Iowa are far ahead of PSU, ttun and Wisconsin.

[cbolt]

Give me a break, inches! This thing is far from over and I want to see if you have the guts to come back on here if ttun gets beat by the Huskies here in a little. Western Michigan is no Oregon by any means lol

[cbolt]

But I will say TOSU is a little worriesome right now! The offense played great minus the int (which was a terrible throw), but they should have with the Ducks down 5 starters. Line pass blocked well giving Stroud lots of time. Rushing game was not as great as I thought it would be. The defense made me want to puke! They look slower than previous years. Got to get better if they want any hopes of getting back to the final 4 !

[farmer]

To me the defense didn't seem as much slower but the reaction to plays is slower. Then the adjustments as the game goes on are not helping. The adjustments to be made this week on the field and mentally by the players and coaches will determine how the rest of the season goes.

[cbolt]

Yea Klatt kept referring to how they wouldn't get out of that one on one coverage. Day was really chewing on Combs butt on that one shot. Combs is on a red hot seat right now I would say. Might be time to go back to special teams, be head cheerleader and let someone else give it a try.

[9.5 INCHES]

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

Soft defense, bad defense was exposed this week.

[Bleeding Red]

Yea Klatt kept referring to how they wouldn't get out of that one on one coverage. Day was really chewing on Combs butt on that one shot. Combs is on a red hot seat right now I would say. Might be time to go back to special teams, be head cheerleader and let someone else give it a try.

Coombs is a good position coach. Terrible DC. I have no idea why Larry Johnson isnt the DC at this point.

When you play man to man coverage and get ZERO pressure with your front 5, the defensive scheme is broken.

[alabama mike]

One loss does not define the season. Granted OSU is struggling on defense right now. I would suspect CRD and staff will improve as the season goes on on defense. Stopping the run is going to be key. As an outsider to the program looking ahead, I cant help but think that improvement is coming. The players just need more quality reps to get things worked out. IMO, I still think at the end of the year OSU will be right in the middle of the playoff chase.

[Bleeding Red]

One loss does not define the season. Granted OSU is struggling on defense right now. I would suspect CRD and staff will improve as the season goes on on defense. Stopping the run is going to be key. As an outsider to the program looking ahead, I cant help but think that improvement is coming. The players just need more quality reps to get things worked out. IMO, I still think at the end of the year OSU will be right in the middle of the playoff chase.

When they keep putting Eichenburg (#35) on the field to be totally lost play after play, they have issues. He is the worst LB I have ever seen on the field for tOSU.

[Omega]

One loss does not define the season. Granted OSU is struggling on defense right now. I would suspect CRD and staff will improve as the season goes on on defense. Stopping the run is going to be key. As an outsider to the program looking ahead, I cant help but think that improvement is coming. The players just need more quality reps to get things worked out. IMO, I still think at the end of the year OSU will be right in the middle of the playoff chase.

Unfortunately some fans in Buckeye nation cannot handle a OSU loss with humility and reflection. The playoff or bust mentality makes an otherwise successful season a failure. Case in point check out some of the comments on the Eleven Warrior forums where #firecoombs is trending.

Still as you point out, the Bucks will rebound, contend for the Big 10 title, and be somewhere in the playoff conversation. Oregon was simply quicker, stronger, more aggressive and better prepared than OSU. It was not the end of the world as we know it.