Ohio State’s schedule is a lot tougher this season. In terms of opponents and travel, the Buckeyes are going to go through a gauntlet in the regular season.
In the inaugural edition of Off the Cuff, I’ll share my thoughts on each game as Ohio State looks to win its first Big Ten title in six years and their second national championship in three years.
Ball State is the first game of the season. They’re from the Mid-American Conference. A solid opponent for Week 1, but it’s not a game I’ll be sweating
over — at least, not one I should be.
Ball State hasn’t been to a bowl game since 2021. Their most wins in any season since then is five. Ohio State should be able to throw the ball and have success doing it in this game.
We all know what’s up next. Texas in Week 2. Saturday night in Austin. A top-five showdown we have seen twice since the calendar flipped to 2025. This time, though, it’s in Texas’ home stadium. That adds a unique element to this matchup.
Arch Manning will be on the field. As will Julian Sayin. So, too, will Jeremiah Smith. If we still only had a four-team Playoff, this game would have monumental stakes for every player and coach on both sidelines. Nonetheless, it’s still a big game.
If the Buckeyes can go down to the Lone Star State and beat Texas… again, that would be significant. Beating an SEC team three straight times, especially of Texas’s caliber? Yeah, that would be impressive.
It would also set the tone for the rest of the season.
Thank goodness there are no games against FCS teams on the schedule this season. Those games are a lose-lose situation. I’ll gladly take a game against Kent State in place of those games.
Kent State won five games last year, which means they’re on the come-up as a program. Considering their previous two seasons, where they won one combined game, that’s actually impressive what they did last year.
The Buckeyes can’t make this a trap game coming off a game against Texas and with Big Ten play just around the corner.
Ohio State opens Big Ten play with Illinois. A worthy opponent, but not one to lose sleep over. Illinois is a solid program, led by head coach Bret Bielema. Ohio State, though, is multiple tiers above the Fighting Illini, and that should mean a comfortable win in the Big Ten opener.
Iowa on the road is the game that scares me the most.
The Hawkeyes have the most wins of any Big Ten team not to have made the College Football Playoff. When you face the Hawkeyes, you know what you’re getting: toughness, physicality, and a grinder of a game.
This will be the Buckeyes’ first time playing on the road against Iowa since 2017. The result of that game is why I’m nervous. Regardless, Iowa is a formidable opponent.
Maryland doesn’t scare me, but they do have a really good dual-threat quarterback in Malik Washington Jr. Playing at home should enable the Buckeyes to do what they want with the Terrapins.
Next up: Indiana. On the road. A rematch of the Big Ten Championship from last year. Not to mention, Indiana is the reigning National Champion.
For the first time, Ohio State will be playing Indiana in an attempt to dethrone them as Big Ten champions. That’s an uncharted position to be in. Ohio State owned Indiana for years before last December. Now, Indiana has an upper hand in the matchup.
The Buckeyes may be underdogs when they walk into Bloomington on that mid-October Saturday. This could get interesting.
It’s been since 2008 that the Buckeyes played at USC. That changes this season when the Buckeyes play the Trojans at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.
USC could be really good this year. It’s taken them a couple of years to get adjusted to the Big Ten, but they’re ready to take the next step. Playing on the West Coast coming off a bye week, this game can’t be overlooked.
Oregon at home. The Buckeyes have to win this game. It’s a West Coast team coming East in November. If it’s a noon game, they can’t let what happened in 2021 happen again.
The Ducks, no doubt, are really good. This is a potential Big Ten Championship preview, and these two teams are probably the two best teams in the Big Ten coming into this season.
Northwestern. Just don’t make this game any more stressful than it needs to be. Please.
Nebraska is the penultimate regular-season game this year. It’s on the road. That’s going to be tough. Who knows what the weather could be like; the crowd could be extremely loud in such a raucous environment.
This is a tough game before The Game, and it will test the Buckeyes’ ability to run the football and win the battle in the trenches.
The Game. I mean, Ohio State can’t afford to lose three straight times at home to Michigan. They just can’t.
In this game, literally empty the playbook. Let Jeremiah Smith and Julian Sayin cook all afternoon and leave no doubt who the better team is.
