Ohio State's reputation is on the line against Oregon

The byproduct of Ohio State having a schedule that featured five consecutive games against overmatched opponents to begin the season is the Buckeyes haven’t really been a fixture of the national conversation.

Blowouts of inferior opponents prove nothing. We know Ohio State is good. But it’s been a long, boring wait until Oct. 12, the day Ohio State travels to Oregon to prove just how good it is.

“I think it’s great because we get to control own destiny,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said of the matchup with the Ducks. “You’re playing the best teams in the league on our schedule. That part is great. Every time you’re you’re playing one of these teams, you’re fighting for opportunity to go to Indianapolis. That’s important. There’s that part of it, and there’s obviously the Playoff scenario. So, a lot is at stake this weekend.”

A lot is at stake this weekend, but not as much with the College Football Playoff as you think. This could be the first of two (or even three) Ohio State matchups with Oregon this season. The loser of this game isn’t going to be any less in the Playoff picture than the winner. That’s the reality of the sport now with the 12-team Playoff field.

How the country continues to view Day, and this Ohio State program is at stake. Everyone knows Ohio State can be a giant against smaller teams. Can it be a giant against other giants? This is a huge game for Day to prove that it can.

Ohio State doesn’t lose games it shouldn’t under his leadership. The Buckeyes have yet to drop a game to an unranked team or suffer an embarrassing upset like the one Alabama just lived through Saturday. But in the last three years, the Buckeyes have only been so-so when as it pertains to winning games the Buckeyes fan base craves. And, as a result, it hasn’t gone to Indianapolis to play for the Big Ten Championship since 2020.

The first thing many fans think about Day is how his Buckeyes have lost three-consecutive games to Michigan. Those losses hurt because it’s a passionate rivalry and Ohio State had become so used to winning it. It’s the one game on the schedule — regardless of conference title hunts or Playoff situation — Ohio State has to win. And it hasn’t been winning.

But in totality? Ohio State is 3-5 against top-10 opponents since the beginning of the 2021 season. It beat Notre Dame on the road a year ago. It blew out a Michigan State team that was ranked in the top-10 a few years ago. But it lost to Michigan three times and fell short against Georgia in the Playoff two years ago. The games Ohio State fans really, really wanted the Buckeyes didn’t get.

For some Ohio State fans, that has called into question whether Day — inarguably a great program-builder — has what is needed to get these Buckeyes to where they need to go. A coach can do everything right at Ohio State. He could build a great roster, win a bunch of games, compete for national titles, all of it. But if he can’t beat Michigan, that overshadows proficiency in all other areas.

As things look right now, Michigan may not be an issue for Ohio State this year. There is plenty of time for the Wolverines to figure its offense to give the Buckeyes a problem in November in Ohio Stadium. Go look a how the 1990s went if you need an example of how things can go haywire. Still, Ohio State may be a three-score favorite in that matchup.

In the present moment? This Oregon game is the one Ohio State has to have. Oregon is a supremely-talented team, is now a conference foe and the Ducks have national title aspirations of their own. This is good on good.

This isn’t a win or go home scenario. But if Ohio State loses? That would mean the Ohio State trend of coming up short in the games Buckeyes fans crave the most is continuing into this season. It casts doubt on where Ohio State seems to be headed.

Ohio State should be considered the favorite to win it all this year. By many, it is. In the AP Poll, five of the top-10 teams in the country have already lost. Georgia has lost. Alabama has lost. Tennessee has lost. Clemson has lost. Ole Miss has lost. Many of the preseason national title contenders have already either lost or shown weakness. At times on Saturday, it truly did feel like everyone sucks.

Texas remains unbeaten and Miami avoided a disaster of its own Saturday night with a thrilling comeback victory over Cal. But Ohio State and Oregon? These are two teams who have yet to lose that many thought could win a national title this year, and even the Ducks have looked shaky at times this season.

There are plenty of people who are waiting for Ohio State to be the next to fall. They’ve looked at all the blowouts the Buckeyes have racked up this year and are unmoved by what they’ve seen. They shouldn’t be. Day isn’t at Ohio State to blow out Western Michigan. So doubters have started with the go-to lines:

“They’ll blow it when it matters”

“Ohio State comes up short against the good teams”

“The Buckeyes are a fraud like they always are. You’ll see.”

People have a right to say those things. Ohio State has come up short far too often the last three years. But have those people really taken the time to examine what Ohio State built this year?

This Ohio State team is what Michigan was last year, except it is starting at a higher baseline talent level. It has a ton of players who should be in the NFL right now who instead opted to return to Columbus to get back to winning.

Guys like defensive linemen J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer, receiver Emeka Egbuka and cornerback Denzel Burke — among others — are still in college. Then the Buckeyes added quarterback Will Howard, running back Quinshon Judkins and star safety Caleb Downs to the mix through the portal. Oh, and Ohio State’s leading receiver is true freshman Jeremiah Smith, who, despite his age, already has a case for being the best wideout in the sport.

Ohio State has never been short of talent and it has lost some games to teams that don’t stack up in that department. Stars matter. They aren’t everything anymore.

But when you hear former coach Urban Meyer say this is the most impressive collection of talent he’s seen at Ohio State, know he isn’t being hyperbolic. The coach who won the 2014 national title with an immensely deep and talented Buckeyes roster is looking at this group with googly eyes.

There is no reason Ohio State shouldn’t be dominant this year. Ohio State’s reputation — which has been earned through losing these types of games — is still getting in the way of how it’s perceived publicly.

Against Oregon? Yes, there is a ton of pressure.

“Which is exactly how we want it,” Day said.

That’s nice to say.

Now is time for Day to get the job done.