Buckeye fans reeeeeeeally wish they could fix the offensive line
· Yahoo Sports
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Well, we’ve made it, friends. It wasn’t the happiest of weeks in Scarlet and Gray World, but we have survived, and it’s time for another game day. So, to get a feel for where Buckeye Nation is with one month left in the regular season, this week we asked The Best Damn Fans in the Land a couple of questions in our weekly fan survey.
The first question was about what fans would most like to change if given the opportunity. The second was about who would win — and by how much — in today’s game. Check out the full results below, and if you want to explain your rationale or add another option, head down to the comments and break it down.
And if you are itching to get some action, you should head to FanDuel Sportsbook and start making some college football picks, especially since they are the sponsor for today’s article.
Question 1: Which OSU position group would you magically fix if you could?
I mean, I kind of assumed this was going to be the answer, although I did think that there was a possibility that quarterbacks would have a stronger showing. Not necessarily because Luke Fahey was demonstrably awful against USC, but just that having Julian Sayin back would cover up a lot of other sins.
But, nonetheless, Buckeye fans are intelligent fans, and they singled in directly on the offensive line, which has been spotty at best this season. Part of that has been a near-constant array of injury and illness across the front. So, having a magic wand or rubbing a lamp to fix things would absolutely include both improving the health and execution of the position group.
Question 2: What will be the margin of victory in Ohio State vs. Oregon?
In our Oregon game predictions article (which will be published at 9:31 a.m. ET), I took the Buckeyes to win, 27-13. So, that would put me with the 12% of our respondents who picked OSU to win by 11-20 points. While that wasn’t the most popular selection, it was interesting to me that a combined 44% picked Oregon to win. In all of my years running this survey, I don’t think that has ever happened before.
The Buckeyes opened as 9.5-point favorites heading into Saturday’s matchup against the Oregon Ducks. The gold standard of college football analytics, SP+, projects OSU to win 31-19, but that doesn’t fully factor in the fact that the Buckeyes are now without Julian Sayin, who was pretty darn important in amassing the advanced analytics that helped form that prediction.
Historically, this is a series that has been decidedly one-sided in Ohio State’s favor, although Oregon has made things considerably more competitive in recent years. The Buckeyes lead the all-time series 10-2, having won the first nine meetings between the programs, dating back to a 10-7 victory in the 1958 Rose Bowl.
That dominance includes a pair of particularly memorable postseason triumphs: Ohio State’s 42-20 victory over the Ducks to claim the national championship following the 2014 season and its 26-17 win in the 2010 Rose Bowl. However, Oregon has won two of the last three regular-season meetings, suggesting that the balance of power between these two programs has shifted considerably since their earliest encounters.
The Buckeyes did win the most recent meeting, dismantling top-ranked Oregon 41-21 in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day 2025. Ohio State scored the game’s first 34 points, with Jeremiah Smith catching seven passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns, avenging a heartbreaking 32-31 loss in Eugene less than three months earlier.
That October defeat was the first meeting between the programs as Big Ten opponents and came down to the final seconds, when Ohio State’s attempt to set up a game-winning field goal fell apart. The Buckeyes ultimately got the last laugh, however, using their dominant Rose Bowl performance as a springboard to the national championship.
Interestingly, Oregon’s only other victory in the series came during its most recent visit to Columbus, when the 12th-ranked Ducks stunned No. 3 Ohio State 35-28 in September 2021. The Buckeyes are 5-1 against Oregon at Ohio Stadium, but have not beaten the Ducks in the Horseshoe since 1987.
Now, with Ohio State coming off its disappointing loss to USC and facing an increasingly precarious College Football Playoff situation, Saturday’s matchup offers the Buckeyes an opportunity to reassert their historical dominance over Oregon while taking a desperately needed step toward salvaging their season.
Throughout the year, we ask questions of the most plugged-in Ohio State fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.Visit FanDuel Sportsbook for all of your college football betting needs.